The Wiz of Odds

Reporters Notebooks

J. Brady McCollough, Kansas City Star: Kansas' Mark Mangino had similar issues in his first job nearly 20 years at Ellwood City (Pa.) High. Just weeks into the season, a group of disgruntled parents and players went to the Ellwood City School Board demanding that Mangino be fired. "It was a really nasty situation," said Thomas Costa, whose son, Landon, was on the team. Plus, Mangino went on a lengthy rant Thursday night to take on his critics. Click here to listen to the audio.

Dugan Arnett, Lawrence Journal-World: Players continued to pile on Mangino, some describing a well-intentioned disciplinarian but many others painting a picture of a man who was controlling, abusive and oftentimes kept players in an extended state of fear.

Sports By Brooks: The Ku Klux Klan will stage a university-approved protest on the Mississippi campus Saturday. The group is upset with Chancellor Dan Jones' decision to remove "From Dixie With Love" from the Ole Miss band's song selection.

Steve Guiremand, Las Vegas Review-Journal: Dennis Franchione has expressed interest in the opening at Nevada Las Vegas.

Rick Bozich, Louisville Courier-Journal: It's time for Louisville and Steve Kragthorpe to go their separate ways.

Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press: Should Saturday's Ohio State-Michigan game be it for Rich Fraud, or are Wolverine fans really that eager to engage in the dangerous revolving door policy?

John Henderson, Denver Post: New Mexico coach Mike Locksley, whose team is about to log the worst season in 112 years of Lobo football: "It's been a great learning experience."

Jon Solomon, Birmingham News: Would regional officiating remove bias or add problems? Plus, Auburn received a grade of "D" from the Black Coaches & Administrators for its hiring last year of Gene Chizik.

Ken Tysiac, ACC Now: The Atlantic Coast Conference acknowledged an officiating error in last Saturday's North Carolina State-Clemson game. Video of the play.

Scott M. Reid, Orange County Register: John Madden said USC needs to stop whining about Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh's decision to go for a two-point conversion.

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.

Reporters Notebooks

Jim Schaefer, Detroit Free Press: Michigan coaches failed to file required forms to school compliance officers that document the hours put in by its players for the entire 2008-09 school year. The forms, which are required by the university to track whether the team is adhering to NCAA practice limits, are supposed to be sent in monthly.

Ed Graney, Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Las Vegas' decision to fire Mike Sanford came as no surprise. Graney writes: "Mike Sanford was not a college football head coach. There is nothing wrong with that. I'm not expecting a call from Hanes any time soon to stand as its next underwear model."

Pete Thamel, New York Times: The outlook is grim in South Bend, and dim for the Bowl Championship Series.

Jon Wilner and Elliott Almond, San Jose Mercury News: San Jose State’s Dick Tomey, 71, one of college football’s most venerable coaches, is retiring at the end of the season after five years with the Spartans.

Bud Withers, Seattle Times: There could be a six-way tie for the Pacific 10 Conference title.

Vittorio Tafur, San Francisco Chronicle: Stanford has a shot at a BCS game.

Tom Hoffarth, Los Angeles Daily News: Regarding Jim Harbaugh's decision to go for two against USC: Payback is a bitch.

Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Eleven teams from the Big 12 still have mathematical opportunities to qualify for a bowl game.

Reporters Notebooks

Jake Trotter, Oklahoman: Controversy in Oklahoma, where many fans shout "home of the Sooners" instead of "home of the brave" at the end of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Army veteran Dick Murphy said, "I just feel it's disrespectful to the flag and to the nation. It bugs me."

Hannah Karp, Wall Street Journal: Fraternities, which have long been given some of the best seats in the stadium at schools like Auburn, are facing the prospect of losing the privilege. To avoid this, they're taking a page from their fathers and grandfathers before them: Putting on coats and ties and showing up with a date. Thanks to Get The Picture.

