Walkons still have to be wanted, in order to be on the team, not just because they show interest. Athletes (now) agree to play either for love of the game (walk-on), or scholarship. That is their pay. The Band or Cheerleaders don't get paid, yet perform the same and help provide the entertainment that produces that revenue. Producing revenue doesn't require payment to someone if they are willing to play a sport for the school for some other incentive.
I also started college at UTA. Soon found out it was a pitiful excuse for a University experience and transferred to NT. I went to Denton High as a Freshman and Soph so I was familiar with the school and town. NT just didn't have Engineering at the time, so I tried UTA.
I think they have two possibilities to stay a Power school--the B1G and SEC are the Powerful 2, but the Big 12 survives as a league of the best of the rest and gets to keep a Power status, even though they make much less. Or the B1G expands, continuing its march into the MIdwest and West, adding more AAU schools that includes KU and Mizzou. Then the SEC says they want some exposure in the MIdwest, and they add in KSU, which would fit in fine with them academically.
Or they get left behind, as you mention above. I just could see the politicians in these states, that are full of graduates of these big state schools that aren't directional or names after a city, being able to get the K-State's, Iowa State's, Texas Tech's and Mississippi State's of the world to stay at the top level. At least int he first iteration of the schism.
But if that schism means that UNT gets to play in a level of competition and a conference with the sparer SWC schools that also includes other regional AAC teams, I'd feel like UNT really won in that setup. A new school SWC, with Tulsa, SMU, TCU, Baylor, UH, Rice, UNT, UTSA, UTEP, and Tulane. That would be incredible for us. But if that new competition ended up being the teams I listed, but not UNT, because SMU, TCU, and Baylor team up again to keep us away from them regionally, then it would depend on if we are able to at least still be playing at that same level. If we are, but we are playing Texas State, NMSU, and other SBCUSA schools, it'll suck, but at least we would still be able to play at the same level. But if the current power schools that get left behind all create some new level of play and just add in a few current G5 schools that doesn't include us, we need to immediately understand that football here just was never meant to be greatness and act accordingly.
Actually, I transferred from UT-Arlington to UNT after reaching out to the next editor and finding out whether she'd be interested in my girlfriend and I joining the newspaper. It was a weird situation that's not entirely different than an athlete coming because a coach offers them a spot. We were pissed off at UTA because of some shit that went down there.
In any case if recruitment is what stops an athlete from being an employee, then you are saying that walkons are employees.
I think you're overcomplicating things. Athletes perform work, their work generates revenue for schools, schools should pay them.
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