re: Which Expansion was Less of a Fit: Ark/SCAR, Aggie/Mizzou, or OU/TX?

I disagree. Parts of Missouri are very Southern but parts are also very Midwestern. It's kind of a mix of the two. Culturally, in the past, Missouri was very Southern sympathetic in the war, so much so that a lot of them didn't stop fighting the war for years after it was over. Of course, these were guys like Jesse James.