At the College of William & Mary, which earlier this month cut seven teams — women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s gymnastics, and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field — the football team gets paid by schools like the University of Virginia ($400,000) and Virginia Tech ($350,000) simply to play them.

Nevertheless, William & Mary’s football team ended last season with a net loss of $1.7 million. Men’s basketball was in the red $750,000. Neither team funds anything at William & Mary, including themselves.

The men’s and women’s swimming teams, by contrast, occupy a combined endowment in excess of $3 million. They receive no scholarships; the pool is funded through the recreation budget, not athletics; and they yield an annual loss of approximately $150,000 between the two teams.

Mid-majors like William & Mary are failing financially not because of swimming, volleyball, track or gymnastics. They are failing because they are trying to be something they are not: massive. They are chasing a mythical dream based on an unattainable financial model.