They are already making what will be a massive financial problem for these universities worse.
It is fundamentally insane to think it's BAU. Send the general student body home, and keep the student athletes in the bubble. Give the student athlete a chance to opt out.
But if thee's no college football during this academic calendar year then the financial crisis that these universities face will be that much worse. The institutional/corporate structure of the various athletic departments varies substantially. Those athletic departments that rely on massive stipends from the academic side to meet their budgetary requirements will be an immediate drag on the balance sheet of the university or worse.
For K-State Athletics Inc. with only a dotted line to the greater university umbrella it could potentially run the gamut of insolvency to "just" substantially inconvenienced. If it's the worst case scenario the academic side/the Regents/the legislature/the donors either in concert or acting unilaterally would have to decide if they want to bail out K-State Athletic's Inc. It may very well depend on what kind of life support the B12 can throw it's members way in terms of keeping them whole financially. In FY 2019 a total of $49 million dollars was contributed to K-State Athletics. $20 million to the annual (operating) fund, and $29 million towards capital projects. Even if people roll over their Ahearn (operating) contributions that's operating funds stretched out over 2 full fiscal years.
If it's the worst case scenario across the entire spectrum of college athletics, there will be a new normal, and the list of schools involved will be shorter, potentially a lot shorter.