I don't understand why you are having trouble discerning between crappy treatment and disparate treatment. It is crappy that a men's football team or a women's crew squad has to go from New Brunswick to L.A. to compete over a weekend. Schools should not allow it. And whether they are willing to take political hit for it is another issue (although I doubt there are material adverse political consequences but neither of us knows that today). But unless there are more facts, and schools should be able to avoid creating them, the treatment is not disparate.
And yes, Title IX is complicated and schools, even if they've done nothing wrong, don't want to defend a case. But that's classic Muntz goalpost moving. That's an issue with or without football driven realignment.