People seem to forget that UConn applied to the Big 12 last go round so Benedict knew what the Big 12 thought about adding UConn, a total geographical outlier. Apparently, the Big 12 did not rank UConn’s application high last go round.
I think most college administrators that follow realignment closely thought Texas and probably Oklahoma were not committed to the Big 12 long term and there could be openings in the Big 12 in the future and UConn wasn’t on the short list of candidates.
Imagine if UConn was still in the AAC today and Cinci, UCF, and Houston left? The new AAC would be a total dumpster fire. Is independent football and Big East basketball ideal LT? No, but it sure beats ending up in a new AAC conference.