Let's agree that regardless of what anyone thinks the purpose of CFB truly is in its purest form, there are far too many forces at work to pervert it and have been since its inception. When Dave Revsine released his book on college football years ago, I vaguely remember him telling a story about how Alonso Stagg was in danger of losing one of his top players because he had to go back to work on his family's farm, so the university got his dad a job. He also told a story about how a top player got a gold watch and a percentage of the cigarette sales on campus. The problem of unscrupulous parties looking to gain whatever advantage they can has been present and will never go away.
The advent of NIL is symbolic, to me, of when the levees break. The NCAA was the caretaker of this process and failed as massively and as miserably as any fangless organization could when it comes to reasonable regulation. It is now an absolute free for all, with many parties looking creatively at how they can exploit the system, while saying, "we have done nothing illegal." The chance to reasonably compensate college athletes has come and gone.
The only endgame I see is that a select few schools - possibly as few as 32(?) will organize and continue to pump all the money it takes into competing. It will lead to the demise of the NCAA (sooner than later) and the eventual demise of most existing college athletic conferences. Then we will see the formation of two distinct leagues - a reimagining of FBS and FCS - one where anything goes - little to no regulation on payments, academic standing, or anything - just semi-pro leagues trading on college logos. I see the other league (one that Northwestern is most likely to pursue) where there is standardized compensation and shared academic expectations - they will still get TV deals because there are enough "heritage fans" to drive ratings, but it will be a giant step back in the way of modesty and a new definition of what we consider to be "amateurism." I will be happy when we get there.
