The universities are not going to make student athletes their employees. They will form companies owned by the conferences to employ the players or, more likely, contract with the players or their agents and to perform other necessary functions while keeping the institutions insulated from the grimy dealings. One of those functions could be the governance operations currently being handled by the NCAA to nobody's satisfaction. The scholarship arrangement with the players need not change.
I believe that this is the "true" purpose of the "Alliance." The ACC media contract is the only one among P5's that is not being reworked within the next three years. There may never be a more opportune moment to blow the whole thing up and build a new college football cash cow. If The B1G and The PAC 12 act together, even with some kind of future buy-in from The ACC, this would position them to challenge the hegemony of The SEC. The SEC may well be a part of this whole (admittedly imaginary) plan. But my current perception is that the relationship between the two major conferences is an adversarial one.
I do not believe that the ACC media contract can remain intact for another 15 years. The financial pressure will force a fracture. VT should become selfish about their own well-being and stop worrying about the conference.