Couldn't KU's 300 million dollar planned upgrade of Memorial Stadium be viewed the same way? They are already in a P5 League with no threat of being thrown out. They don't technically have to do anything with their football facilities. Perhaps they have been advised that facility upgrades would be necessary should a certain conference expand?
Why would anyone expand their football stadium at this point? I would hold off on that. These mega stadiums can't even fill up anymore, and the trend of declining attendance of live sporting events (pro and college) is only going to accelerate. You know this better than anyone, but even your beloved PSU is downsizing Beaver Stadium from the current 106-107k to somewhere in the 99-100k range basically taking it back to where it was 20 years ago. I'm sure the school will say it's because they are adding creature comfort features and yada yada yada, but the reality is, stadiums can't sell out anymore except for maybe one or two times a year when they secure a top opponent playing on national TV at night with a boatload of hype from Disney, and even then it's no longer a guarantee.