Joe Paterno said it best. When asked by a reporter roughly 20 years ago if he would retire soon, Paterno asked, "Why would I want to leave college football in the hands of Barry Switzer and Jackie Sherrill?"
I think the best chance for the death penalty to have been handed down would have been against Alabama at any point in the last 10 years. The fact that the NCAA has been unwilling to do so seems to say that they never will again no matter the circumstances, so there's literally zero incentive not to cheat like hell.