The Wiz of Odds

Crystal Ball

A look at how prognosticators from around the country view the Week 5 games.

Double D, Boston Herald: Welcome to the Big Ten, Nebraska. Wisconsin has the home field and better quarterback. Give the points and load up on the Badgers.

Lenn Robbins, New York Post: The Pigskin Profit says there are three games to say away from. Then there is Penn State over Indiana. The Nittany Lions can run the ball and the Hoosiers can't stop it.

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: Why ruin a good thing? Hlastradamus was on the winning side last week with Michigan State, so he's saddling up again with the Spartans and the points at Ohio State.

Brett McMurphy, CBS Sports: They are preparing for a crash landing in Blacksburg. Clemson, which has started 4-0 and has yet to venture from home, is only 1-5 in its last six on the road. Take the Virginia Tech Hokies and give the points.

Bruce Feldman, CBS Sports: Iowa State quarterback Steele Jantz hasn't seen a defense as talented as Texas, but the Cyclone crowd should raise hell for the young Longhorn quarterbacks. The pick? Texas 20, Iowa State 13.

John Tamanaha, College Football Talk: He's off to a sizzling 34-11-1 record against the spread and picking Alabama to win but Florida to cover.

Reporters Notebooks

Mike DeArmond, Kansas City Star: Missouri's Gary Pinkel is standing by comments he made last week that were critical of the Big 12. Pinkel suggested that if equal revenue sharing for football broadcasts and limitations on content for the Longhorn Network cannot be made to Missouri's satisfaction, then the school should leave for the Southeastern Conference or another Bowl Championship Series league.

Associated Press: T. Boone Pickens says the Big 12 has "got a problem" if Mizzou splits.

Des Moines Register: Iowa State president Gregory Geoffroy said the university had maintained its legal rights to fight Texas A&M's move to the SEC.

Dick Harmon, Deseret News: There are several hurdles to clear if Brigham Young is to become a member of the Big 12, including BYUtv. The school has a broadcast facility worth more than $100 million and its technological capabilities are a decade ahead of the University of Texas.

Rob Christensen, Charlotte Observer: East Carolina has asked former North Carolina governor Jim Hunt to represent the university in its bid to become a member of the Big East Conference.

Greg Auman, St. Petersburg Times: South Florida president Judy Genshaft says reports of her attempting to block Central Florida's bid to join the Big East are "really, really wrong."

Mark Mangino Returns to Scene of His Prime

Mark Mangino is rested, relaxed and ready to go.

The former Kansas coach was given a field pass to Saturday's game between Kansas State and Miami at Sun Life Stadium. It's the same stadium where Mangino guided the Jayhawks to victory in the 2008 Orange Bowl to complete a 12-win season.

Mangino, who lives in Naples, Fla., spent the game on Kansas State's sideline. He was a full-time assistant at the school from 1994-98.

Kevin Haskin of the Topeka Capital-Journal caught up with Mangino, who left Kansas in December 2009 after allegations of player abuse. Haskin asked Mangino about how it all went down in Lawrence and drew a smile from the coach, who followed with, "No comment."

One thing was clear. Mangino plans on getting back into the business. "I'm just waiting for the right opportunity," he said.

Mangino probably looks good right now to Kansas, which has gone 5-10 under new coach Turner Gill.

Mindless, Me-First Macho Play of the Week

Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon goes for the extra "photo juice" by holding the ball out for all to see before crossing the goal line. He fumbles and the ball rolls through the end zone for a touchback.

New York Post media critic Phil Mushnick loved every second of it. He writes: "Incredible, impossible — if not for the fact such absurdities now occur every weekend, high school, college and pro."

CJR: ESPN Obscures Its Role in Conference Realignment

The Columbia Journalism Review is the latest critic of ESPN's role in conference realignment.

Ryan Chittum, in a piece that was posted late last week, writes that ESPN's coverage of the near breakup of the Big 12 failed to address the Longhorn Network's role in creating an atmosphere of instability outside of Austin. The Longhorn Network, of course, is bankrolled by ESPN.

Chittum uses a Pat Forde column as an example of the network falling far short its journalistic responsibility. He writes: "Imagine if The Wall Street Journal reported that a hacking scandal had roiled Britain and failed to note News Corp.'s role in it. That's analogous to what's happening in this column. ESPN's network is/was the core issue in the Big 12 turmoil."

Chittum concludes with this: "The bottom is simple for its editorial staff: ESPN has major conflicts of interest on this story, and not mentioning them — every time — makes it look really bad."

Heating Up in the Desert

With temperatures hovering around 90 degrees in Tempe for Saturday's USC-Arizona State game, Scott Wolf of the L.A. Daily News decided to check out the field conditions shortly before kickoff.