Well here is another 2¢ comment. I would personally like to see the conference expand into an adjacent state. TN offers UTC, TN St, TN Tech, ETSU. I think UTC would be ideal for the east but there appears to be no interest and the others are just too small. We know EKU and Liberty are the only apparent options from KY and VA with both of their strengths and issues. No other school in NC has been seriously discussed to my knowledge and I've been watching this stuff for years. As for SC, there is lots of potential. The Citadel could be huge. Furman or Wofford could be our Vandy, Northwestern, or Baylor. Costal has location, growth, and money. SC St has a huge base but HBCU bowl barriers and money issues. If that state wasn't so polarizing and Clemson/USC centric any of those could be dark horse winners with the right push. Florida has no current options. In 15 years Florida Tech, West Florida, UNF, and FGCU may be options but those don't help for 2015.
That really brings us back around to what other east options are out there. The only viable option in all the eastern conference states appears to be JSU. I have all kinds of issues with JSU. Its location is too close to my school in GA. It would be the 6th FBS school in AL and 3rd in the SBC. Its confusing that Jacksonville is not in FL for 90% of the nation. But honestly, all that being said they would be a great fit. Good fans, great band, nice stadium, easy travel, built in rivals. If they were over the TN border they'd be money. So I guess my point is, should we let their location keep us from taking the best fit for our conference? I'll endorse JSU if they change their name to Alabama Tech :). Honestly, they're more prepared and fit culturally than most anyone else.