I’ve been saying that too many schools with many powerful alumni in too many influential states (as far as politics) appear to be getting screwed in the models of how this is moving. As Pitt fans and alum we can’t imagine that, since the PA politicians are obedient to Penn Rape. But look at the states of NC, Mass, Virginia, Oregon, Washington and Arizona and yeah even WV and consider all the schools in those states alone that stand to be totally screwed. Not to mention states like California, that has Cal and Stanford outside looking in; and Texas that has TT, TCU, Houston and SMU (ok, nobody cares about SMU but my point stands).Are there any level headed people with decision making power looking at all of this and just saying, this is all a terrible idea and will change the landscape of every institution athletically, academically, and financially. There are fantastic colleges and universities who will be left out and it could very well cause football teams to potentially dissolve or other sports to dissolve. Maybe I’m going to the most extreme here, but all this money with NIL, big conferences going bigger weakening other conferences etc etc. Would some teams in the big conferences be pushed out to bring in other teams? How extreme can this all get? Let’s say Big 10 says to Rutgers, we are kicking you for another team. Could it get to that point.
In PA it would be futile, but in the schools in all these other states should be pooling lobbying resources and lawyering up and raising hell to their Congress folk already. Get ahead of it now. Demand that anti-monopoly proceedings should be getting readied, against the Evil Empire schools AND the networks that are behind this activity.
But the message can’t be to “save big time football” for these schools; that’s not a very woke message in these times. Interest groups aren’t going to get behind long expensive hearings about making the country safe for Virginia Tech or Arizona State football. Far more effective — and totally TRUE — is the very real harm that women’s sports and the Olympic sports will ensure at all the schools that get frozen out. Football and basketball, or more accurately the conference money those sports currently get, pay the bills for these non revenue sports. When that money evaporates, many of those boutique sports will as well. Do you wanna be the senators and reps from the states I mentioned that stood around and did nothing as all the women sports at UVA, BC, Stanford, and NCSt get eliminated or cut to the bone? Hell hath no fury and all that…