The post never said that the side hustle was subpar. I did undergrad at a middling university and a mediocre sports, and I did grad school at a good school with a top tier basketball team.
To me, it seems the point of the post is that it is telling that there is a correlation. A well-funded university has a well-funded sports team. It sometimes feels the other way around with a well-funded sports team providing a well-funded school. Advocates of college sports actually tout that as feature.
It is so deeply rooted in our culture that I don’t even wear my alma mater hoodie because I don’t follow basketball. Sports is the only reason why anyone would that apparel, I guess.