right, i agree. the difference is what that punishment should be and the rhetoric around what happened.
i dont think this is a big deal because of the reality of sign stealing being legal and everyone doing it. for practical purposes there is little edge gained by michigan over what ohio state did. in fact, i would say what ohio state did was more effective. which is not to say ohio state should be punished because what they did was within the rules.
i propose to you that the reason behind the "no in person scouting" rule is antiquated. it is a rule to protect smaller colleges who dont have the means to send scouts to opposing games from the big schools (like say, all the big ten schools...even purdue!) who could send multiple scouts like nfl teams do.
the idea that this is the worst scandal in big ten history, or even a scandal at all, is a media creation and the failure of the big ten commissioner to get his conference under control (and that includes getting michigan under control).