Wait, so you'd move up with CAA but not the Big East?
For Nova specifically the timing was similar.
The CAA move en masse was championed by the conference commish. He saw interest from members (UMass, JMU, and UD eventual moving up). The “rule” at the time was that a move up required an invite from an existing conference. He (Yeager) asked, NCAA said “no”, and he took “no” for the final answer.
Liberty was more forceful. They did not take “no” for the final answer. The broke the glass and moved up as an Indy.
Separately, the oBE needed Nova to shore up numbers and was invited up. Indecision and red tape led to a long internal process. Nova eventually said yes, but by the time Nova was ready the invite was stale. The Big East had already added other members, and later it would become known that Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse, and WVU were conspiring against their Big East brothers. Pitt, Rutgers, and WVU objected to Nova joining at the same time they were planning their own exit (and rejecting the TV deal).
For Nova, neither of the CAA nor the Big East paths were driven by Nova. Nova was more of a meek bystander watching the possibilities in a changing landscape.