I think that being in the Big East has helped Connecticut in terms of recruiting, donations and fan interest. Being in the American was an absolutely miserable experience and was slowly killing the program. But, that doesn't mean that Connecticut's success was so late due to the joining the Big East, nor does it mean that we wouldn't be successful elsewhere.
No doubt about it, that Syracuse and Pitt have lost relevance and fan interest in the ACC. I suspect that has more to do with on the court performance than conference affiliation, however. It's tough to say that BCU Was hurt by the move to the ACC since they weren't particularly world beaters in the original big east either.
If conference affiliation was what mattered, wouldn't there be more national championships in the Big East. Prior to Jay Wright retiring Villanova was carrying the water for the conference and that's now been handed on to us. And the reasonable conclusion to draw from that is that success is more closely affiliated with coaching than Conference affiliation.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the big east conference. It's good to go to games against opponents at the fanbase cares about and can drive to. But at $4 million a year in broadcast rights revenue, members of this conference operates at a significant disadvantage. Right now, Connecticut's success is masking that, but make no mistake about it we all are swimming upstream here.