If you go to the UConn boards you will find that folks there think that ESPN doesn't like them and didn't help them.
Anyway ESPN was a big part of the growth of the Big East Basketball and college basketball in general. But know without its football teams the BE is down.
ESPN might not have been helpful in the major conference issue….but that doesn’t change the fact that ESPN, The Big East, and UConn all were very good for each other and all grew up together.
The BE problem in football however was not ESPN…it’s demographics. Simply put, football is a big school big stadium big money sport, and the massive schools in the Big Ten, SEC, etc, will always dominate. The BE was defying gravity in that regard, and now the ACC is to some extent too.