The Wiz of Odds

Expansion? Mountain West Needs Think This Through

There has been much discussion about the Mountain West Conference adding Boise State and two other teams to make a 12-team conference with two divisions. But Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News has a better idea: Let the Mountain West get rid of some dead weight first.

Under Sorensen's plan, New Mexico, Colorado State and Wyoming would be dropped from the league.

Then he suggests adding Boise State and Houston, trimming league membership to eight.

Radio This Afternoon With Mac McDonald

I'll be the guest of Mac McDonald, the former voice of the Virginia Cavaliers, on his show, Inbounds With Mac McDonald, at 5:20 p.m. (Eastern).

The show can be heard on WKAV Charlottesville, WREL Lexington and WHBG Harrisonburg. If you're in the area, be sure to listen!

Looking for a guest to talk college football? Send an email: jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Mangino's Anger Management Issues

Could Mark Mangino be on the verge of losing his job?

The Kansas coach's rough-edged approach is being called into question after linebacker Arist Wright complained to athletic director Lew Perkins about a recent incident where Mangino poked him in the chest.

Perkins then made the matter public by announcing an investigation into Mangino's behavior to see if it had become an ongoing theme within the program.

Several players — past and present — have since come forward to discuss Mangino's tough-love approach. Some have gone on the record, others have chosen to remain anonymous. Nearly all say Mangino has been out of line.

Dexton Fields, a receiver for the Jayhawks from 2004-08, called the complaints legitimate.

"It's been a long time that stuff has been happening and it had to surface," Fields told the Daily Kansan. "Of all the talent that KU has there, it had to be some other reason that KU isn't producing out on the field. It's been long overdue."

The Jayhawks have lost five in a row after winning their first five.

The Postgame Tailgate: Week 11

Dan Rubenstein examines the ruins of the Trojan Empire and wonders why Iowa's Kirk Ferentz plays to lose. It's all part of this week's edition of the Postgame Tailgate.

Dan and Ty Hildenbrandt are already gearing up for another Notre Dame coaching search. Check out what they have to say on the Solid Verbal Podcast.

It's All Going According to Schedule

The spirit of competition has been sucked from college football. Want to win a championship? Learn the art of crafty nonconference scheduling.

Florida, Alabama and Texas — the top teams in the Bowl Championship Series standings — have combined to play only two BCS teams in 12 nonleague games. Yet two of these teams will be rewarded with berths to the BCS title game. It doesn't seem right.

Scheduling abuse is going to get worse. BCS teams are making a move to grab an even bigger share of the bowl pot beginning in 2010. Big 12 commissioner Don Beebe has proposed legislation that would treat BCS teams with .500 records the same as teams with winning records from non-BCS leagues.

Currently, if a bowl has to go outside its conference affiliation to fill a spot, it can't select a 6-6 BCS team over a team with seven or more victories. Beebe’s legislation would toss out that rule, meaning a seven-win team from the Mountain West, Western Athletic, Mid-American, Conference USA or Sun Belt could be bypassed for a 6-6 BCS team.

Factor in the likelihood of 36 bowl games in 2010 and nearly every BCS team that loads the nonconference schedule with four cupcake opponents will be "rewarded" with a bowl game if it can crank out a pathetic 2-6 record in league play.

College football has a serious problem, and it's the topic of my column this week for Covers.com.

Covers is second to none in coverage of industry news, statistics and advice. Be sure to check Covers' excellent matchups page for this week's games, featuring previews, trends and line moves.

Reporters Notebooks

Rick Bozich, Louisville Courier-Journal: Latest rumor out of Louisville has Mike Leach leaving Texas Tech to take over for Steve Kragthorpe, who has yet to be fired. Leach worked with Hal Mumme at Kentucky before he went to Oklahoma to work under Bob Stoops. Leach, who has had a strained relationship with Tech officials, has no buyout in his contract.

Mark Anderson and Ed Graney, Las Vegas Review-Journal: Outgoing Nevada Las Vegas coach Mike Sanford says numerous factors were holding back the program, but never mentioned himself as part of the problem. "Our locker room is the worst locker room in college football," he said. While Sanford makes a good points, bad locker rooms didn't allow Nevada to score 63 points on the Rebels, or for UNLV to win only one road Mountain West game in five seasons under Sanford. Several names being floated for the job, including Robb Akey, Pat Hill and Dirk Koetter.

Tom Keegan and Jonathan Kealing, Lawrence Journal-World: Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins met Monday night with several Jayhawk players to discuss concerns on how they were treated by Mark Mangino. At least one of the issues in the investigation stems from the inappropriate manner in which Mangino talked with players, according to the Daily Kansan. "I may have lost some people around here, but it's not the players," said Mangino, whose team has lost five in a row after winning its first five.

Jim Beseda, Oregonian: Jerry Glanville is stepping down as Portland State coach. Robin Pflugrad, a former Vikings player who has been an assistant at Oregon and is now receivers coach at Montana, is among the names mentioned as a successor.

Bob Wojnowski, Detroit News: The release of an audit showing that Michigan did not file monthly logs of players' workout times, as requaired by NCAA rules, could not have come at a worse time for Rich Fraud.

James Jahnke, Detroit Free Press: Stanford's Jim Harbaugh won't get into the possibility of his becoming a candidate if Michigan were to fire Rich Fraud.

Penn State Clips: Bend over, Penn State fans. Seat licenses are coming.

Brian Bennett, ESPN.com: Attention Charlie Weis: Notre Dame has blocked tracking access to its university-owned private plane.