Culturally, geographically, or sports-wise. They are not even Southern and have little to no history with other schools in the conference. Their market is dominated by professional sports. Their 60k-seat stadium is tiny compared to other SEC venues, and yet they can't even fill it most of the time.

The truth is Mizzou has been an afterthought from the very beginning. When the SEC decided to expand back in 2011, the school they were really going after was A&M. But they couldn't just invite A&M alone, which would've caused divisional imbalance and scheduling problems, so they had to add another school and Mizzou just happened to be there to grab.

SEC may stay at 13 teams

quote:
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive welcomed Texas A&M as the 13th member of the league and said he doesn’t expect to add another team before the Aggies begin play next season.

The SEC announced Sunday that Texas A&M would leave the Big 12 to join the conference next July and will compete in all sports for the 2012-13 academic year. The Aggies are the first newcomers since South Carolina and Arkansas joined the conference in 1992.

During an event that resembled a pep rally, Slive said the SEC wasn’t looking to expand, but that A&M was too attractive an option to ignore.

SEC looking at schedule for 13 teams

quote:
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive suggested yesterday that Texas A&M’s admission to his conference may be a one-of-a-kind play and not a pair.

“When Texas A&M joins our conference, we don’t have immediate plans for a 14th member,” Slive said during a speaking engagement in Birmingham, Ala. “We aren’t thinking in terms of numbers. We think about the strength of the SEC and the attractiveness of Texas A&M as an institution.”

The conference is working on a football scheduling formula for next season with 13 teams, Slive said.

It’s been believed that the addition of Texas A&M would prompt an additional team to the SEC to balance the divisions. Missouri and West Virginia have been frequently mentioned in that guesswork.

Frankly, the SEC couldn't care less about Mizzou and if the Tigers ever leave, no one would notice. 11AM slots are where they belong.