I agree that we aren't going to hire a $400K coach in the next few years but the cost of keeping up with the P5 is going to go crazy in the upcoming years.
Because of autonomy they will start paying stipends to athletes, offering insurance benefits, guaranteeing scholarships, offer more than 1 official visit to recruits, provide some form of travel expenses to families to allow them to see their son/daughter play etc. This will just be the tip of the iceberg as the P5 will continue to look for ways to further separate themselves from the G5. UConn currently sponsors 22 men's & women's sports. How many total athletes would we need to potentially pay a $5000 stipend to every year in an effort to keep up? 300? 350? more? Do the math. 300 student athletes at $5000 per = $1.5MM. In essence we would need our entire AAC media contract to cover the cost of stipends only before you start adding in the other benefits costs.
Saying "don't worry, we will find the money" is like saying "don't worry, I'm going to win the lottery to solve my financial problems". There is no way UConn athletics survives long term if we do not get out of the AAC. I don't think many UConn supporters truly understand how dire our situation is.