Did a quick search of each state's FBS and FCS schools along with the state's estimated population in 2016.Thinking about the number of people in Alabama vs. Ohio, it makes more sense.
Ten states have 10 or more D1 (FBS and FCS) football programs. Of those 10, only Louisiana, Tennessee, and South Carolina have less than 10 million citizens. Alabama has nine D1 football programs with 4.8 million citizens.
Just for comparative's sake, Ohio has 10 programs with 11.6 million citizens. We can agree it's much easier to support those 10 programs with almost seven million more citizens, right?