West Virginia's overall audience is three times the size of Louisville's. The Big 12 definitely made the right move by getting West Virginia over Louisville.
I've never bought this, at least not that it's WVU being easily better.
WV state population: 1.8 million (smallest population of any state withe a BCS team)
Kentucky state population: 4.4 million (about 3x larger)
Louisville Metro: 1.3 million (almost the same population of WV's entire state)
Louisville basketball attendance, easily #1 in the nation practically every year, almost double WVU
Louisville football attendance: 53k
WVU football attendance: 53k
Louisville enrollment: 21k
WVU enrollment: 30k (the only clear advantage I can find)
I'd believe it's a wash, I can't believe WVU is some awesome media grab compared to Louisville. Especially coming off national title in hoops and BCS bowl in football. Cherry on top is Louisville fit the footprint better while still adding a media market 3x the population of WV.