I would add, as much as money does buy championships (or helps to get them), that has always been the case with college football. It was just less direct. The teams with money had more and better facilities, food, clothing, tutoring, etc., that they could offer the players. The programs with $ did everything they could except give the players cash. Cash is a step up from that, but it's not like the playing field was even.
And in fact, I would say in college football things were more lopsided than in the NFL. It just didn't involve player salaries.