The Wiz of Odds

Minnesota

Jerry Kill takes over at Minnesota and his team will be put to the test in the opener at USC. That's followed by three winnable home games (New Mexico State, Miami Ohio and North Dakota State) before the team takes the plunge into Big Ten play with three consecutive road games (Michigan, Purdue and Nebraska).

Click the image to enlarge. Thanks to Chris.

Florida International

Florida International had a breakthrough season in 2010. The Golden Panthers climbed to the top of the Sun Belt Conference and recorded the first winning season in team history after a thrilling 34-32 victory over Toledo in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl

Thanks to Paul. Click the image to enlarge.

Louisiana (Lafayette?)

A year ago this site announced that it would no longer refer to Louisiana Lafayette by that name. Instead, the team would simply be called Louisiana, reflecting the intent of university officials.

That opened a can of political worms. The site received several emails on both sides of the issue and most recently, a passionate email from a longtime reader asked that we refer to the school by its "lawful" name, Louisiana Lafayette.

Along with the email came this link, which goes into great detail why officials in Lafayette are prohibited from changing their name, even though the university's sports teams openly brandish "Louisiana" on uniforms.

This is clearly a hot button political issue in Louisiana and because of that, we're going to kick the can down the road, just like any good politician. (Can you say debt ceiling debate?)

But we invite both sides to either comment or send emails to help determine how the site treats this issue in the future.

South Florida

South Florida opens at Notre Dame, arguably the most attractive matchup of Week 1, and finishes at home against West Virginia. In between are games at Pittsburgh and defending Big East champion Connecticut and a home game against Miami. The Bulls, who were 8-5 in 2010, will certainly be tested in Skip Holtz's second season as coach.

Thanks to Ayo. Click the image to enlarge.

Troy

Troy has won eight or more games in each of the past five seasons. The Trojans open Sept. 3 at Clemson.

Thanks to Ricky. Click the image for an enlarged view.

South Dakota State

South Dakota State is the fourth non-Division I-A poster to be displayed on the site. The I-AA Jackrabbits play Sept. 10 at Illinois.

Click the image for an enlarged view. Poster designed by Old Hat Creative.