At the same time many of those same schools may have been involved in the NCAA's fight to try to get Title IX repealed. Even if the ADs aren't intentionally treating it as a zero sum game now, they may be doing it on a subconscious level though particularly in some of the narratives ADs give publicly when they announce the cutting of men's sports and the addition of women's sports. Here's an example from 2006 when JMU decided to cut 10 teams that I think supports their premise. "In late September of 2006, the Board of Visitors at James Madison University announced a plan to cut a total of ten teams (7 men’s and 3 women’s), effective July 1, 2007 in an effort to address what was described as an “insurmountable challenge” to comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 due to the athletics program being “unusually large for a public university” of its size (Staff, September 29, 2006). The decision will affect 144 athletes (eight of whom are on athletic scholarships) and 11 coaches (three full time and eight part time). With assurances that every avenue had been explored prior to reaching their decision, associate vice-president of communications Andy Perrine elaborated, “We would not have done it [cut teams] if not for Title IX. There was just about no way we could add more women’s programs and afford it and be in compliance” (Redden, 2006). Citing the ten point gap in the percentage of women within the student body compared to women in the athletic program (roughly 61% to 51%), vice president for finance and administration Charles King wrote in his November 2006 newsletter, “We could not continue to be out of compliance with this important federal law, which requires institutions to have a percentage of varsity athletes that is about the same by ratio as the student body. At JMU, this means that approximately 60% of our varsity athletes must be women.” https://sportslitigationalert.com/james-madison-universit...