The issue to me is that this team basically just didn't want to play and they just up and left. I think this quote by their coach really says it all- "I'm not going to play just because John Cohen wants to play". And to get out of having to forfeit the game, their coach basically lied to the NCAA and everyone else and got lucky that the NCAA believed him for some reason.
The other issue here is we paid them to play three games, and they only played two.
So, yes, I think it's a big deal. Unless we're going to be OK with paying people to play games and not show up and leave if we hurt their feelings.