Because it's now more evident than ever that via a relatively small investment in facilities and a coach, your non-P5 brand and university can be featured on national tv winning a National Championship against a Big Ten team and perrenial powerhouse. To me, that's better than playing in a no-name bowl game or the NIT every year. Even if it doesn't get the alumni as excited, the exposure is better. Winning a game in the NCAA basketball tournament is about the only realistic thing that tops this achievement, but in Akron's case, we literally have one more men's soccer national championship than we do NCAAT wins in basketball. When or how else would Akron or Marshall win a D-1 team national championship?
I live out-of-state, and when I tell people that I went to Akron, if nothing else, they know our powerful soccer brand. That's a great return on investment.