The most recent college champions are Ohio State and Florida State on the gridiron, Connecticut and Louisville on the men’s hardwood. Of these only one, Ohio State, graduated more than 50% of scholarship athletes in the relevant sport in the title year. The schools’ profit for NCAA play in these two sports averaged $30 million last year. That’s before donations inspired by athletics.

If you ran a college and knew there was substantial money to be had from sports but no requirement to educate athletes, you might cut corners....