The Wiz of Odds

NCAA to Discuss Allowing Losing Teams to Play in Bowls

There's still hope, even if your team is one of the eight to have started 0-3 this season.

Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the NCAA has begun discussions about the possibility of allowing teams with losing records to play in bowl games.

Under existing rules, teams must finish 6-6 or better to be eligible to play in the postseason. Only one victory against a Division I-AA opponent can count toward the necessary six victories.

But in April, the governing body approved 35 postseason games, an all-time high, and that put a strain on the requirements to become bowl eligible.

With 35 bowls, 70 of the 120 teams in I-A will be playing in the postseason. But with USC on probation and banned from bowl play for the next two seasons, the pool of teams has been cut to 119. The margin for error was already razor thin. Last season, 71 teams fell under the category of bowl eligible.

Complicating matters: More I-A teams are losing to I-AA opponents. Of the 90 games involving I-A vs. I-AA, the big boys are 63-6. Last season, I-A teams totaled 89 "easy" wins. They can do no better than 84 this season.

Reporters Notebooks

Terry Hutchens, Indianapolis Star: How much does it cost to outfit a team? Indiana is spending more than $200,000 this season. The team is saving on eye black now that the NCAA prohibits players from writing messages or area codes on the strips. "I bet we'll play the whole season and I won't go through one stick of the stuff this year," equipment manager Mitch Gudmundson said.

Sports Media Watch: One week does not a trend make, but the Tim Tebow-less Florida Gators were a substantially smaller draw for CBS on Saturday than last year. CBS drew a 3.5 overnight rating for Florida-Tennessee, down 27% from Tennessee-Florida last year (4.8). Texas-Texas Tech on ABC drew a 4.9 overnight, highest of the season for any college game on broadcast. Nonetheless, four of the five games on ABC this season have drawn less than a 3.0 overnight. To put that in perspective, none of the first five games last year drew less than a 3.0. 

Tom Kirkendall, Houston's Clear Thinkers: The creative nature of football innovation. If coaches were able to copyright offensive and defensive systems, no one would come up with the next big idea.

Steve Campbell, Houston Chronicle: Where does Houston losing starting quarterback Case Keenum and backup Cotton Turner in Saturday's defeat to UCLA rank on the list of Cougar catastrophes?

The Quotable Les Miles: More than 400 rambling, bewildering, indecipherable quotes from Louisiana State's coach on one site! Thanks to Mr. SEC.

John Werner, Waco Tribune-Herald: Has Baylor's Robert Griffin lost a step after having knee surgery last year? The quarterback doesn't think so.

Sports by Brooks: Video of Texas Tech's Adam Jones taking a hammering hit in Saturday's game against Texas. Perhaps Mike Leach really was looking out for the safety and health of Craig James' son.

Jason Morton, Tuscaloosa News: Retired Circuit Judge Steve Wilson said there was no conspiracy to bring down the Alabama program, despite a 2002 lawsuit that alleged one.

Ten Years Later, Taliaferro Is Living a Normal Life

It happened 10 years ago this Thursday. Adam Taliaferro, a freshman cornerback for Penn State, tackled Ohio State tailback Jerry Westbrooks on the turf of Ohio Stadium. Both players crumpled to the ground. Westbrooks eventually got up, Taliaferro didn't.

Taliaferro had suffered a severe spinal cord injury on the play and was facing life as a quadriplegic. Doctors gave him only a 3% chance of ever walking again.

"I really wasn't panicked when I was on the ground, but when they strapped me on the gurney and were taking me off, I tried to give a thumbs-up to let the crowd know I was OK," he said. "But I couldn't move anything. That's when I knew something was going on. Even then, though, the thought of being paralyzed never entered my mind."

Taliaferro battled back and regained the ability to lead a normal life. In 2008, he graduated from law school now works for an international law firm that specializes in gaming matters as well as labor and employment. He also heads the Adam Taliaferro Foundation, which has raised more than $600,000 to provide financial assistance to athletes who have been seriously injured in sanctioned contests.

"I appreciate what I have every day," he said.

Gopher It

Add another image to the collection. Scott Wolf, the USC beat reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News, took time out from his busy duties at Saturday's game in Minneapolis to pose for a photo with the Minnesota cheer squad. Photo by Mark Vancleave.

Ground-Level View of Savage Attack by Ohio Bobcat

Perhaps Ohio's team can take a few lessons in tackling from the Bobcats' mascot, Rufus, who brought down Ohio State's Brutus before Saturday's game in Columbus, won by Buckeyes, 43-7.

Let the Voting Begin for Poster of the Year!

It's time to select the 2010 poster schedule of the year. It's a two-step process, and this is step one, which involves trimming the 78 posters displayed on the site to a manageable number of 10 finalists. You have until midnight Tuesday (Eastern) to vote on one team from each of seven groups.

The seven group winners, along with the top three vote-getters among the runners-up, will advance to final. Finals voting will begin Wednesday and end Friday at midnight (Pacific). The defending champion is Iowa State.

The seven groups with links to posters in each group are after the jump. Good luck!