Exactly. For it to benefit us, we have to rise to the occasion and enter a similar tier that the top team (Buffalo) is in. St. Mary's rose to the occasion with Zaga, but that has done nothing for the rest of the conference. Valpo became a solid mid-major, but Butler did nothing for the Horizon as a whole.
The other key is to up the OOC schedule. I thought this year's schedule was terrific, we just weren't able to capitalize. A ranked Buffalo twice during MAC play would have been great with Clemson, Nevada, and St. Bonnie in the OOC (1-2 in these games). Buffalo scheduled properly for a team looking to establish themselves as a top mid-major for years to come, and backed it up by beating everyone but Marquette.