espn is treading water at best. The days of exponential growth - which fueled all of the crazy money that they've thrown at conferences - are gone for a multitude of reasons. As we all know - TV revenue has driven all of the expansion - the B1G wants to be in the southeast market, the sec wanted into the Texas market, etc. With revenue projections being what they are currently - there doesn't appear to be the extra dollars to throw at a conference for picking up a new market - particularly if espn is already shelling out money to another conference for that same market.
What is more probable in this climate, is the hastening of the NFL model (AFC / NFC) with the top 48(+ or -) or so football programs, that espn would throw all of their money at - leaving all the programs on the outside looking in basically screwed. If that happens, past conference affiliations (looking at you - yuts) won't mean anything.