People keep bringing up Congress… but What politician is going to stand in the way of the major universities in their state from doing what they want?
There isn’t a critical mass of states who’d be “left behind” to get anything done.. and even if there was just enough you’d need support from both sides of Congress and getting alignment between the two sides to do something is incredibly unlikely.
Are Oregon & Washington’s senators going to standup and hurt Oregon and Washington’s athletic programs to help Wazzou and Oregon St?
Let’s say the P2 leaves. You have what Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Massachusetts & New York (if they care about the private universities), probably UConn given the schools history. If you add in states that have only G5 schools you add in Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho, Wyoming & now Delaware.
What other states have congressional support to jump in? Even that blend of up to 22 senators would require bi-partisan cooperation.
There is almost no chance Congress is getting involved, there just won’t be enough of a public outcry outside of the few areas where the biggest schools are on the outside.