When I worked there, certain sports were required (MBB and WBB for sure). Not sure if that’s still the case, but it would be virtually impossible to be a D1 school and not have it.
Men’s basketball NCAA tournament $$ from the CBS contract continues to be a huge component of conf revenue sharing, and to miss out on that would be disastrous.
Could make argument that having a successful MBB program is more important than FB honestly, especially in certain parts of the country.