Obviously, it's easier to beat UNC and UVA in football.

North Carolina and Virginia are two of the biggest states, and Virginia brings a share of the DC market. Those are big, rich areas for the SEC to penetrate. UNC is a basketball blueblood and Virginia is usually very good. They're both public Ivies and raise the academic profile of the conference. They're also the last two southeastern states without an SEC presence.

Florida State and Clemson are big brands that people tune in to see, especially in football, which adds value to the SEC. They're in states where we already have a presence, although that pulls less against Florida State than it does Clemson, since Florida is much larger than South Carolina. Florida State and Clemson are at a recruiting and financial disadvantage relative to other SEC teams, and not just Florida and South Carolina--Tennessee, Georgia, and Auburn are all in fairly close proximity. The SEC might be more interested if it believed that FSU and Clemson joining the Big 10 was imminent.

That's why I think some combination of North Carolina and Virginia schools are at the top of the SEC's list if we have to expand again (hope we don't). I think FSU and Clemson could get in, but probably only if the conference expands to 20. I could see them as the top 2 only if the SEC thought there was no hope of getting UNC or UVA.