The Wiz of Odds

Reporters Notebooks

Dick Harmon, Deseret News: This week Senator Orrin Hatch will either trigger a meaningful debate on the legality of how our college football system works, or he'll be castigated as a grandstanding gasbag crying foul because a team from his state didn't play for a national championship in January.

Andrew Logue, Des Moines Register: Jewel Hampton, Iowa's starting running back, reportedly sustained a knee injury during non-contract drills Friday.

Katie Thomas, New York Times: Former Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller on his class-action lawsuit against EA Sports and the NCAA: "We signed a paper at the beginning of college saying we couldn't benefit from our name. So why was the NCAA turning a blind eye to this and allowing EA Sports to take our likenesses and make big bucks off it?" Plus, an interactive graphic.

Nick Sunderland-Saied, Capital Times: Wisconsin officials want to put a stop to students scalping their season tickets.

Brian Dohn, Los Angeles Daily News: Former Notre Dame tight end Joseph Fauria is transferring to UCLA.

Reporters Notebooks

David Hunt, Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville officials are sketching out plans to reduce alcohol consumption during the Florida-Georgia game, aka the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Plans include a 50% reduction in alcohol distribution points and the banning of shot sales at Jacksonville Landing.

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: Bobby Bowden might be raising a stink about having to vacate 14 victories, but in 1983 the Florida State coach called for a forfeiture after the Seminoles were victimized by an ineligible player.

Lee Davidson, Deseret News: Utah president Michael Young is expected to be the leadoff witness at Tuesday's Senate Antitrust Subcommittee hearing titled, "The Bowl Championship Series: Is it Fair and in Compliance with Antitrust Law?" Other scheduled witnesses included Harvey Perlman, chancellor of the University of Nebraska and leader of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee; antitrust lawyer William Monts III, who has said the BCS does not violate antitrust laws; and antitrust lawyer Barry Brett.

Larry Bowen, Bryan/College Station Eagle: Texas A&M has eliminated 17 positions from the athletic department, part of a $4.5 million budget cut. Two of the longest-tenured members of the department lost their jobs.

Brad Rock, Deseret News: Utah State has been named the most economically efficient athletic department in America.

The Great Debate

In The Bleachers has one of the longest-running podcasts on the college football landscape, and I was the guest of co-hosts Brian Sakowski and Adam Nettina on this week's episode.

We had a spirited debate on the reasons behind the scheduling of cupcake opponents by teams from Bowl Championship Series conferences. Is this a good thing, or are power teams merely taking advantage of a system that allows — perhaps even encourages — such a practice.

You can listen to the discussion by clicking here. Check the In the Bleachers site by clicking here.

Ha! It's Not About the Money, It's About the Bowls!

Utah's Orrin Hatch, the ranking member of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, has scheduled a hearing Tuesday to examine antitrust violations by the Bowl Championship Series, a multi-billion dollar industry that attempts to exclude teams from non-BCS leagues in big-money bowl games.

Hatch's quest to bring a playoff system to big-time college football is a Herculean task. Consider comments made by Harvey Perlman, left, the chancellor at the University of Nebraska who was recently appointed as chairman of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee. He was asked by Husker Locker why a playoff is not a viable alternative. Here is Perlman's response:

"It would diminish the bowl structure and it would reduce the number of opportunities for student-athletes to play in the postseason and that's not a good thing. If you look at college football now, it’s the greatest sporting event spread over September, October, November, December and a little bit of January that the country has. A playoff would seriously diminish the regular season, as it has in college basketball.

Reporters Notebooks

Jeff Barker, Baltimore Sun: Maryland's Ralph Friedgen says he might want to stay on as coach past the three years remaining on his contract, complicating coach-in-waiting plans the school has for offensive coordinator James Franklin, who will be paid $1 million if he is not elevated to head coach by Jan. 2, 2012.

Andrew Carter, Orlando Sentinel: Florida State has filed another rebuttal with the NCAA, arguing that forfeiting 14 victories from Bobby Bowden's record because of an academic fraud scandal is "excessive." The university described as "woefully inadequate" the NCAA Committee on Infractions' rational that led to the disputed penalty.

Ray Melick, Birmingham News: Former Alabama offensive tackle Andre Smith didn't know there was more than one Bloomington. The first-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals agreed to help out at a lineman's camp at Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Ill. He ended up in Bloomington, Ind., home of the University of Indiana. Thirty-six hours later, he finally arrived at the right Bloomington.

Cyndee Fontana, Matt James and John Ellis, Fresno Bee: Alphonso Bigelow, the former Fresno State player who promised $10 million to the university, says he is being unfairly "demonized" in public discussion of his surprise pledge. "I've heard everything from that I have a girlfriend, to I'm conning people out of money," he said. "I heard I'm doing a Ponzi scheme. And the only thing I'm trying to do is give money."

Reporters Notebooks

Michael Deak, East Brunswick Home News Tribune: Ryan Hart, who was Rutgers' quarterback from 2002-05, and Troy Taylor, who was California's quarterback from 1986-89, have filed a lawsuit against EA Sports. The suit alleges the video game manufacturer used the players' likeness without permission. Former Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller filed a suit in May with the same claims.

Rey Melick, Birmingham News: An online betting service has posted odds on teams most likely to commit the next NCAA violation. USC tops the list at 8-1. Ohio State is No. 2 at 9-1, followed by Florida, Memphis and Mississippi at 10-1. North Carolina, Connecticut, Michigan State and Florida State are 12-1. Alabama is 13-1.

Doug Zaleski, Muncie Star Press: The Ball State athletic department has been accused of failing to provide equal intercollegiate athletic opportunities for men and women under the structure of Title IX. A four-person team from the Department of Education interviewed Ball State officials earlier this month.

Paul Finebaum, Mobile Press-Register: There is no buyout in Nick Saban's contract with Alabama, meaning his deal has less teeth than the front row at Neyland Stadium.

J.P. Giglio, Raleigh News & Observer: North Carolina, which at one point had 29 commitments for 12 available scholarships, has trimmed its roster to the point that it now has three scholarships open.

Colleges' Misuse of Student Privacy Law Gets Scrutiny

The Education Department, reacting to a series of stories by the Columbus Dispatch, has launched an examination into wide-ranging interpretations by colleges of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly called FERPA.

Former U.S. Senator James Buckley authored the act in 1974 to shield students' report cards and transcripts from public view. But, as the Dispatch reported, the use of FERPA has extended far beyond the classroom.

College routinely cite FERPA to keep secret names of athletes who have gambled, accepted payoffs, cheated, cashed in on their notoriety and even sexually abused others. Names of coaches who broke recruiting rules or committed academic fraud and even rogue boosters have also been kept private. In one case, FERPA was even extended to an ESPN broadcaster named in school records.

"That's not what we intended," Buckley, 86, said. "The law needs to be revamped. Institutions are putting their own meaning into the law."