The Wiz of Odds

North Carolina State

North Carolina State turns the clock back to 2006 when it had the team sign its schedule poster. It appears only the seniors signed this poster, but still, a terrific idea. As always, click the image for a closer look. Thanks to Chris.

San Diego State

No wonder Chuck Long occupies the No. 6 slot on the Coaches Hot Seat rankings. He's 7-17 in two seasons at San Diego State and not much is expected of the Aztecs in 2008. But all that would change if San Diego State marched into South Bend on Sept. 6 and defeated Notre Dame. Long had his team open camp last week with three days and two nights at Camp Pendleton, the historic Marine base in San Diego County. Players slept in barracks under boot camp-like conditions. Long can only hope he doesn't get marching orders at the end of the season. Thanks to Sean.

Oklahoma

Since 2000, Oklahoma has won one national title, played for two more and won 90 games, more than any other program in that time. No wonder Bob Stoops is regarded as the best coach in the Big 12. Expectations are again sky-high for the Sooners, who play host to Tennessee Chattanooga (why?), Cincinnati and Texas Christian and travel to Washington in nonconference play. Thanks to Scott.

Middle Tennessee

Middle Tennesse, coming off a disappointing 5-7 season, has a sneaky-tough nonconference schedule, playing host to Maryland and at Kentucky, Louisville, Mississippi State and Western Kentucky. If the Blue Raiders want to make noise in the Sun Belt, they must improve a run defense that was 102nd nationally last season. Thanks to Bradley.

Nevada Las Vegas

Year four of the Mike Sanford experiment begins at Nevada Las Vegas and if it's anything like the first three, Sanford could be out of a job. He has three consecutive two-win seasons and outside of an outburst after a Sept. 9, 2006 game at Iowa State (YouTube video here), nothing of note has happened with his program. Ron Kantowski of the Las Vegas Sun says the Rebels' problems begin with Sam Boyd Stadium, which seats only 36,800. He writes, "if you don’t have a stadium that seats 50,000, chances are pretty good that football on your campus is only a diversion until basketball practice begins." Thanks to Paul.

Connecticut

You'll have plenty of chances to see Connecticut in action on the ESPN family of networks. The Huskies play one game on a Thursday, two games on a Friday, eight games on a Saturday and one game on a Sunday. Thanks to Zac at Old Hat Creative.