I agree with much of what you've said and I appreciate your candor and respect as a visitor. I'm biased, but I don't share your confidence that BC's basketball and football are on a rebound (I think the former was built based on local rivalries with Providence, Connecticut et al. in the Big East and the latter was built on a lack of competition in the northeast). Simply put, I think you guys are in real trouble, sans hockey, because the BC brand has been changed, diluted and/or phased out.
Also, I agree with your last sentiments in principle, but it will be a long time before UMass matches what we've accomplished in 10-15 short years in terms of football. UMass is facing all of the same problems we've faced in Connecticut (in terms of increasing our exposure to our own citizens and legislature, and getting greater support for expansion and new facilities) but with none of the results. They're pretty similar institutions (strong research institutions away from the capital cities, located in states with world-class private institutions) but the general trends are that we're climbing and UMass is falling.
Fun fact: in 1993, UMass and BC were equally ranked in U.S. News & World Report. True story.
As for UConn and BC playing again soon, I'd love to see an end-of-season regional game in football (think Clemson-USC) in the afternoon, followed by an evening early-season basketball game in the same region (The Rent/XL Center, Alumni/Conte Forum) on the same day so that fans could attend each one. I think that once we get our long-term conference future stabilized, whether it's in the ACC or somewhere else, that afternoon could be an all-day affair on ESPN or ESPN2.