Just A Minute: The SEC has Expanded Twice since 1990. How's That Worked Out?

Happy 10-year and 30-year anniversary to Missouri and South Carolina, which still have yet to make a big impact on the Southeastern Conference

It's the 10-year anniversary of the Southeastern Conference's latest expansion, and the 30-year anniversary of the one before that. 

Specifically, in 1990 the league went from ten to twelve schools with the addition of the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The two new members began SEC competition during the 1991–1992 basketball season.

That's also when the SEC split into two divisions for football. 

On Sept. 25, 2011, the SEC presidents and chancellors announced that Texas A&M University would join the conference effective July 1, 2012. Missouri was added a couple of months later, on Nov. 6. 

Texas A&M was scheduled to compete in the Western Division, with Missouri placed in the Eastern Division, which still makes absolutely no geographical sense.

The schools added to the SEC footprint, brought in some lucrative markets, and in the case of Texas A&M some big-time money.  

But not one of these schools has won an SEC championship in football. Combined, they've only made three appearances in the title game. 

In basketball, they've combined to win four regular-season titles, and just one SEC tournament championship. The South Carolina women's team has emerged as a national power, but the other three have combined to win one league title.

At least in baseball, Arkansas and Texas A&M have both made recent appearances in the College World Series. 

Overall, the fourteen members of the SEC claim over 200 national team championships in sports currently or formerly sponsored by conference members. 

The list is actually led by Arkansas with 48, in large part due to its success in track and field and cross country. In comparison, Alabama has 28, but most of those have been in football. 

Texas A&M has 16.

Two of the expansion schools continue to struggle in this regard. 

South Carolina has four. The Gamecocks include two in baseball, one each in women's basketball and women's track. At least they've all been within the last 20 years.

However, Missouri has just two. It won the 1954 baseball title, and 1965 men's indoor track title, both long before joining the SEC. 

Before you go jumping on the Tigers and suggesting that they may not belong, consider that Mizzou is still ahead of Mississippi State, which despite its 11 appearances in the College World Series and back-to-back losses in the women's title game in 2017-18), has yet to claim its first national championship in any sport. Ole Miss has three and Vanderbilt five. 

Remember, it just means more.