First I would assert that it's not my opinion. In fact I haven't as yet come to a personal conclusion but I will say that this piece by Bryan Fischer of CBSSports has provided me with the rationale for subscribing to PSU receiving the harshest penalty the NCAA can assess. This is the gist of his argument:

This is a criminal case to be sure, but it's also one about an ever encompassing program. The Committee on Infractions won't punish Spanier, Schultz or any of the other individuals as they wither away in jail, but the COI still wields the power to punish the apparatus that gave them their influence and what they so desperately wanted to protect. This is a case about power and at the heart of that lies football. Last I checked, that was the domain of the folks in Indianapolis.