Syracuse needs a blatantly blown call to beat a MAC team at home and UConn loses to a MAC team at home (way to go, Broncos!) No wonder the ACC doesn't want the Huskies. Yeah, the ACC did it to shore up football. Hell, they should have taken us, subsidized MU building a football team, and they would have achieved the same level of football.
An interesting concept that's crossed my mind.
Mickey and Rupert already own bowl games, TV networks and broadcasting rights within conferences, licensing and merchandising rights, etc... how long before they give thought to owning (or controlling) their own conference? No existing conference is going to want to sell out, so they'd have to piece together a conference of select schools who have marketability but could also be coaxed with an incentive too good to refuse (e.g. subsidizing a football team)... not many fit that mold.
Marquette, however, is the perfect candidate:
Marketability - Check
No football team - Check
An alumni base that would support football if cost effective - Check
Willingness to sell out - Heck yeah... we did it in the early 90's, and even tried to undo that selling out with another bribe again in the mid-00's.
Perhaps in better times, it could be done. Alas today, 'tis only a pipe dream.
