It does not make sense to me that the 8 games should just be ignored as if they were never played.

The school just has to vacate the wins, not turn them from wins to losses. So OUs 2005 record goes from 8-4 to 0-4, not 0-12. OU was penalized for "failure to monitor" by the NCAA. There is a harsher penalty, "loss of control", and I believe if that would have been the penalty that the 8 wins would have been turned into losses.

The wins are taken.
Losses are not added.

Maybe the NCAA is more interested in punishing Oklahoma's football program, and not necessarily punish Stoops? Maybe he wasn't real culpable in the matter?

Because The NCAA is still mad at OU over OU leading the charge to form the CFA and break the NCAA's unfair monopoly on college football TV games. All of you college football fans across the nation owe OU a debt of gratitude for this, for they have certainly paid a high price. Bob Stoops runs the cleanest program of all, and they do this to him - it SUCKS!

They are PUNISHING the University. His record as the COACH is just part of it.

Chiefs and Nachos is correct. Vacated wins rather than losses. To add to it, the teams they beat do not get credit for the wins. If they did, Nebraska would have won the Big 12 North instead of Colorado.