What will likely happen is that the AAC will be able to afford this and 4-5 schools from each of the remaining G5 conferences will. I see pressure to stay included forcing the schools that can away from those that can't and reforming their own conference to compete with the AAC and the P5. In the end if we (hopefully) and the rest that can make this happen meet the upgraded requirements that they throw at us, it will apply some pressure on them and the NCAA to give more inclusion to us or strap on more cash restrictions that will eventually begin hurting some of the poorer P5 schools.
Some of those schools only athletic budget comes from the conference payouts and if the schools have to start funneling money into their programs from other departments they are gonna be less than excited to vote for more payouts to players over what's been proposed. If we can agree with a smile and keep forcing their hand, eventually they will nickel and dime their own members out of making any money at all or give up the idea and let us play ball with them.
+1. A few random thoughts....... If this does to come to fruition, IMO G5 schools will have to take a long, hard look at conference affiliations vs. being relevant in football...travel be damned. In many ways the MWC and AAC have already positioned themselves for this change. However, I believed the AAC erred in many ways by picking media potential schools over football potential schools. IMO, FOOTBALL is driving the bus in this discussion, not media markets. With the loss of Louisville and Rutgers from the AAC a conference of Cincinnati, Marshall, Navy, Bowling Green, Ohio, Toledo, MTSU/WKU, N. Illinois, UCF, ECU, Houston, USF, Tulsa, SMU, Tulsa, USM(once recovered) doesn't look half bad, and would be competitive head-to-head with 80% of all the P5 schools. Personally I'd prefer MU be in a southern based conference, but we may not have a choice in the matter.
With that said, I'm not sold that several of the bottom end of the P5 schools can afford equality in benefits across the board for ALL of their men and women's scholarship sports. That's an awful lot of travel expenses for families of soccer, tennis, lacrosse, and Olympic sports athletes, etc. This should be interesting to watch unfold. The difference in stipend amounts from one school to the next will be the most entertaining. I can't wait to see Alabama, Auburn, UF, FSU, officials try to justify why their stipends are as high as USC, UCLA, etc. Yeah, Tuscaloosa, Gainesville, Auburn, etc., are expensive places to live....roll eyes.