I'm not here to argue whether the NCAA was right to punish Penn State the way that they did but I personally see a whole different problem with college football. It's been taken way too far. Gone are the days where college football was a game played just for athletic ability, fun and for the fans. Gone are the days of college football loyalty.
With conference realignment, the biggest issue has been $$$. Never mind that these new conferences make zero sense geographically or even keep existing rivalries intact, it has become a race for the most money and the best facilities.
With Penn State, we have students rioting when Joe Paterno was forced out because he kept silent about child abuse. Football was far more important to them than the victims involved. College football is not a given at a university, it is a right that is earned. At Clemson, a student organization is punished or disbanded when members of the organization fail to comply with university rules. There was clearly a failure in the Penn State athletic department from the university president and athletic department to the janitors in the football building. The NCAA chose to punish Penn State and we need to move on with that decision. After all, Penn State is first and foremost an academic institution and athletics is just a part of the student experience.
While it is likely that the college football culture will not change - we need to try our best to keep in check the importance that we play on the sport. To remember that the game is never bigger than the value of human decency and that it is played by 18-25 year old kids.