They can’t do it now without breaking away from the current governing structure. It would be suicide for the networks because in doing that, how many entire states worth of viewers would no longer have any interest in college football? Risky move especially if you are trying to pay these enormous sums to schools like Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland, etc.
It’s not going to be like the NFL where people in regions with no team watch. In college if your school isn’t participating, who cares?
I understand the B10 and SEC fans think everyone loves their product more than God, but it isn’t so In college athletics.
Once they stop participating with the majority of other schools then the audience and money goes away big time. They are making threats now so that people will sign on to a bigger playoff and just accept more B10 and SEC teams next time whether deserving or not.