I agree with the first part of your statement, but the number of teams/players in college make the second (college game being worse) all but a sure thing. 125+ teams with 85+ players each, vs 32 teams with 53+ players. The numbers suggest it couldn't really be any other way.
Add to that the fact that the kids are younger, less mature, and often from less than ideal home situations, and it's almost a win that it doesn't happen more often.
I realize that's a cynical approach, but i'm not really sure the game or the people have changed so much, but the number of 24 hour news outlets has gone up about a billion percent, so we hear about it so much more now.
I still think ,depending on your viewing angle, the college game is has a much smaller problem.