Miami Has Reason To Worry

The University of Miami has no fortune tellers or palm readers employed in the athletic department. No one is consulting the Psychic Channel either.

But a powerful omen indicating Miami’s fate appeared Wednesday when the NCAA penalized the Alabama football program.

Alabama got socked, which does not bode well for Miami. On the sin scale, Alabama coveted its neighbor’s wife. Miami is accused of adultery.

In terms of breadth, Alabama’s violations involved a handful of people. Miami’s cast could fill the seats in the Orange Bowl’s west end zone.

They’re crying in Tuscaloosa. They’re sweating in Miami.

It’s dangerous to draw direct parallels between the situations at Alabama and Miami. The charges are different and the NCAA is as unpredictable as Hurricane Erin.

But remember: Even though the NCAA’s investigators can be as incompetent as Inspector Clouseau, and the infractions committee can be as political and petty as the clownish bunch that presided over the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill hearings, the NCAA can do whatever it darn well pleases.

The NCAA put Alabama on three years’ probation, stripped it of 22 scholarships over the next two years and banned the Crimson Tide from a bowl appearance for showing a “distressing failure of institutional control.” Antonio Langham played the 1993 season despite having signed with an agent. Gene Jelks received improper loans from boosters.

Miami, which is under scrutiny for Pell Grant fraud involving 57 football players, has tried to portray former counselor Tony Russell - now in prison - as a rogue employee. Will the NCAA buy it?

Jelks obtained impermissible payment loans from boosters. At Miami, it’s not loans, but pay-for-play allegations involving rap star Luther Campbell, former players and one of the school’s own assistant coaches.

If Alabama, which had a clean record, showed a “distressing” lack of control, what will the NCAA make of the mess at Miami? There are allegations of freebies at local businesses and improper jobs at the Coconut Grove Arts Festival.

The infractions committee can’t rule on the criminal conduct but it will surely be on members’ minds: Thirteen players on last year’s team were arrested at some point in their Miami careers. Women told The Miami Herald they were raped by players or spied on while having sex or pushed outside naked to retrieve clothes thrown out the window. A former football secretary alleges she smoked pot with players.

The NCAA isn’t oblivious to the negative publicity Miami has received, including the Sports Illustrated cover story. The people governing college sports don’t want to be perceived as a bunch of hypocritical wimps.

Miami could face harsher penalties than Alabama. No TV, loss of scholarships, a longer bowl ban, which in the case of the new Bowl Alliance could mean missing out on an $8 million payout.

The NCAA isn’t wielding a broom these days. It’s swinging a hammer.