At this point, just do it. Then have whoever they leave behind blackball them from OOL (out of league) play. See how everyone outside of 15-20 teams do.
The hubris of that conference president is just sick. I want so badly for them just to have their league and have it just struggle. It probably won't, but at least it will stop all the carrot and the stick media stuff, and we can all move on to something else without hearing them dis the majority of D1 programs.