The Wiz of Odds

Arizona

A lot of people lost faith in Rich Rodriguez after his failed tenure at Michigan. But Ann Arbor's loss was turned into Tucson's gain.

Rodriguez won eight games in his first season as Arizona coach. With a defense that returns 10 starters and a nonconference schedule that should make for a 3-0 start, a return to the postseason looks like a sure thing.

Take note that the poster is die-cut in the shape of the state.

Besides, if the football team doesn't win, you can always hang at Dirtbag's or Li'l Abner's Steakhouse.

Thanks to Ben.

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Big Hat, No Cattle

Rich Rodriguez has donned many a chapeau during his career, but the Arizona coach tried on a new one for two promotional videos shot recently in Old Tucson. The cigar-chomping Rodriguez is the lead character in "Hard Edge" and "Hard Edge II",  which feature cameos from Wildcat assistant coaches and players.

Granted, Rodriguez is no James Arness (how about a little five o'clock shadow to roughen things up?) and yes, wifey Rita Rodriguez produced the videos, but we give the effort a thumbs up on creativity alone.

Arizona

OK, it didn't work out at Michigan, but Rich Rodriguez appears to have found a home at Arizona. The Wildcats are 3-0, with the most impressive victory coming Sept. 8 against Oklahoma State. But it gets cranked up notch in a big, big way Saturday. Arizona travels to Eugene to take on speedy Oregon.

Thanks to Ben.

Arizona Streaker — the Uncut Version

Here's what ESPN didn't show.

Streaker at UCLA-Arizona Game

Here's the highlight from Thursday night's UCLA-Arizona game at Tucson. Watch closely as a man dressed as an official enters from the top of the screen. He attempts to grab the ball from an official, then runs off camera, removes his clothes and streaks around the north end of Arizona Stadium.

While law enforcement wrestle the man to the ground, a brawl starts between Bruin and Wildcat players. Three players were ejected — two from Arizona and one from UCLA.

Alamo Bowl

The Wiz of Odds is conducting a comprehensive study of bowl game expense reports. All of the data collected — expense reports for 56 teams and bowl surveys for 40 teams — are being posted on the site. Here is the latest installment. For an overview of the project, click here.

The Alamo Bowl, played in San Antonio, is operated by the nonprofit San Antonio Bowl Association Inc. The first game was played in 1993.

2010 participants: Arizona and Oklahoma State.

Arizona report: Total expenses reportedly were $1.42 million with the biggest chunk ($552,375 or 38.6 percent) coming from 6,424 absorbed tickets. Other expenses included Federal Express ($2,410) and credit card fees ($2,392). Download Arizona Expenses

Survey: Athletic director Greg Byrne rated his level of satisfaction as "neutral" when answering if his institution — the team and university officials — received an adequate amount of complimentary tickets to social events.

When asked what areas needed improvement, he wrote, "The band rental field was a bit pricey and given the timing, probably unnecessary." Download Arizona Survey

Oklahoma State expenses: The Cowboys reported 3,505 tickets absorbed at a cost of $248,075. Total reported expenses were $1.38 million. An unusually high $344,793 was reported for administrative costs. Download Oklahoma State Expenses

Survey: Athletic director Mike Holder indicated he was "dissatisfied" with the location of Alamodome seats for Cowboy fans. "Hard to sell tickets to fans when they can get a much better location on the Internet," he wrote.

Holder was also "dissatisfied" on the number of complimentary tickets to social events.

Regarding areas of improvement, he wrote: "Bowl needs to provide hospitality room and games for student athletes and coaches. There was too long of a cooling off period for the team before kickoff." Download Oklahoma State Survey