Miami imposes bowl ban due to pending NCAA investigation

• This is the second consecutive years the school has imposed a ban
• The NCAA is investigating alleged impermissible benefits provided by a former booster
• Decision puts Georgia Tech in the ACC title game

The University of Miami self-imposed a postseason ban Monday for the second straight year, as the NCAA continues its investigation into whether former booster Nevin Shapiro gave illegal benefits to dozens of athletes.

Even though Shapiro began speaking to NCAA enforcement more than a year ago, the NCAA has not yet delivered Miami with a notice of allegations, which means the penalty process is still months away. But the school hopes it will mitigate future sanctions by holding itself out of a bowl game now. Miami became bowl-eligible last Saturday at 6-5 by beating South Florida. The Hurricanes were 6-6 last season and sacrificed a bowl bid.

University president Donna Shalala made the decision, according to a school release, after "considerable deliberation and discussion based on the status of the NCAA inquiry."

Miami's decision will also impact the ACC championship game and the league's bowl pecking order. Had Miami beaten Duke this weekend, the Hurricanes would have wrapped up the Coastal division and played Florida State for a berth in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 1. Instead, Georgia Tech (6-5) will take Miami's place. If the Yellow Jackets lose this weekend to Georgia and then lose the ACC championship game, they could be in danger of missing a bowl game at 6-7. The NCAA no longer gives waivers for teams with losing records to play in bowl games, as it did with UCLA last year, but has a selection process that is partly driven by Academic Progress Ratings among other factors.

Interim athletic director Blake James said Miami does not have any indication of when the NCAA will inform Miami of its allegations. He met with the team Monday morning and notified players that they would not be playing in a bowl.

"As anyone can imagine there was a reaction of disappointment," James said. "Obviously you play to win games and have opportunities, and this was an opportunity they were shooting for all year. To not have that potential to be able to play in a bowl game is obviously disappointing, but we made the decision we felt was best for our program going forward."

The fact that Miami still doesn't know the scope of its penalties could fuel more speculation that head coach Al Golden will look elsewhere this offseason.

Golden, who rebuilt the Temple program between 2006 and 2010, took the Miami job before Shapiro's allegations were made public. He has done a good job managing a young roster, but the uncertainty of the NCAA sanctions will continue to hurt Miami in recruiting. His name has been connected to multiple potential openings, including at Tennessee.

"Al is very committed," James said. "He recognizes what we all recognize in that we have a very, very bright future as a program. When you look at the team we have out on the field, the young guys contributing to this program right now, who we are as a program with a lot of our impact players being freshmen and sophomores, we have a great future as a program and that credit goes to Al."