And I'm tempted to describe it as the worlds largest most unfair poker game. Basically every DI school that plays both football and basketball, or just basketball, antes up with revenue sharing money. Getting that ante money is an accomplishment enough for many schools. We as fans then tend to obsess over how our school strategically allocates their ante between which sports and to what players. Yet behind that ante money each school (or its benefactors) has a stack of other money which for some can dwarf the ante. Some schools stack is small or even negligible , others moderate, some large, and few seemingly unlimited. These stacks represent money that under current "rules" is permissible and above board. Yet some schools even have money beyond that, not on the board, but hidden in their pockets that should it be needed can find a quiet "gray" way to a player. Bottom line is for the schools without the large stacks, they can be called or raised on every player , every year, by every and any school that has the stack. The results are pretty obvious. And no sane human would ever enter a poker game so fixed. Yet here we are. Maybe my analogy is off some and there are more guardrails in place then I'm aware of- if so please for my sanity tell me what I have maybe gotten wrong.