Phil Stukenborg, Memphis Commercial Appeal: Larry Porter, Rick Stockstill, Terry Bowden, Gunter Brewer and Bud Foster have emerged as leading candidates to become the next coach at Memphis.

Scott Bordow, East Valley Tribune: Does Arizona State have too many knuckleheads on its team?

Vittorio Tafur, San Francisco Chronicle: Ranking the Pacific 10 coaches. Pete Carroll and Mike Riley top the list and Rick Neuheisel and Paul Wulff bring up the bottom.

Todd Cooper, Omaha World-Herald: Former Nebraska running back Thunder Collins was sentenced to life for first-degree murder. More than 30 eighth-graders packed the courtroom to get a glimpse of how the criminal justice system works, but that didn't stop Collins from taking several parting shots.

Scott Wolf, Los Angeles Daily News: Can USC's troubles be traced to bad recruiting? The Trojans used to have the depth to overcome injuries, but that's not the case this season.

Sports Media Watch: Currently, CBS stands as the highest-rated, most-viewed college football broadcaster, edging second-place ABC. Versus, despite getting bumped by DirecTV, continues to see increased viewership.

Reporters Notebooks

Don Jacobs and John Adams, Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee players Nu'Keese Richardson, Janzen Jackson and Mike Edwards and a female companion face attempted armed robbery charges after an incident early Thursday at a Knoxville convenience store. This will be an easy choice for coach Lane Kiffin: Kick the the players off the team. Thanks to Stan.

Scott M. Reid, Orange County Register: Three computer polls that are part of the Bowl Championship Series standings back up what USC's Pete Carroll and his fellow Pacific 10 coaches have been saying all season long: The Pac-10 is the nation's top conference.

Brett McMurphy, FanHouse: Big salaries don't mean big rankings. Of the 31 highest-paid coaches, 22 are not coaching for teams in this week’s Associated Press top 25.

Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: How about a Boise State-Texas Christian matchup? That's a Fiesta Bowl possibility and one that could slow talk of a BCS monopoly.

Mike Kern, Philadelphia Daily News: If Notre Dame loses at Pittsburgh, the Fighting Irish would be 35-25 under Charlie Weis. Which, as irony would have it, is the same record Bob Davies had when he was fired after the 2001 season, his fifth.

Ron Higgins, Memphis Commercial Appeal: If Notre Dame fires Weis — and it probably should — the Fighting Irish will likely make another run at Urban Meyer, their first choice five years ago who instead cast his lot with the Florida Gators.

Jonathan Okanes, Bear Talk: Jahvid Best made his first appearance on the California campus since his gruesome concussion on Saturday. He visited the training room to receive treatment on his sore back, which seems to be the biggest symptom of the injury.

Reporters Notebooks

David Climer, Tennessean: Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive has gotten carried away with his power and authority. He wants everybody to act like this is a croquet tournament at the country club instead of the blood sport that is SEC football.

Jon Solomon, Birmingham News: Is the SEC putting officials in the best position to make calls?

Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times: Marc Curles, a Birmingham financial planner and SEC referee, was a member of the crew that was suspended by the league for errors in the Arkansas-Florida game. He has received several emails of encouragement, including one from a college coach.

Ed Gunther, The National Championship Issue: Breaking down penalties in the past 13,522 games.

Matt Hinton, Dr Saturday: Revisiting the decade's most miraculous plays.

Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press: Is Rich Rodriguez really as great a coach as he thinks? Early polling — and an 8-14 overall record and a 2-12 mark in October and November — would emphatically say, "No!"

Matt Coleman, Florida Times-Union: Former Florida State linebacker Bradley Jennings is facing assault charges over a "prank" at a convenience store the night before Halloween. Jennings entered the Check 'n Go store in Jacksonville on Oct. 30 wearing black clothing, gloves and a white mask. He pointed what looked like a shotgun at the clerk and demanded the money. When the clerk refused, he took of his mask and said it was a joke. He ran out of the store but returned five minutes later to apologize.