As it grows, skeptics, many outside the university, question how much of the financial juggernaut makes its way to the classroom, and scoff at what they see as an imbalance of spending on facilities for athletes instead of regular students.

Dr. Allen Sack, professor emeritus at the University of New Haven and a member of the Drake Group, which pushes for educational improvements in college athletics, says that while big football universities claim that money is flowing to the classroom, it is often difficult to verify, though the wealth usually means there is some benefit.

“They are competing at the top level for tens of millions of network and marketing dollars,” Sack said. “Where is that money going? How much of it is going into laboratories and academics? Is it enhancing the reputation of the university? Nobody really knows those answers.”

Oh, I think we know those answers.

Alabama has funneled some of its largess into millions of dollars in scholarships and faculty salaries, with pledges to do more as it essentially monetizes the passion for the sport and embeds it in the university’s DNA.