I will generally agree with your view of the future.
But I must nitpick: UK has not “secured” this outcome. It was handed to us during a five-seven year period of revelations of pretty squalid issues at U of L.
Short only of Penn State’s hideous issues,, U of L had a stunning moral, philosophical, financial and administrative meltdown, that constituted a persistent “drip, drip, drip,” effect, which was worse even than Penn State’s circumstances which resolved more quickly.
I will not list the issues, most of which served some period of time on the “banners” of ESPN and other sports shows, but will just remind that there were many, scattered over at least 5 years.
This has left the small but loyal fan base reeling. To this day, there are posts on public forums defending the former President, Jurich, Petino and Petrino, with some hankering for their return, or at least a return to the era and errors that ultimately pummeled U of L into near oblivion.
And there are posts that go beyond yours: some few blame UK, directly, for the half-decade of dark and decadent revelations.
And some have left the Cardinal’s nest, completely: the moral excesses and quandaries simply proved too much for some to withstand.
Even visiting a Cardinal Forum has become off limits to almost all . . . . except for the tortured minority who tenaciously clung to the sinking ship.
And in a sense, I can feel their pain. All any rival need post or speak of to re-open the multiple, massive wounds are one-word or brief memes unique to U of L’s folly and decade of regret . . . Sypher, U6, strippers, stripped title, Papa John’s, extortion, Yum Deal, Ramsey, guns, etc., etc.
You say that U of L has chosen a poor time to be weak in the two prominent revenue sports.
This is true.
But in retrospect, that weakness was forced upon a gullible and complicit fan base that tolerated so much for so long, that many lost their inherent sense of dignity and still openly pine for a return to the cesspool from which they were forcibly extracted.
