I would be absolutely shocked if the Big East is any part of a "power" conference structure when (not if) there is a basketball split. Power conferences are power conferences because they generate absurd amounts of money (that they don't want to share). It has absolutely nothing to do with winning, national championships, rivalries, etc. They generate those absurd amounts of money by being, for the most part, large schools with large alumni/fanbases and being, also for the most part, the dominant brand inside their home markets. Not a single Big East school - not even Villanova or Georgetown - can definitively say that they are their home market's dominant brand.
Factor in the conference demographics that the Big East consists of: small, private schools with small alumni/fanbases and you realize that there is very little room for growth. And when there is very little room for growth, there is very little reason why the giant power conference schools would want to align (read: share money) with them. I know UConn fans will hate this, but the AAC is actually better positioned than the Big East for future earnings growth. When there is a hoops split, the AAC is a *MUCH* safer home for UConn.
The only way the Big East gains access to a power conference basketball system is if the power conference heavyweights value tradition and rivalries...which we have seen time and time again that they don't. Maybe a conference like the Big 10/SEC/ACC will add hoops-only members down the long-term road once the hoops split starts to take shape and, if they do, they'll look to UConn loooooooong before they look at any of the small Big East schools. Zero question about that.
But back to UConn continuing to be cheap at funding football: if at least half of Geno's salary, once he retires, isn't re-distributed to paying for top football coaches, I'll lose my head.
