It's more the notion that anyone gives a shit about academic rankings, especially the overwhelming majority of college football players. That was a take you'd see often on TexAgs back in the day, and it was stupid back then, too. You think Arch Manning or Colin Simmons or their agents give a flying fuck about Texas' academic rankings? It's an outright comical notion. Nobody fucking cares.
Your take is entirely (and understandably, since you're a Texas fan) biased and parts are certainly dated/incorrect like what I mentioned above, the notion that we need "Texas' money" to survive, or the notion that we have a small fan base.
The TV eyeballs/brand/winning shit is of course true, but that's what we're trying to change. Again, your issue is that we're trying. Your perspective is that we should just not try. It's completely illogical and a non-starter in any serious conversation.