I'm going to take this thread to a different angle, I'd argue the exit from the Big East has harmed Cincinnati basketball more than UConn (even though the Bearcats have managed to win more games and get to the tournament for the past 7 years).

UC lost its biggest rival (Louisville) and a few other regional secondary rivalries (WVU, Pitt, Marquette and Depaul). Xavier, UC's crosstown rival, was elevated from the A-10 to the Big East and now receives a larger media deal, despite the fact the school doesn't have football, is a much smaller school (45K students vs. 6k) , and has a lesser brand nationally. The perception in many circles is now that Xavier is a "power conference" school while UC is a "mid-major" (I think you might have to live here to understand how f'd up that notion is).

Yet, UC has managed to chug along. Mick Cronin has had to reinvent his program in order to keep recruiting. He can no longer get the bangers out of NY and NJ like he did in the Big East, now he has to rely on more finesse players (mostly out of the south and southwest). He's still winning games at a high clip, but the growth has definitely been stunted and a major factor is conference affiliation.