I don't think there is a liability issue here above and beyond what already exists. If there was additional liability concerns for football players why are dorms opening up? In person classes? Probably intramurals.
I have no idea how accurate the union busting theory is here. I don't know if
@ShortSideOption has any better info from his sources. If it's true and part of shutting down was related to union busting, the decision makers are even dumber than I feared.
The conferences haven't ever really cared about player health if we're being honest. Sure there is some homage paid to it and steps taken long after issues were known (concussions). I don't think this is a health concern.
My best guess is that there are many in higher education positions that really don't like football or at least the attention football gets compared to academics. Most schools put money into their football programs or at least don't make much off of them.
20 programs show a profit Now, there are accounting "tricks" built into the numbers so there's no doubt more than 20 making money. How many? No idea, but not all schools make money.
There is absolutely politics in play here as well. This is a case of people that believe they know what's better for you than you know for yourself. They feel duty bound to do whatever they want because they know better than you.