I can see your argument. However, the simple truth is it comes down to the academic fraud kept the players eligible. That is a competitive advantage. Therefore, the school MUST be punished, even after kicking the player off the team.What is worse, academic fraud by player or armed robbery by a player? The NCAA is smart enough to realize that a school cannnot keep a player from being a thug, but they are not smart enough to realize that they cannot keep a player from cheating in the classroom.
Again, I am assuming that the school was not aware and that they did not attempt to cover it up. Based on how they have handled this to date and how they handled the situation with their starting QB last season, I believe that this is probably as much a shock to the ND coaches and administration as it is to the rest of the college football world.
So, should the school suffer because they have cheaters or criminals on their team if they take appropriate action the moment that they discover the problem? IMO, they should be lauded, not punished.
If the players had committed a crime, then kicking them off the team would be enough. In this case, ND has to face the consequences otherwise there's no reason to have rules in the first place.