At research universities most of the budget comes from research, and most of the work in research gets done by grad students. Undergrad programs are an afterthought.
And from what I can see most of the budget comes from and is devoted to college football.
I believe this mostly because the big conferences have fantastic TV deals and huge research schools.
This couldn't be further from the truth. I'm unaware of any major universities in which sports money comes from or is applied to general budgets. Athletic departments are generally self-contained and there is very little (if any) financial overlap into the academic portions of a university. Payroll, and even scholarships, are paid from athletic income, and any left over is not put into general budget.
Personally, I wish the myth of "the cost to the university/tax payers/etc" would go away.