It's nice of Louisville to lead the battle cheer to circle the wagons, but it isn't believable. They just like WVU, USF, Cincy, RU, TCU, and us will accept invites the rumored conferences if offered. To not factor that in to any plan to strengthed the Big East is naive, foolish, and outrageously incompetent. It is also unnecessary. There is nothing wrong with a duel track strategy as it is perfectly plausable to expand, modify bylaws, and strategically plan to improve the strength of this conference without resorting to hypocritical proclamations of committment or attempts to shackle the remaining schools to the mast.
Figure out how to maximize your media deals, select new partners who will be committed to persue the highest level of BCS football, and plan for the departure of 2-3 current members. If no one leaves, terriffic, the conference would be that much stronger. If they do, they the remaining schools can survive and continue to prosper based on merit instead of being left holding the bag. The truth is that any of the remaining seven could be left behind, so if there is anything to commit to, it is the strongest Big East possbile whether your school is ultimately part of it or not.