If there is one thing that the basketball members learned, it's that in a conference with split loyalties, football will win out. It is not in the best interest of the conference to sacrifice long term stability simply to get "better" in the short-term.
The BE has a nice television contract and a pretty happy and committed membership. Why mess with that? If UConn or UMass dropped their football down to FCS, and agreed to keep it there for at least ten years, I would be fine with offering them membership. But as long as they have FBS football, both programs will be looking for better opportunities. That isn't in the best interests of the BE.
I live here in Jersey. Every UCONN game is not on TV, at least here in New Jersey. Is every Notre Dame Game on TV? Not here in Jersey. I do get to see every game Marquette plays. Can't get any better than that. True for all Big East teams. That is a huge recruiting tool for the league. How many conferences can say all their teams have a majority of their games televised nationally.
