For two and a half years, Canes fans have cheered on the orange and green with a Ponzi-scheme raincloud over their heads. Ever since Yahoo published an in-depth reckoning of imprisoned booster Nevin Shapiro's claims about paying players and hosting wild bacchanals on his yacht, haters have gleefully promised everything from lengthy bowl bans to a program "death penalty."
In about an hour, the NCAA is set to finally announce UM's punishment, and if early reports are right, it's actually not so bad: nine scholarships lost over three years and no ban on postseason play.
Somewhere in a stuffy prison cell, Nevin Shapiro must be raging at the news.
See also: Nevin Shapiro: Miami's Caligula
ESPN's Joe Schad confirms the relatively light punishment, which follows two years of self-imposed bowl bans by the Canes.
Others have reported that former UM basketball coach Frank Haith, now the head coach at the University of Missouri, could face a five-game suspension and that his former assistants could also get hit with probation. UM's basketball program will reportedly lose three scholarships.
Either way, the punishment is a long way from the vitriol spewed by Canes haters in the weeks after the Yahoo report.
Of course, that came before the NCAA horribly botched its investigation to the point that much of the hate aimed at UM suddenly turned on college football's hypocrite police force.
We'll update this post when the NCAA's report is officially released at 10 a.m.
Update: The NCAA's report, indeed, includes nine lost scholarships for UM and a five-game suspension for Haith. You can read the full ruling here. This is the key excerpt on the punishments:
The committee acknowledged and accepted the extensive and significant self-imposed penalties by the university. Additional penalties in this case include a three-year probation period; a reduction in the number of football and men's basketball scholarships; recruiting restrictions; a five-game suspension for the former head men's basketball coach; and two-year show-cause orders for two former assistant football coaches and a former assistant men's basketball coach. If these individuals are employed at an NCAA member school during these two years, they and their current or future employer must appear before the Committee on Infractions to determine if the coach should have his duties limited.
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