Jay Wright finds it sad. Opposed groups believe it is an infringement on education. Those who do not support the moves do not understand the value.

While many people have challenged and bellyached about college football realignment, the value and financial compensation that it provides to universities is unmatched. To outsiders it is just a game, but to schools it is a goldmine.

On Tuesday, Dec. 6, the Big East announced the addition of Boise State University and San Diego State University as competitive programs in football only, while also adding SMU, UCF and Houston for all sports. Nevermind the geographical queries presented by having a West Coast university competing in the “Big East,” this realignment was done to provide opportunities, and dollars, to “mid-major” universities.

These moves also saved the Big East Conference. Thanks to departures from big time schools Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia, the conference was dissolving. As a conference with a deep-seeded past in basketball and success in other sports, fans and players did not want to see the legacies and rivalries disappear. This is where Jay Wright’s argument came into play.

On Tuesday night, Wright, men’s basketball coach for Big East basketball power Villanova, described the situation as “sad.” Wright, and many others operating from his perspective, are disgruntled with the emphasis placed on football. Wright was very proud of the Big East’s reputation as a basketball program, and believed that the replacement schools did not compare to the aptitude of the departing institutions.

Basketball may be the second most popular draw among college athletics, but it is not football. Football is the apex of college sports. Fans were willing to shell out more than $800 for a single ticket to watch Alabama play LSU in a football game this fall. How many people are willing to spend that much on a cross-country meet or softball game?

Football has mass appeal and hype that no sport can match. Schools will do whatever they have to get a piece of the pie. The latest Big East domino is just the next step in a pattern that has headlined college football for more than a year. As a BCS conference, the conference is eligible to send its champion (and a possible at-large bid recipient) to one of the game’s most illustrious bowls. The BCS means money.

According to the Sports Business Journal Daily, the BCS paid out $145.2 million, with $115.2 million going into the pockets of the “big six” power conferences, of which the Big East is a member. This means 66 schools split 81 percent of the pot; through some other financial distributions and skimming, the remaining 54 schools share only $24 million.

Comparing numbers, the teams of the Big 12 split $17.7 million dollars, which split evenly would give every university roughly $1.47 million dollars. Conversely, Conference USA, the league in which four of the new Big East schools current compete, divided only $2.8 million amongst 12 members. This left approximately $233,333 per school.

Some argue that this is only fair because the power conferences are allotted almost every bowl slot. But that is a sign of the convoluted and corrupt BCS playing against itself. They want big money schools with big fan followings traditionally playing in the most notable games. However, these conferences are based on outdated standards and criteria. Giving the SMUs and University of Central Floridas of the world a chance to compete would give a more balanced and substantial slice of the pie.

BCS proponents like to contend that the schools and conferences selected for their system are the biggest, wealthiest, highest quality and even throw in educational competency among their standards. Academic standards even prevented more Big 12 teams from fleeing to the Pac-12, as that conference allegedly views classroom performance as a critical point for its league members. In regards to numbers, San Diego State has an enrollment more than 21,000, not far behind our very own Iowa State University. Central Florida has an enrollment greater than 40,000. Only two of the current Big East teams, Cincinnati and South Florida, have more students.

Conference realignment is morphing into a positive for colleges, even beyond an athletic level. So-called mid-major programs are receiving recognition and promotion. There is much less of a schism than people like to believe. The BCS has its kinks and has hurt schools in the past, but the transition taking place in the Big East is just a sample of the positives that could happen.

In spite of what some students, coaches or administrators believe, it is a good thing and it is being motivated by football. Football attracts more money than any other sport. Alumni, sponsors and national media members will flock to a premier football program before any other sport. The new additions to the Big East are just the most recent example of the influence the sport has. Major universities need football to thrive.

Academics and other sports should receive credit where credit is due. Each facet of a college plays a role in improving the institution. No school should function like the University of Miami where winning by any means necessary in football is the only thing that matters, but granting a school the resources to be successful will come back to benefit the university as a whole.

The Big East is surviving because of football. The Big 12 survived thanks to football. Without these conferences and their football prowess, schools could lose millions of dollars in revenue. The financial void would not just impact the football program, but the universities as a whole.