I'm not so sure. We begged the ACC when they expanded and were not included. The embarrassment of being denied was bad; however, it was made much worse by our prostration. Regarding fan interest - people will watch if we win. Therein lies the key to our future success. There have been (and remain) problems for our inclusion in a P5 conference:
- SEC: geography, culture, and football
- ACC: BC, FSU, football
- Pac 12: geography
- Big 12: geography, culture, football
- B1G: AAU status, football
We cannot change geography, so that wipes-out the Pac 12, SEC, and (probably) the Big 12. The ACC and B1G have one common obstacle: football. When we produce an entertaining and winning program, we will be invited into one of those conferences.