Winning football teams fill stadiums (selling tickets), get better ESPN coverage (more money) and keep alums happy (bigger donations). That position probably turns a profit when it's all accounted for.
"no college or university in the United States has an athletic department that is financially self-sustaining."
BCS: "Between 50 and 60 percent of football and men's basketball programs have reported net generated revenues (surpluses) for each of the five years reported."
Translation: football makes money, other sports lose money.
FBS: "Only two percent of football programs reported net generated revenues."
Translation: When your program sucks, your revenue sucks too.
Also note that all 14 programs that made money overall were BCS teams.
Does Texas' $3M coach bring in an additional $2.9M+ per year compared to if Texas hired a coach for $100,000?