Big12Fan2024 said:
This is why I think within 10 years we'll be back at a model that more closely resembles what college athletics previously were. With the exception of maybe 20-25 schools, the current environment is not a sustainable business model. The rest, including us, won't be able to sustain and will eventually evolve back into a model that likely allows for some smaller form of payment to athletes but not at the levels the current model will require. Otherwise, you will end up with near bankrupt situations.
This is what happens when a regional sport becomes a national one. Schools with the resources to be national brands will lose interest in playing regional rivals and pursue national ones instead. The less resource-rich schools will diminish in stature and (in effect) become second-class citizens.
In 2011 when A&M announced the move to the SEC, Mississippi State, Vandy, and Ole Miss were worried that they were going to be kicked out of the conference if bigger names came along in the future. The SEC assured them that wasn't the case. In this new age, those types of programs may not have any other choice than to decouple from the "haves".
It will be interesting (albeit sad) to see how it all shakes out.
