OK. Full disclosure: This was nothing more than an educated guess. (And some of you would quibble with the "educated" part, surely.) But I honestly thought, for the first time in hideous conference realignment within college sports, UConn was about to get a bounce.

The NCAA/Power 5 would uphold the rule requiring conferences have at least 12 schools to play league championship football games, thus forcing the Big 12 to expand by two schools. And UConn, which offers the nifty quinella of success and proximity to the largest television market in the country, would be delivered from the wilderness and into the Power 5.

No, the Big 12 isn't as sexy as the ACC or Big Ten — Waco, Texas, probably isn't lovely this time of year — but then, at least State U would be eligible for Final Jeopardy.

Was it a layup? More like a contested 3-pointer. But, hey, if Taliek Brown could make that 35-footer against Pittsburgh one night in Gotham, why couldn't UConn get the shooter's roll here, too?

And then came Wednesday, when — sigh — it was announced that the D-1 council approved a proposal allowing FBS conferences without 12 members to hold conference championship football games. Hence, the Big 12 needn't expand, leaving UConn in the boondocks.

Now comes the inevitable question: Where do we go from here?

It's hard to answer.

UConn isn't a fit for the Big Ten, which requires its member schools to be part of the Association of American Universities, an organization of leading research universities, of which UConn is not a member.

The ACC appears to have just enough anti-UConn sentiment, perhaps coming from the Jesuits 80 miles to the north.

The answer — where does UConn go from here? — is, for the moment, nowhere.

Frustrating? Eminently. But as UConn fan and 2003 graduate Matt Necci tweeted Wednesday, "from a UConn perspective, the narrative needs to stay the same. Keep pushing athletics and market."

He's right. UConn hasn't allowed its exasperation to stifle its creativity. Whoever dreamed the "UConn is the Sixth Borough" (of New York) idea should go to the window and collect. And have something named after him or her on campus. It is genius. It suggests to everybody, familiar or not with UConn, that it has permanent tentacles inside the big, bad city. And that might be its No. 2 selling point, right behind the 14 national basketball championships.

All UConn can do at the moment is keep winning and marketing. Keep the brand strong. Be prepared when and if the opportunity rings the bell. Part of that is to work diligently to upgrade campus athletic facilities and do all it can to convince the cynics, skeptics and other muttering misanthropes that, yes, the XL Center needs to be fixed.

Note to UConn fans: Stay active on social media. Keep spreading the gospel. Flood Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center anytime UConn plays there.

Note to UConn officials: Figure out how to play more games at Yankee Stadium. I'd suggest that perhaps UConn move its scheduled home game against Boston College in 2017 to the Bronx. Imagine that? A berserk full house of blue in the Bronx. Now I know some of our misanthropes would have issues moving a home game from East Hartford to the Bronx. But someone could perhaps explain the concept of marketing.

I get that UConn fans are frustrated. They are entitled. They see less successful schools in the Power 5. More full disclosure: Nobody loves BC more than I do. (Nobody). But I'm having a hard time lately justifying its existence in the ACC, given that it went winless in football this season and went into Wednesday's game at the Carrier Dome winless in men's basketball. Not to say BC hasn't been successful in the past, but if its leaders can't commit to a successful athletic program — and I have my doubts that Father Leahy honestly gives a continental damn — the entire existence in a Power 5 conference is a money grab.

And it's unbecoming.

Tough day, Wednesday. Wish there was better news to report. For now, though, The Sixth Borough has to stay positive and wait.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius