UConn’s woebegone football team is the last thing anyone in Storrs is worried about with a miraculous return to the Big East now imminent.

But unless the Huskies drop back down to the FCS level (unlikely) or stop playing the sport entirely (very unlikely), they do need to put the dumpster fire program somewhere.

Football independence, and further irrelevance, appears to be the most probable end game. The American Athletic Conference will reportedly have no interest in letting UConn stick around in a football-only capacity once the school jumps ship for the 2020-21 school year. It’s hard to see why Conference USA or the MAC would be interested in a football-only membership as well. So UConn seems destined to be a team without a league like UMass, and a bad situation will only get worse.

Or ... UConn could be a building block in a new conference. Or at least a scheduling agreement that could likely generate plenty of television (and streaming) rights money.

A modest proposal that almost assuredly will not happen and is just some Talking Season entertainment: Army, BYU, Liberty, UConn, UMass (and maybe Navy) form an unofficial conference that provides each member scheduling flexibility and can also hit the market as a valuable media property given the national following several of the programs have.

We will call it the Lambert Alliance (BYU is eligible for the trophy anyway according to the established bylaws). If it stays at five or six programs, fine. The schools are all still independent, but they at least have some of their dates filled each fall. But it’s also easy to envision how the pool grows into being a conference.

The existence of the pact would be a strategic boon to the Big East. UConn’s arrival gives the league 11 members. If it wants to get to 12, it could target potential additions - Cincinnati, Temple and West Virginia come to mind - with the reassurance they can place football programs into the pool. It would also provide an on-ramp if any of the Big East schools that have FCS programs - Butler, Georgetown and Villanova - decide to make an unlikely FBS leap.

There is also the possibility for straight expansion. If Navy left the AAC, could Air Force follow if it is able to keep its other athletics programs in the Mountain West? What happens if there is another seismic shakeup in conference alignment? Imagine if Kansas was looking for a home and the Big East could swoop in with the Lambert Alliance getting the assist.

Would it be the country’s strongest conference? Of course not. But if the league/pact got to nine or 10 teams, it would have a legitimate argument to be granted Group of 5 (6) rights and access to the New Year’s Six bowl games - something that would be of immense value for all, but especially Army and BYU (Air Force and Navy already have access). And being in a new league is better than no league for the other programs.

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.