Slight semantic quibble: ND is vacating wins, not forfeiting them.
Here’s the difference: Ohio State vacated its Sugar Bowl win over us after Tattoogate. That did not make our record for the 2010 season 11-2; we’re still 10-3. If they had forfeited the game, we would be 11-2. It just made Ohio State 0-13, although the Ohio State media guide lists them as 0-1 with 12 vacated wins. That one loss? To Bret Bielema.
The NCAA is just gutless. Forfeit the games like a man…no vacate the win crap. Vacate the win…who came up with that soft ball for a forfeit? The games were played…if Notre Dame didn’t win the game then the opponent did. Man up, NCAA.
“Vacating” wins really has no effect whatsoever on a program. There is nothing punitive in it whatsoever. No loss of scholarships, no loss of bowls, no loss of revenue. It is really meaningless in this case. Only way it would matter was if a championship was involved, like our two track championships the NCAA took away with the Tyson Gay housing deal.