Area. Conferences look at where they are located and think they are a big draw, as the old WAC did with San Jose St., but they don't investigate enough to find out that the populace in that area supports mostly other teams and schools in the area. The old WAC thought SJS would be a big market addition, but they didn't realize that Cal, Stanford and the 49ers draw almost all the sports fan interest in the Bay area.

I don't think UConn is as extreme as SJS in this respect, but it is similar to a lesser extent.