Marinatto is not running this ship. Any conference alignment is being run by the presidents of the BE university. Marinatto is just their messenger.
ESPN is at risk if all the optimum moves take place for the BE.
The BE is still a formidable BB conference. If they add a Temple or a Butler, that would undo some of the lost cache by Cuse and Pitt leaving. BB will still be impacted but the conference will remain a force in the college bb landscape. The arrangement of adding football only schools does not dilute the basketball side of the equation.
The football additions are critical. Forget history. People watch winners. People shift their viewership faster than ever. Loyalty is diminishing. The loss of Cuse and Pitt is not critical in football. The addition of Boise is critical. Adding Airforce, SMU, Houston, Navy and UCF, could be very attractive to Comcast/NBC. People were talking about the BE getting a big upgrade in its contract in 18 months before the Cuse and Pitt defection. The increased monies were based on comparisons with other conferences. And most people said football was the mover. So how does the loss of Cuse and Pitt, two mediocre football programs, and the addition of a Boise state, two Texas teams, and service academies, look less attractive to the media football wise?
I would love to see these schools come in. And I would love to see a bidding war between Comcast and the ESPN for the BE.