Big 12 Expansion: Which Trio of Teams Could Get the Conference Back to a Dozen?

Andy Katz, ESPN.com senior writer tweeted Tuesday night: "SEC not considering other schools as 14th member, according to commissioner Mike Slive."

So, if that means what it sounds like it means, then Missouri will continue to be a member of the nine-school Big 12.

It will take three additional schools to bring the conference back to a place of stability...The Big 12 with 12 members. Imagine that.

Rather than going after three individual schools, it might make sense to bring a three-school grouping into the fold.

From a basketball standpoint, which trio of teams would be the best to get the conference back to a dozen?

Here are three possibilities:

In-State Trio: TCU, SMU and Houston

From a geographical standpoint, this trio is a no-brainer.

All three are within the state of Texas. Two of them (TCU and SMU) are cross-town rivals already.

From a basketball standpoint, this is a very weak group.

When SMU (20-15 last year, 8-8 in Conference USA) is the strongest of the three, you know that this group would not add much to the Big 12 hoops scene.

Houston's program (12-18, 4-12 in Conference USA) is at a low point.

TCU (11-22, 1-15 in the Mountain West) is scheduled to move to the Big East next year. If things don't change radically on the hardwood for the Horned Frogs, they will get destroyed when they start playing teams like Notre Dame, Georgetown and Villanova on a regular basis

Western Trio: BYU, Boise State, and Air Force

If we were evaluating this group from a football standpoint, this would be a very tempting trio.

From a basketball angle, this is a decent group.

BYU had a magical run (32-5, 14-2 in the Mountain West) this past year. But don't think that the Cougars are one-season wonders.

In six years at BYU, head coach Dave Rose is 159-45...That's winning an average of 26 games per season...Not too shabby.

While Boise State basketball (22-13, 10-6 in the WAC) may never equal their football program, they actually could compete at a slightly higher level. We'll see this coming season, as they move over to the Mountain West.

Air Force (16-16, 6-10 in the Mountain West) has some limitations in terms of elevating their program. But, the Falcons have made it to the NCAA Tournament twice (2004, 2006) in the last eight years.

Eastern Trio: Louisville, Cincinnati, and West Virginia

Of the three possible trios suggested, this group is far and away the best in terms of basketball.

All three play at a very high level. All three are perennial NCAA Tournament selections. All three would compete at the upper-tier of the Big 12 basketball standings.

Cincinnati (26-9, 11-7 in the Big East) plays a brutally physical game year in and year out.

Louisville (25-10, 12-6 in the Big East) likes to get up and down the court and shoot a lot of threes. The Cardinals pulled the trigger 854 times from beyond the arc last season.

West Virginia (21-12, 11-7 in the Big East) is a defensive-driven squad with Bob Huggins prowling the sidelines.

Also, these programs could definitely hang in the Big 12 from a football standpoint. So far, these three are a combined 8-3 early in this college football season.