The Wiz of Odds

Kentucky

Kentucky crumbled down the stretch, losing its last six games to finish 5-7. Mark Stoops is said to be bringing in quality recruits, but eventually there has to be results on the field. It's a key season for the Wildcats, and in order to keep the momentum rolling, they have to breakthrough and play in the postseason.

Kentucky

Kentucky could be onto something. Check out the goods — two double-sided posters (that's four posters total for the mathematically challenged). There was much joy when these beauts popped into the inbox. They are almost cartoonish, but that's a good thing. Seriously, how many posters of beefy and buff footballers with bad-tempered expressions and a schedule posted below them can you take? These posters are truly unique and the highest of praise goes to the Wildcats.

In a related note, who said college athletics were not a business? Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops and basketball coach John Calipari racked up $450,000 worth of chartered flights for recruiting during the 2013-14 fiscal year. Read about it by clicking here.

The Mother of All Season Ticket Videos List, Part 1

When there's nothing else to sell, there's always hope. We've combed through YouTube to find the best 34 season ticket videos. It's broken into three posts because if we put them all in one, it would take forever to load.

Teams featured in part 1: Kentucky, South Carolina, Northwestern, Missouri, Arizona, North Carolina State, Idaho, East Carolina, Louisiana Tech, Temple, Kansas State and New Mexico State.

Kentucky

Mark Stoops, the former defensive coordinator at Florida State, is the new coach at Kentucky. The fanbase at this basketball-crazed school is clearly excited over the football hire. The Wildcats drew an announced 50,831 to their spring game.

Now the heavy lifting starts. Kentucky was 2-10 last season didn't win a game in the ultra-competitive Southeastern Conference.

Thanks to Wesley.

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BBVA Compass 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 BBVA Compass Bowl, played in Birmingham, Ala., is one of seven bowls owned and operated by ESPN. The first game was played in 2006.

2011 participants: Kentucky and Pittsburgh.

Kentucky expenses: The school reported 5,540 absorbed tickets at a cost of $276,740. Expenses for awards were listed at $81,600. Other expenses are listed on page 3 of the pdf. Total reported expenses were $1.25 million. Download Kentucky Expenses

Survey: Although he rated the overall bowl experience as "excellent," Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart had some complaints.

He expressed displeasure over two social functions for the team.

"The number limits (due to capacities of the bowling and comedy club venues) creates difficult decisions for each school," he wrote.  "More people than can fit wanted to go to these two events, which caused problems."

When asked what the bowl can do to improve the experience, he wrote: "There were many requirements for the Head Coaches on the day before the game. The Children's Hospital should be on another day. The Pep Rally should not be required for players or the head coach. The bands and cheerleaders are plenty for that event. The gameshow-type event at the Comedy Night was nearly a disaster."

Regarding gifts, he wrote that the "bowl watch was a bit expensive as compared to our previous experiences." Download Kentucky Survey

Pittsburgh: The school declined to offer its expense report or bowl survey to The Wiz of Odds.

Auburn Lost More Than $600,000 on Title Game Trip

Auburn's Bowl Championship Series title came at a deep cost.

The university reported a loss of $614,106 for its nine-day trip to Glendale, Ariz. The Tigers weren't alone. Oregon, Auburn's opponent in the game, reported a deficit of $285,437 for its 10-day stay.

Ticket-allotment issues were once again at the center of the financial setbacks.

Auburn lost $781,825 because it withheld 2,456 tickets from its allotment of 17,400. Oregon, according to the Birmingham News, lost $555,575 because it withheld 1,761 of its 17,400 tickets.

Schools withhold tickets and keep them from public sale in order to meet demands of staff, the families of players and coaches and the band. Thus, the tickets become an expense for the university.

Auburn and Oregon were not alone in losing money. Kentucky reported a loss of $253,396 for its trip to the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham. The school was required to purchase 10,000 tickets and sold only 4,460. That led to a loss of $276,740 in unsold tickets.

Pittsburgh, the Wildcats' opponent in Birmingham, declined to provide its report. The school did say it distributed approximately 2,500 of its 10,000 tickets.

It was reported earlier this week that Connecticut lost nearly $1.8 million on its trip to the Fiesta Bowl.