Missouri is the only other #16 candidate available. The SEC does not have a GOR.
I do think the Big 10 would add just 1 if it wanted to (it sat at 11 for years), but if it wanted 2, it would grab Missouri and UConn. St. Louis is an attractive market.
I wish the SEC would start talking about a GOR just to shake the tree a little and see whether the Big 10 would make a move. The SEC would replace Missouri with Cincinnati and not bat an eyelash. I think the northern SEC schools would even like to be in Ohio, because they are confident they can kick the Big 10's butt in their own backyard when it comes to recruiting.
All that matters is the dollars though, and I don't see how UConn or Missouri generate an extra $45MM for the Big 10.
Not really.
The SEC has already gotten plenty of Ohio talent in basketball and football over the years, esp the former. Ohio basketball players regularly head off to Lville, Ky, other BIG schools. But in football, top shelf Ohio kids love the Bucks, that won't change. Interestingly, OSU has been developing a national footprint in basketball under Matta, football, they've been able to recruit nationally for decades & long ago developed a southern strategy, esp during segregation.
But, it would be great to see the SEC grab Cincy - actually fascinating. I thought Mizzou to the SEC was quite interesting and actually guessed they'd inevitably succeed in football - they offer an interesting change to the Southeast kids - these kids can get a taste of different regional culture, but play a familiar SEC schedule.
On the other hand, Ky has plenty of Midwestern states on its border: In, Oh, Ill, Mo - who's to say they can't go BIG? Ky basketball has long depended on Chicago Land talent, esp in the modern era.
Kentuckiana & the Ohio River Valley (ORV), & I'm kindly limiting this list to IU, Cincy, OSU, Lville, Ky, & Xavier, my opinion, has been the most successful basketball region for a long time, but the lack of a more singular conference has diminished its value when compared to say Tobacco Road and even all of Va. The ORV has superior numbers to any other region in terms of m. college basketball: NCAA titles, Final Fours, NCAA wins, etc. The above schools, which is not all of the great basketball programs in the ORV, has 19 NCAA titles, and around 50 Final Fours. But again, that list draws from 5 different conferences: BIG, AAC, ACC, SEC and Big East. Find another region, similar radius, it won't compare.