rick neuheisel was on nfl radio yesterday discussing just this. he felt it was strictly for safety, no students would be on campus or classroom learning.
i won't do it justice, but he had a great explanation. he felt it was coming from the presidents and admins of the university, and not the athletic division of the schools. the presidents of these big schools see the football programs as a nice front porch. it looks attractive and is inviting. it gets the kids looking at your school, and get the alumni to come back and be involved. they know the popularity and financial gain for the schools, but it's just one component of a large university. these schools are dealing with large student bodies, affiliations with hospital and graduate programs, etc. there's so many moving parts to these big schools, that they just don't want any problems from the football program. the easiest solution is just to put it on hold...one less public issue to deal with.