This has been a popular 'theory' for pundits ever since the BE started tearing itself apart. The reality is there are always going to be good teams and experienced coaches that want to give their teams a test early in the season so that they (and their players) can gauge themselves and their preparation for later stern tests. The mixture varies each year, but Uconn hasn't needed to beg anyone to play them yet. Sometimes a coach like Kim will back off when she feels her team is too young/inexperienced to take a beating, but with her recent recruiting she was back on the phone arranging another H and H. Aston certainly didn't enjoy her first encounter, felt better about the second and agreed to a third that I think she feels rightly will greatly help her team grow, and she wants more. Dawn, Muffet, Freese, and others see these games as positives for their programs.
And ... the big money wants these games as well - all the broadcasters are pushing for bigger, better games throughout the year. And the exposure that comes from playing in those games is a definite advantage for the programs involved. ND is likely a sell out, Kansas is a sell out, pretty much every road game Uconn plays brings in a significantly larger local crowd than every other home game on the schools schedule - you cannot do that with marketing, but you can by bringing the circus to town, and win or lose, that has to help build a program's local support.
And I honestly think you are seeing that in the AAC - a collection of schools from other mid-major conferences that are getting a little more focus, a little more energy, and a little more success every year because they play Uconn every year. It creates just a little extra buzz about their programs.
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