Probably a whole nother discussion, but I think we see this everywhere in society, not just schools dealing with the NCAA. If it's a minor penalty under normal circumstances, programs try to comply. If it's a major penalty, or there's a lot at stake (say Urban Meyer's employment), they fight and often reach a settlement that both sides can live with.
As an analogy, take Elon Musk's tweet about taking Tesla private. He clearly violated the law on manipulating stock prices, but rather than go to jail as he should, he's being sued by the SEC, which may or may not be a deterrent, depending on whether they go after him personally, or as an officer of Tesla. We'll see.
Point being that the penalty to the individual is what matters. Handcuffs and prison sentences are generally a good deterrent, which is why the financial crisis of 08 is likely to repeat IMHO (no fraud by the investment bankers was ever prosecuted)...and healthcare will continue to be unaffordable (price fixing)...and superfund environmental disasters where everyone knows the danger will continue....and on and on. Companies routinely violate the law, and if you don't go after the individuals, well, deterrence doesn't work. Why? Because lawsuits that settle against a company are generally defended by the company (thus individuals are largely protected legally and financially). So why care? Especially when you get more benefit than the penalty adjusted for the risk of being caught. Just a cost of doing business.
Back to the topic and analogy with the NCAA, we're in the mode of lawsuits and settlements, which have only the slightest deterrent affect, and on a PR basis, we're all having scandal fatigue because the behavior is happening constantly. So there's little cost, and lots of benefit.
I'll yield the soapbox now....