I wouldn’t be surprised if Kansas fanatics genuinely believe they’d be a good fit.
They look at Maryland and Rutgers and think to themselves, we’re a better program than those two, so we should easily get invited.
Somehow by putting it out there and making their points, they hope someone from the BIG takes notice.
But for successful conferences this time around, the rules are simple. Either you contribute more value than you consume… Or you don’t.