If you’re a fan, like I am, of a small college that tries to play big time sports, you know how tough it is for your school to compete against gargantuan state universities that have tens of thousands of students, hundreds of thousands of alums, and a seemingly endless supply of professional quality facilities.

Well, things just got a bit tougher: On Wednesday, Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty signed legislation authorizing the construction of a new, $248 million, on-campus football stadium for the University of Minnesota. Of course, one more academically essential football stadium at a state mega-versity only marginally hurts most smaller institutions (except for Northwestern). The people it’s really throwing for a loss are Minnesota taxpayers, who are being forced to pick up 55 percent of the tab—or more than $136 million—for the Golden Gophers’ new gridiron.

Not only do big state schools have an unfair advantage over small private colleges, it seems they have one over state taxpayers as well.