The ominous dark cloud hovers in the distance, it's threatening black color growing darker by the day. Though it gradually inches closer, giving plenty of warning of its arrival, it's nearly impossible to be ready for the havoc-wreaking storm tucked inside.

Still, Alabama's Dennis Franchione and Kentucky's Guy Morriss are doing everything possible to build the best storm shelter they can.

NCAA investigators have been sniffing around each of their college football programs for months. Kentucky finally annouced its results: More than 36 NCAA violations since February 1999. The Wildcats now await sanctions from the NCAA. Alabama is still awaiting the results of a similar probe. When the dust settles in these matters, it will be Franchione and Morris, a pair of individuals who had nothing to do with the mess they are in, who must deal with the damage.

All this is on top of putting a winning football team on the field. Kentucky, which hasn't had three straight winning seasons since the 1950s, finished 2-9 last year. Alabama was 3-8, its seventh losing season in 100 years.

	Hal Mumme resigned as Kentucky coach on Feb. 6 amid controversy.

"The cloud hanging above us is only as dark as you perceive it," said Morriss, the former offensive line coach who replaced Hal Mumme on February 6. "What's going to happen is going to happen. There's no sense in worrying about things we can't control. We'll take our medicine from the NCAA like a big boy and we'll go on."

Franchione has taken a similar glass-is-half-full outlook. While the NCAA is investigating Kentucky after former recruiting coordinator Claude Bassett admitted to sending $1,400 to a Memphis high school coach in October, Alabama is potentially in more serious trouble. Freshman defensive tackle Albert Means transferred to Memphis last month after a newspaper report said Means' high school coach received $200,000 for sending him to Alabama.

The inquires with Alabama don't stop there, with the NCAA reportedly investigating academic qualifications of players signed by the previous coaching staff. But Franchione is doing his best to keep everyone positive.

"We don't just sit around and pout about what our problems are," Franchione said. "I told our team that every season, every team has three crises. How we handle those will have a major determination in how we handle our season. This is one of those things."

Even Franchione, who himself looked into potential NCAA sanctions before leaving TCU for Alabama in December, has been surprised by some of the details in the Means case.

"The facts and figures and allegations are pretty bizarre at times," he said. "But obviously, some people would like for everything to be more dramatized than it actually is."

What sanctions the NCAA will issue when it completes its investigation is anyone's guess. The damage is already being felt, however, as Franchione and his staff had to answer questions about rumors of the "death penalty," but a punishment of that magnitude appears unlikely. Still, some level of probation or scholarship revocation is probable.

In 1995, the Tide was hit with a two-year probation, losing 25 scholarships over three years while forfeiting all of its 1993 victories because running back Gene Jelks received improper benefits and cornerback Antonio Langham signed with an agent and continued to play.

	Guy Morriss has the Wildcats focused on the upcoming season, not NCAA sanctions.

That same year, Miami was put on three-year probation had 32 scholarships revoked after the NCAA discovered that the school had offered "impermissible financial aid" in excess of $200,000 to numerous players.

Much like the situation will be with Morriss and Franchione, then-Miami coach Butch Davis was in his first season when the sanctions came down. The ramifications were felt two years later, when Miami finished 5-6, its first losing season in 18 years.

"It was baptism under fire," Davis said earlier this year, after returning the Hurricanes to national prominence. "You just try to tread water and stay alive during the first three years.

"Clearly, that's devastating to a program. It's extraordinarily difficult to play if you don't have players. There's no worry about not going to bowl games because you can't win enough games to get there."

Alabama fans can take solace in the fact that Franchione's new contract is reportedly a seven-year deal. Such a long-term commitment to the Crimson Tide was the core of his recruiting pitch. He explained to recruits that he made the same decision (whether or not to head to Tuscaloosa) and that the outcome of that decision affirms his belief in the future of the Alabama program.

"I told them, 'If you can believe like me and believe in this university, we will get through whatever is there -- if there is something there -- together,'" he said.

The result is the 21 players Alabama did sign, including All-American quarterback Brodie Croyle, the son of former Alabama defensive end John Croyle, are fully committed to the future of the program.

The situation is similar for Morriss, who became Kentucky's head coach the afternoon before signing day. The Wildcats had the makings of a blockbuster class last fall, but in the wake of a 2-9 season, the uncovering of potential NCAA violations and a coaching change, eight different players reneged on their verbal commitments.

"We had some kids jump ship, but in lieu of what's happened, I can't say that you can blame them," Morriss said. "This will build character in our program. Everyone that will work through this mess we're in will come through better off in the end."

Though Morriss said recruiting with the allegations swirling above him was like "walking through a hurricane," the challenge has just begun. Unlike the job security Franchione has at Alabama, Morriss was given a one-year contract with Kentucky.

No pressure here. Just win with a team that finished 2-9 last season, a sub-par recruiting class and NCAA sanctions looming. The funny part? Morriss isn't the slightest bit upset by the lack of a Franchione-like long-term deal.

"All I was looking for was an opportunity," Morriss said. "I'm willing to do everything I can to turn this around and be judged at the end of the year. If they're happy with me, fine. If not, I'll go away."

In an effort to get his player's minds away from the off-field distractions, Morriss has made drastic changes to the team's offseason workout regimen, scheduling 6 a.m. workouts four days a week until spring practice.

It's a way of building intensity and focus, the foundation of any college football ship heading for stormy waters. And both Morriss and Franchione are going for every advantage they can find in this battle, a battle they plan on winning.

"This is a school that has won more bowl games and more national championships than any other program in the nation," Franchione said. "I've learned that the only thing to base the future on is history. And history has shown that Alabama can overcome obstacles. We will conquer this."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer at ESPN.com.