When critics talk about the problems surrounding America's college sports culture, they tend to talk about the powerhouses. They take aim at the teams that dominate not only their campuses, but also the news cycle on ESPN. Duke basketball. Ohio State football. The largest, richest, and most powerful programs in the NCAA.

Take the recent New York Times piece, "How Big Time Sports Ate College Life." The authors argue that, at many U.S. universities, the fervor for tail-gating, face-painting, and general sports nuttiness is eclipsing the schools' academic missions. Athletic department budgets are soaring. Classes are being canceled so students can watch games on television. At Ohio State, incoming Buckeye football coach Urban Meyer gets use of a private jet, while a poor, beleaguered physics professor doesn't have enough room in his budget to attend science conferences.