Miami hadn’t done that since plucking Dan Marino 27th in 1983. Ryan Tannehill, selected eighth, surprisingly won the job in training camp — aided by David Garrard’s knee injury — and flashed enough potential to leave fans and pundits encouraged.

5 Dolphins hire

Joe Philbin

   Miami’s coaching merry-go-round of the past decade continued, with the former Green Bay offensive coordinator beating out Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy for the job after Jeff Fisher spurned the Dolphins for the St. Louis Rams.

6 Dolphins go

a fourth season in a row without a winning record

That’s the first time that happened since the franchise’s first four seasons. The Dolphins raised hopes with a 4-3 start, then lost 5 of 6, including an inexplicable 37-3 home drubbing by the Tennessee Titans.

7 Ozzie Guillen’s nightmare

    The Marlins’ loquacious manager enraged South Florida — and earned a five-game team suspension — for saying he admired Cuban dictator Fidel Castro; steered a 93-loss team that badly underachieved; and was fired just one season into a four-year contract. At least he walked away with a $7.5 million parting gift.

8 Marlins

dump payroll

    The Marlins went retro, but not the way anyone wanted, returning to the days of a payroll in the $40 million range, lowest in baseball. Their $60 million-plus salary dump — achieved with trades of Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes and Heath Bell — infuriated fans.

9 UM wins ACC Coastal Division but self-imposes a bowl ban

Despite a porous defense, UM closed 7-5 and won its division for the first time, but eschewed an ACC title game appearance against Florida State and a bowl berth in hopes that a second consecutive postseason ban would mitigate future NCAA punishment.

10 Panthers return to playoffs

     Florida snapped out of a decade-long malaise by making the playoffs for the first time since 2000 and winning a playoff game for the first time since 1997. The scrappy Panthers led 3-2 in their first-round series against New Jersey before being ousted in seven games.

11 Heat signs

Ray Allen

   Less than a month after winning a championship, the rich got even richer by signing the NBA’s all-time leader in three-point baskets.

12 Dolphins lose out on Manning, strike out in free agency

The Dolphins never even made Peyton’s final three, then achieved little in free agency beyond Marcus Thigpen and injured Richard Marshall. At least the draft yielded better results.

13 Dwyane Wade’s Indiana comeback

Bothered by knee soreness, Wade delivered a clunker in a Game 3 Eastern Conference semifinals blowout loss in Indiana: 2-for-13 shooting, five points. But Wade rebounded splendidly with 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists in Game 4 to help Miami even the series and overcome the Heat’s first serious adversity of the 2012 playoffs.

14 FIU dumps Cristobal

    After taking the Golden Panthers to bowl games in 2010 and ’11 and spurning overtures from Pittsburgh and Rutgers last winter, Mario Cristobal was rewarded with a pink slip in the wake of a 3-9 season.