Columbus has Big League potential. (Ohio; Major League Baseball)

What might have been - what could be

Now if only we had an arena.

On the heels of a sound defeat for a plan to build a downtown sports complex with the assistance of public financing, a new study shows metro Columbus is among the top potential expansion markets in America for major league baseball, basketball, hockey and football.

A two-part test to measure each of 55 large U.S. metros areas' expansion potential ranked Greater Columbus second in economic viability for Major League Baseball, third for the National Basketball Association, sixth for the National Football League and seventh for the National Hockey League, the study found.

Based on the region's size and lack of any Big Four major league franchise representation, national sports analysts and other officials weren't surprised by the first-time study's findings.

"Columbus is clearly an underserved market …