Let's ask NCAA Committee on Infractions Committee chair Paul Dee:
What's the difference between vacation and forfeiture?
"There is a difference," Dee said.
"It's not semantics -- it's real -- between vacation and forfeiture," Dee continued. "In vacation, only the team involved, only in wins, do they vacate the wins. In forfeiture, you would not only vacate the win, but the opponent would improve their record. This was not a forfeiture, so therefore the rule only applies to the University of Alabama. It does not allow for any other university to improve its record."