Opt in or opt out?

To some, the hottest and most fascinating college athletics topic around. To others, a brain-frying maze of gobblygook to ignore for the sheer depth and legal confusion of it all.

But undeniably, it is a major decision for each Division I program not in the Power Four Conferences (they have to "opt in"): Will you take the option to allow your athletes to be paid directly by the school via sharing the revenue your athletic department makes — up to $20.5 million of revenue this year, and more in coming years — should you say "yes?"  

South Dakota is opting in. Three other Missouri Valley Football Conference Schools have officially announced they are in — Youngstown State, Illinois State, Murray State. FCS powerhouse Montana State, in. 

North Dakota State? Nothing yet announced.

South Dakota State? Last week, athletics director Justin Sell told Happy Hour host John Gaskins, via text, the same thing he told Gaskins In a March 5 Happy Hour interview — the Jackrabbits will likely not opt in, citing mainly the roster cuts spanning multiple sports that would have to be made. 

But that was before the House Settlement was officially approved on June 6, with the announcement that all athletes on rosters this season would be saved if a school "opted in" — the "grandfather clause."

So where does SDSU and Sell now stand? The deadline is June 30. Sell spends over 50 minutes describing all of the factors SDSU is considering before it makes up its mind. 

As valuable of a discussion — what are all the ways SDSU and other schools currently compensate their athletes? Where does the money come from and how is it distributed?

And most importantly, where do major donors and major corporate sponsors — a vital source of revenue for the athletic program — stand on if revenue sharing is a better way to compensate athletes versus NIL (Name, Image, Likeness). After all, donors will get a tax break on their donation to the school. They won't on their donations to the third-party "NIL collectives" that are currently the only way athletes at SDSU get "paid" beyond their "cost of attendance" compensation.

Sell offers us some clarity on the weight and details of this decision.