...but tOSU, UGA, 'Bama lose it? They are clearly for profit operations. What about the middle tier teams that profit some but not as much - like VT? Just my random thoughts. I saw a thing where some university president had privately and non-quotably predicted CFB would not be a viable college sport in 20 years due to the financial pressures being so out of control. I don't doubt it with the trajectory it's on. Won't be too long before the field of schools that can continue to afford to field teams starts to regress and the number of teams starts to drop off. At least at the FBS level.

Due to financial ability. And remember if you make the men football team employees then so is the woman’s softball team

The universities do. Not that the NFL would have any reason to support CFB, semi-pro or not

The NFL (or individual teams) enters into some sort of minor league development agreement with major college programs. They draft kids out of HS, sign them to a contract, and then assign them to their partner college programs for a few years of development. The NFL squad pays the player contract, and contributes something to the school for general program upkeep. It's such a blindingly obvious revenue stream (for the schools) that I'd bet it's only a matter of time.

a player or try to trade the pick away for more picks.