The Wiz of Odds

Golf Cart Gone Wild at Texas High School Game

An unmanned golf cart mows down several people at midfield after Saturday's the Texas 5-A Division II State Championship game between Spring Dekaney and Cibolo Steele at Cowboys Stadium. Dekaney coach Willie Amendola was one of the people hit by the cart but appeared to be OK afterward. The same could not be said for two members of the media who were taken off the field on stretchers.

There's another view after the jump.

The Complete List of Postseason Prop Bets

Thirty-five games in 23 days. The fun starts Saturday, and Bovada has posted several proposition bets for the bowl season, including which conference will have the highest winning percentage in the postseason.

All the props are available after the jump. Thanks to Image of Sport.

Reporters Notebooks

Izzy Gould, Al.com: A Facebook page has been started to help raise money for the defense of Harvey Updyke, the man accused of poisoning oak trees at Auburn's Toomer's Corner. Click here to view the page, titled Roll Damn Tide.

Mike Herndon, Mobile Press-Register: Has Gus Malzahn's star fallen this far this fast? A year ago, the Auburn offensive coordinator turned down $3 million a year to coach Vanderbilt. A year later, Malzahn accepts the Arkansas State job at $850,000 a year, nearly a 35% cut in pay from the $1.3 million he was making at Auburn.

Kevin Scarbinsky, Birmingham News: Did a video featuring Malzahn's wife Kristi help drive down the coach's stock? Link to the video.

Josh Kendall, Columbia State: If you're not cheating you're not trying. South Carolina told the NCAA that it does not dispute three "major and serious" rules violations and has offered to forfeit six scholarships over the next three years as punishment.

Jenni Carlson, Oklahoman: Why every coach should vote in the coaches poll.

Bud Withers, Seattle Times: From Albuquerque to New Orleans. Your guide to all 35 bowl games.

Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: Ranking the bowl games, from a viewing perspective.

Kellis Robinett, Campus Corner: A local credit union is offering loans at 2.99% for Kansas State fans wanting to attend the Cotton Bowl.

Paola Voivin, Arizona Republic: It's much too early to speculate how new Arizona State coach Todd Graham will do, but at least he brings enthusiasm to Tempe.

Josh Yohe, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Graham's departure has rubbed many in Pittsburgh the wrong way.

'Tis the Season: Naughty or Nice and the NCAA

A promotional flier for a "Naughty or Nice" Christmas party at a Fort Myers bar/restaurant has caught the attention of NCAA investigators after four current college players were listed as hosts of the Dec. 23 event.

Brothers Sammy Watkins (Clemson) and Jaylen Watkins (Florida), Brodrick Jenkins (West Virginia) and Spencer Boyd (South Florida) had their names on the flier, which was posted Monday on the Twitter account of Marcus Price, a former Fort Myers High basketball player who is known as DJ LowKey. Price, who will perform at the event, said the flier was being reworked to remove the names of the players.

"We don't want them to get in any trouble," he said.

Reporters Notebooks

Chris Murray, Reno Journal-Gazette: Nevada's Chris Ault is lobbying for players to get five years to play five seasons. "That would end a lot of schools trying to hide things," he said. "That's the first thing. It cuts out the medical hardships. You've got five years to play and if you get hurt, you've got four. A lot of schools do some things that are somewhat inappropriate to get a guy's eligibility back. You don't have to worry about that stuff."

Sports Media Watch: TV ratings: The Big Ten title game drew 7.7 million viewers, second to the Southeastern Conference's 12 million. The Pacific 12 title game was watched by 4.9 million. ESPN's "College GameDay" averaged 2.1 million viewers, the most-viewed season in the history of the program. The Heisman Trophy presentation had 4.6 million viewers. For the season, CBS telecasts of SEC games were even with last year and down 5% from 2009. ABC telecasts were also even with last year and down 10% from 2009.

Bryant-Jon Anteola and Robert Kuwada, Fresno Bee: Fresno State has offered its head coaching job to Texas A&M defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter.

Salt Lake City Tribune: Utah offensive coordinator Norm Chow is one of 30 applicants for the head coaching position at Hawaii.

Andy Bitter, Roanoke Times: Virginia Tech's Sugar Bowl ticket sales are lagging, but why?

George Sipple, Detroit Free Press: Michigan State has sold only 5,000 of its ticket allotment of 11,500 for the Outback Bowl.

Elliott Almond, San Jose Mercury News: Stanford has sold its allotment of 17,500 tickets for the Fiesta Bowl.

Mora Calls UCLA a 'Sleeping Giant'

UCLA introduced Jim Mora as its new coach on Tuesday. Mora, 50, agreed to a five-year deal worth a guaranteed $12 million plus incentives and bonuses.

"This is proud institution, it's an outstanding academic institution. I say that it's a sleeping giant in college football," said Mora, who hasn't coached since 2009.

Mora, a defensive specialist, is about to get a crash course in offenses, from Oregon's spread to USC's pro-style attack. Then there's Washington State and new coach Mike Leach, who simply doesn't care what defense you line up in.