The Wiz of Odds

Reporters Notebooks

Bruce Fleming, New York Times: The Naval Academy English professor, in an op-ed piece, writes that the academy has lost its way. "The academy’s former pursuit of excellence seems to have been pushed aside by the all-consuming desire to beat Notre Dame at football (as Navy did last year). To keep our teams in the top divisions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, we fill officer-candidate slots with students who have been recruited primarily for their skills at big-time sports. That means we reject candidates with much higher predictors of military success (and, yes, athletic skills that are more pertinent to military service) in favor of players who, according to many midshipmen who speak candidly to me, often have little commitment to the military itself."

Jay Drew, Salt Lake Tribune: Former Brigham Young coach LaVell Edwards says he has no regrets about retiring 10 years ago. "It is funny," he says. "I hear people that retire say that they are as busy as they have ever been, and I used to wonder about that. But I guess it is true. It just seems like there is always something I need to be doing, or have been doing. But at the end of the week, I sit down and I think, what did I do?" Plus, five questions with Edwards, including his opinion of the Bowl Championship Series: "It is unfair, plain and simple." 

Jay Drew, Salt Lake Tribune: BYU's policy of not playing on Sunday could hurt the Cougars' chances of changing conferences, but university president Cecil O. Samuelson reiterates that the policy will not change.

Dick Harmon, Deseret News: Who attracts more TV sets in football and basketball, BYU or Utah?

Kyle Veazey, Clarion Ledger: Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive, who has led the league since 2002, was paid $2.1 million in the fiscal year that ended on Aug. 31, 2009, according to Internal Revenue Service documents obtained by the newspaper.

Chadd Cripe and Brian Murphy, Idaho Statesman: Will Boise State president Bob Kustra get his wish and have Broncos move to the Mountain West Conference? Utah president Michael Young says an invitation involves more than athletics and wonders about Boise's academic "trajectory." Plus, a look at the nine Mountain West presidents who will decide Boise's fate.

Mike Sorensen, Deseret News: It's going to take an act of Congress for the BCS to change.

Dick Weiss, New York Daily News: Mark Herzlich, Boston College's All-American linebacker, is cancer-free and on schedule to play in the opener against Weber State.

Sports By Brooks: It would appear former Tennessee player Nu'Keese Richardson and his friend, North Carolina State defensive back Jarvis Byrd, have some serious growing up to do after "shopping" in a Wal-Mart. The players denied they did anything wrong.

Political Football in Alabama

If Tim James, Republican candidate for governor in Alabama, wasn't a divisive figure leading to the June 1 primary (see video above), he became one Friday.

James, in a neck-and-neck battle with Bradley Byrne for the nomination, denied that if elected, he would cut the annual $4.1 million salary of Nick Saban or fire the Crimson Tide coach.

"Dispelling another untruth from the Byrne camp: I will neither be firing nor cutting Coach Saban's salary if elected," read a post on James' Twitter page.

The controversy started in April, when James reportedly joked about cutting Saban's salary during a meeting with the editorial board of the Crimson White, Alabama's student newspaper.

"It was kind of an off-handed remark" James made as he walked up the office stairs with the newspaper's staff members, former managing editor Alan Blinder told the Birmingham News.

SEC Looking at Six Teams for Possible Expansion?

Another day, another round of expansion rumors.

Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive reportedly met with CBS executives and discussed what the league might do if it is forced to expand because of a major move by the Big Ten.

Jimmy Hyams of WNML-990 in Knoxville, citing an anonymous source close to CBS, reported that Slive's top-tier plan includes bringing Texas A&M, Texas, Florida State and Clemson into the SEC to create a 16-team league. If the Aggies and Longhorns say no, Georgia Tech and Miami would be targeted.

The report was shot down by SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom, who told John Pennington of Mr. SEC that there "was never any meeting nor have their been any discussions between CBS and SEC commissioner Mike Slive about expansion."

Reporters Notebooks

Dennis Dodd, CBS Sports.com: Coleby Clawson, the former Brigham Young linebacker whose hit on Sam Bradford injured the Oklahoma quarterback's right shoulder — essentially ending his college career — is now selling security alarms on commission in Billings, Mont.

Jeff Call, Deseret News: Bowl Championship Series executive director Bill Hancock, in a letter to U.S. senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), says colleges, not Congress, should run college football. Hatch responded, issuing a release that stated: "It's clear that the BCS is fundamentally unfair and harmful to schools, students, college football fans and consumers throughout the country ... The architects of the BCS should provide the public with more information to dispel the notion that the system is explicitly designed to favor certain teams while disfavoring others."

Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Congress vs. the BCS. What's next?

Tom Keegan, Lawrence Journal-World: Former Kansas coach Mark Mangino and his family are moving to Naples, Fla.

Scott D. Pierce, Deseret News: The Utah TV market is no selling point when it comes to expansion. The estimated 944,060 TV-equipped homes in the Salt Lake market constitute only .822% of the national total. By comparison, there are about 25 million people in Texas. The Dallas-Fort Worth market alone is the nation's fifth largest. No wonder the Big Ten is interested in Texas.

Clay Travis, FanHouse: If USC is stripped of its 2004 Bowl Championship Series title, Auburn, which finished 13-0, should be awarded the championship.

Chadd Cripe, Idaho Statesman: Boise State has played 33 regular-season games on ESPN channels in the past seven years, but if the Broncos become a member of the Mountain West Conference, appearances on ESPN will be rare.

Reporters Notebooks

Norm Wood, Newport News Daily Press: Cheryl Beamer, the wife of Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, was seriously injured after taking a fall at the couple's lake house near Greensboro, Ga. She suffered six broken ribs, a broken clavicle and underwent surgery to have rods put in both legs after falling while carrying one of her grandchildren. The child was not injured.

Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star: While the Big Ten Network is rolling in cash, the only other conference with a dedicated network — the Mountain West — is not. The Mtn, which was launched a year before the Big Ten Network in 2006, has yet to turn a profit.

Libby Sander, Chronicle of Higher Education: Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany talks about a variety of topics other than expansion, including the need for stricter enforcement of NCAA rules and the importance of allowing institutions that create commercially successful products to reap the benefits without sharing. Thanks to Get The Picture.

Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Would mega-expansion get us closer to a playoff? Probably not.

John Walters, FanHouse: The Super 64. A modest attempt at rational thought in college football. It's better to have divisions than it is divisiveness.

Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune: If the Big Ten adds teams, scheduling headaches await athletic directors.

Dave Birkett, Ann Arbor.com: Michigan and Notre Dame have yet to sign a 20-year contract they agreed to three years ago that extended the storied rivalry into the 2030s.

New Rules: It's Over for Delany and the Big Ten

Forget Jim Delany. Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive, left, is the most powerful man in college athletics.

Don't think so? Just ask Paul Finebaum of the Mobile Press-Register:

"Since the Big Ten began groveling for Notre Dame to join many years ago, the Irish have become as passé as 'American Idol.' Quickly now, can anyone remember the last time the Irish won an important football game? 1988. That was when Notre Dame last secured a national title. Since then, the SEC has been crowned No. 1 eight times.

"Delany had it going a few years ago. There was even a Michigan-Ohio State game in 2006 that mattered, pitting No. 1 vs. No. 2. Since then, in the infamous words of Tom Petty, Delany has been free falling.

"Delany's Buckeyes were punked by Florida in the BCS title game, 41-14. A couple of months later, in 2007, the Gators beat the Buckeyes for the NCAA basketball title. A double shot of castor oil for Delany.