Mizzou is just along for the ride. Injuries crippled them last year and I get that, but as for their overall athletic department, the dont bring much to the table. St Louis tv revenue must have really been something Slive wanted because thats about all your getting with them. That, and the East gained a mid to low tier program.
Pretty much it was the St Louis and Kansas City markets (it being a single major school in a state of 6 million), their being a better major school option left, and the AAU standing didn't hurt.
(Going off cities before the conference added A&M) St Louis was a bigger sized market than pretty much every major market SEC city save Atlanta. Kansas City, I think, was about the same..bigger market than them all save Atlanta (and maybe Nashville now).
(It might also have been of partial benefit that...at the time...it kind of drew a further border/line not to cross against the Big 10 to keep them from extending into the southern states)
The other part though was the conference clearly had some other teams it wanted, but upon whatever contact was made, they just weren't interested/they couldn't get them..
The reports came out about interest in the NC schools, but nothing came of that. VT and Clemson were both adamantly going out of their ways to shoot down any rumors to prevent them from gaining any ground, so they weren't really in for it. (FSU was, but the conference wasn't going to be inviting them after their response to the last invite). I guess you could include OU since Slive was talking to them when he first started talking to A&M back when Nebraska and Colorado were leaving the Big 12. In the end though, none of those panned out.
That pretty much left at the time Missouri, West Virginia (who managed to show interest in both the SEC and ACC only to get shot down immediately by both), possibly TCU, and possibly Louisville...and a stretch, Maryland.
TCU and Louisville (this was before last season under Strong) would have just been doubling down in a same state, which since part of the purpose of these moves was a push for better TV contracts and an SEC network, wouldn't have been helpful...plus I don't think TCU was all that interested in this conference. (Maryland's a maybe here because, in retrospect, it turns out they just wanted more money because their athletic department was broke...hindsight though).
That pretty much just left Missouri and West Virginia. The conference could have also just stayed at 13 teams, but the way things played out they'd be stuck with that setup until about 2025. (Or we might get Louisville or more likely been stuck taking WVU).
I think the best comparison I heard for them when they joined was they'd be like another Ole Miss...they'll have up years but really more middle of the road to meh ones
