That Alabama has decided to do this...
The University of Alabama announced this morning it will not hold classes Jan. 6-8 because of faculty, staff and students who want to make the trip to Pasadena, Calif., for the Crimson Tide's appearance in the BCS national championship game against Texas.
does not mean that it values athletics over academics in the aggregate. It just values it at the margin (i.e. at this particular moment for this particular).
The school operates on a semester system and this period was the beginning of the spring semester. While probably a time when canceling classes causes the least amount of trouble, it still forces faculty to cover the same amount of material in less time or, alternatively, to cover less material. Moreover, even though the administration is thinking at the margin and not in the aggregate, what kind of signal does this send about the Crimson Tide's opinion of athletics vs. academics?
HT The Wiz of Odds.