In many cases the G5 schools are just as large, or larger in student population, than the P5 schools. But they have been viewed for a long time as a lower level of athletic competition mainly because of two things. 1. academic level of the school (because people love to compare and tout rankings) 2. money available and spent on sports (which is a vicious loop, you can't spend money if you don't have money) Honestly, if every D1 school had to start from scratch and get equal sports funding for recruiting, salaries, facilities, etc. I think multiple G5 schools would surpass multiple P5 schools who coast under the current system.