No adjective you can think of properly describes the allegations that Yahoo! Sports made against the University of Miami this afternoon. Their 11-month investigation brought forth mountains of evidence implicating more than 60 current and former Hurricanes football and basketball players (and even some athletes who didn't end up at Miami) in accepting gifts, bribes, favors, and things we can't discuss in a family Beach Bucket from booster Nevin Shapiro -- all paid for by a Ponzi scheme for which Shapiro is currently serving time in federal prison.
Put it this way. Kellen Winslow Jr. crashed one of Shapiro's jet skis into a boat. That's what kind of scandal this is.
It's hard to imagine Miami not receiving incredibly stiff penalties from the NCAA should all this verify. (Which itself is hard to imagine with all the available evidence, including audio and photos, and a list of violations broken down player-by-player on Yahoo!'s site.) While we don't include the Hurricanes in our localized coverage, the SB Nation mother ship and The 7th Floor will have plenty to say about this scandal, so make sure to check them out.
Now then... assuming Miami does get the book thrown at them in some form or another, how would schools like Florida, Florida State, USF, and the other football programs in the state benefit?
Florida and Florida State would reap the biggest prizes. They've been fighting the Hurricanes for some of the Miami area's most sought-after high school recruits for many years. If Miami is hit with any kind of heavy sanctions, let alone the death penalty, those recruiting battles would all move towards the Gators and Seminoles. It would be much easier for those two programs to stay in college football's ruling class. (And since they're in the ACC together, Miami gets weaker every time FSU gets stronger.)
Of course, like any trickle-down theory, the trickle gets smaller as it moves down. USF is not quite in a position to get the big five-star recruits that Miami wouldn't be able to land anymore. But they could pick up more of the three and four-star prospects that either won't sign with Miami, or that Florida and FSU wouldn't have enough scholarships left to bring in. (Most of the out-of-state programs that recruit in Florida would be in that competition along with the Bulls.) A tweener program like UCF would also benefit on a slightly smaller scale, while FAU and FIU could sell prospects on the merits of staying home to play college ball without being ten miles deep in probation. (The two Sun Belt teams would see the least benefit because the Hurricanes weren't bringing in many two-star players to begin with.)
It's going to be awhile before we know what punishment the NCAA will hand down to Miami. But you can expect the recruiting wheels to start turning right away as coaches across the country seize on this news.