Disagree. It has never been that way in college football or college basketball. Winning seasons, good bowls, deep tournament runs, exciting games,... will keep fans engaged. Beating local teams like BC and Syracuse will excite the fans. Look at how UConn fans reacted after beating Houston this year.
Basketball and football are totally different. There is no such thing as a deep run in college football and in basketball each conference's champion gets a seat at the table.
Good bowls? There are only six "good bowls" and only two of those really matter. Secondly, how can more than one G-5 team get to a good bowl when only 1 of the 12 spots are "reserved" for 65 G-5 teams to fight over?
I can get on board with the 'Cuse and BC games over the next few years, in terms of teams local to UConn. There is a history. They were one-time conference rivals with lingering bad blood, but at the end of the day, they are P-5 and UConn is not. If they are good enough, they can possibly be a second team from their conference to "earn" 1 of the remaining 7 spots. The second best G-5 teams gets to play the weekend before Christmas in Boca. Also, in what alternate universe is Houston local?
I love that UConn beat Houston and gained bowl eligibility. It is a huge step back to respectability, but a very small part of me wishes Houston won in order to expose the hypocrisy of the it all (as if it would have made a difference). At 10-0, Houston was ranked #13 in the AP, but #19 in the more important CFP poll, behind 5 2-loss teams and little chance to improve. At that time (week 12), each one of the teams in the CFP was #9 or better. Should Houston have been a single digit rank? I don't know, but #19 and behind 5 2 loss teams was an insult when their AP ranking was #13.
For many, the national championship just isn't in the cards and their fans/alumni know it. There is no MAC fan that thinks they are winning the national championship or even get invited to the playoff. They want their teams to win their conference, play the big boys tough (maybe knock off one every so often) and go to a bowl game. .
Using the MAC doesn't really make your point and sort of solidifies mine. Average attendance for the MAC was just north of 15k and they are not on national TV during typical prime college football time slots. Yes there will be donors and die hard football fans, but do you really think those are the fans to whom I am referring?