Butchy, you may be right that we are where we are now partly because of our association with St. Johns and Georgetown. But that was from the 1980s through ~2000 at the latest. Our upward trajectory since the '90s has been because of people like Lew Perkins, Phil Austin and now Susan Herbst. More importantly, it has much more to do with Jim Calhoun, Geno Auriemma, UConn 2000 / 21st century UConn, the state legislature and John Rowland, and even Randy Edsall, than it does with Providence, Seton Hall and the rest.
This isn't marriage we're talking about. It's not 'till death do us part. It's business. And we are growing apart from our old conference mates, and the new conference mates have some potential, but it's limited. Very, very limited. To say otherwise is to have the rosiest of rose colored glasses on, at best. There is nothing wrong about letting your eye wander to other potential partners, in fact, it would be in the best interest of the university - financially, athletically, academically - for Herbst and the trustees to do just that. Herbst, the athletic department, and the trustees have a fiduciary duty to put UConn in the best position possible, and they're going to do that.
I've already written paragraphs on academics and you don't seem concerned with that as much so I won't waste more pixels on it here. But I will say if we have a chance to decide if we're going to stay or go, whatever athletic benefits Houston, Boise, Memphis have to offer aren't going to be enough to overcome the athletic and academic benefits if the B10 or ACC (or even the B12) come calling.
Onward and upward.
