No, there are no alternatives; none at all. The outgoing president of obscure Nicholls University (big-time athletics was going to put it on the map, but …) reviews the athletics-generated academic fraud plus APR-score penalties that marked his term in office. (The article is behind a paywall.)
Hulbert complains that “it is hard to fight battles with a state government that takes money away from higher education.” But Hulbert doesn’t mean higher education; he means athletics facilities. He’s upset with the state because it won’t fund athletics facilities.
President Hulbert does not grasp the distinction between athletic facilities and educational facilities.