The Wiz of Odds

Boise State Runs Wins Streak to 22 Games

Boise State all but secured the Western Athletic Conference championship with a 42-7 victory over Hawaii on Saturday in Boise. The Broncos set a team record with 737 yards of offense and held the Warriors to 196 in winning their 22nd consecutive game. Image of Sport, the sports photography wire service for daily newspapers and editorial publications, was on scene. You can view Image of Sports' gallery by clicking here.

Boise State Cheap Shot

Boise State's Jason Robinson flattens unsuspecting Louisiana Tech kicker Matt Nelson from behind during the Broncos' 49-20 victory on Oct. 26 in Boise. Nelson suffered a concussion on the play but is expected to play Saturday against Fresno State. Robinson was not penalized.

This past summer, Robinson reached a plea deal of misdemeanor battery after a bar fight that resulted in Robinson breaking another man's jaw. He was ordered to serve 180 days in jail and pay at least $29,000 in restitution, but the judge later suspended 160 days of the sentence and put Robinson on probation for two years.

He was suspended for the season's first three games by coach Chris Petersen.

Note: Video was replaced with a version of higher quality. Thanks to Tracy! The original video is after the jump.

Update: The Western Athletic Conference issued a memo to all coaches and athletic directors informing them that blindside hits away from the ball will not be tolerated. The memo (second item), which deals with the hit featured here and one the previous week in the New Mexico State-Idaho game, reads in part, "These are 'cheap shots' in that both plays are away from the ball and the 'defenseless' [player] is not part of the play."

Boise State Cheap Shot

The Western Athletic Conference has suspended Boise State's Winston Venable because of this helmet-to-helmet hit on Oregon State's James Rodgers in Saturday night's game at Boise. Venable will sit out the first half of the Broncos' game at New Mexico State. He was originally suspended for a full game, but Boise appealed and got the penalty reduced.

This is a tough one, but the Wiz decided to include this hit among the cheapies after the WAC took action. It certainly could be argued that Rodgers was blocked into Venable, who was trying to make a play on the ball. But the WAC deemed Venable's play was flagrant and assessed the suspension. Before the collision, Venable does put his head down and drives it into Rodgers' helmet.

Thanks to Ryan and Geoff.

Give Them a Hand

Three players made spectacular one-handed receptions in Week 1. Let's take a look at each, starting with Boise State's Tommy Gallarda hauling in a scoring pass in Monday night's victory against Virginia Tech.

Southern Methodist's Darius Johnson twists and pulls in a pass against Texas Tech.

Alabama's Julio Jones scores a touchdown in spectacular fashion against San Jose State.

Brigham Young and the WAC: How It Nearly Came to Be

Brigham Young had plenty of co-conspirators in its planned move out of the Mountain West Conference. Utah State for one. ESPN for another.

Yes, that's right. The four-letter network was involved from the beginning.

Documents and email correspondence obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune through an open records request detailed how the Cougars planned to declare their independence in football and join the Western Athletic Conference in all other sports.

Utah State president Stan Albrecht, who has been criticized for not accepting an offer to move the Aggies from the WAC to the Mountain West after news of BYU's planned move began to trickle out, had incentive to stay the course. He had masterminded with WAC commissioner Karl Benson, BYU president Cecil Samuelson, Fresno State president John Welty, Nevada president Milt Glick and ESPN to spring the Cougars.

Will Boise State's 2010 Win Total Be Second to None?

And now, a dose of reality.

You can spot them a mile away. The fans who have been reading/listening to all the chatter about their team, how this season is going to be special on so many levels. Frankly, it's garbage.

Check what the oddsmakers have to say to get to the heart of the matter. These are, after all, the people who make their livelihoods off people who consume the garbage.

Thus, without further delay, are the projected number of regular season victories for the top teams in the land, according to online odds posted by Bodog. Reminder: These are regular seasons games only. Conference championship and bowl games are not used toward a team's regular season win total.

Yes, that's right, Kellen Moore and the Boise State Broncos are projected to win more games (11) than any other team.