I'd be shocked if UL goes D1. Kentucky is about as far as you can be from being a hockey hotbed. Yes, Nashville became one in the NHL, but TN is a different can of beans than KY where it's basketball, basketball, basketball, basketball, basketball, and basketball all winter long.
Throw on top that they'd need a large sum of money to build an arena and upgrade the current program to meet D1 standards. And they'd need the NCHC or WCHA to agree to let them join the conference.
From the article, ASU and Miami are bad comparisons. Both ASU and Miami don't have basketball programs that draw 100% of fans attention during the season. ASU is located in an enormous metropolitan area that had an NHL team already. Miami hockey is moderately successful but is also the only game in town during the winter. Even still, they draw 2-3K per night. Both schools do not draw the 4K/night the guy in the article quotes. Also, while they "turn away fans" for UK/IU games, are they going to be turning away fans when it's Lake State, Western Michigan, or Alabama-Huntsville in town? Heck, even Denver and North Dakota have zero name cache in Louisville.
USF makes more sense to me, given the success of the Frozen Fours down there and the popularity of the Lightning. That still wouldn't address the major hurdles of arena/conference. UNLV, locals out there LOVE the Golden Knights and would likely support another UNLV team in the winter. But same as USF (really, any new team) - arena/conference are the two big issues.