No silly. We are talking about FULL conference memberships, not affiliate members.
It seems you're equating a nonfootball member with an affiliate member. This is false. Full membership, as discussed above, is generally defined by basketball.
We were not affiliate members of the Belt. We were full conference members.
I was going to bring up the old Big West but I see you prefaced everything with "since 2001".
Yep we were FULL members...
Played the required number of sports they sponsored
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
We were also in a conference with Notre Dame as they were a fellow Independent. The absence of being in a formal conference doesn't mean we weren't affiliated with them. Our box scores were often found next to each other. If you think differently, you are wrong.
In 1997 the football team had rings made that said "highest" ranked independent I believe...
''Don't be a bad dagh..."