P5 v. G5 (or non-P5) is a big deal in football.

In basketball there are opportunities to do significant things, maybe even win a tournament, despite not being in a P6 conference (I'm including the Big East). Gonzaga has shown that, as has Wichita State, Butler, etc. The other thing about basketball is that if you can get one or two good players, you can make a run. That's significantly less true in football, where you really need 15-20 big-time players to consistently win games.

Non-revenue sports are completely different.