The Wiz of Odds

Reporters Notebooks

Joe Juliano, Philly.com: Classless act of the week: Urban Meyer called timeout to challenge the spot of the ball after a Penn State fourth-down reception resulted in a first down during the third quarter of Saturday's game. The Buckeyes were leading by 49 points.

Jon Solomon, AL.com: Why Oregon is better positioned to play Alabama than Florida State in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

Chris Hine, Chicago Tribune: The father of Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase is facing a charge of resisting arrest after an altercation involving fans during the Fighting Illini's 42-3 loss to Michigan State.

Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: The West is the late-night place to be. Stanford's win over Oregon State and Fresno State's overtime defeat of San Diego State weren't widely seen but could have a big BCS impact. Plus, the week ahead.

Lee Barfnecht, Omaha World-Herald: Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst isn't talking, but the ice beneath Bo Pelini appears to be thin.

Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Baylor's season will be defined by a stretch of games in November.

Reporters Notebooks

David Jones, PennLive.com: In many ways, Condoleezza Rice will fit perfectly on the College Football Playoff panel. As national security advisor, she helped argue for one of the greatest boondoggles in the military history of this nation — the Bush administration’s case for an invasion of Iraq under the guise that its dictator was pursuing the production of "weapons of mass destruction," including those of nuclear capability.

Susan Miller Degnan, Miami Herald: The NCAA is expected to release its sanctions Tuesday for the University of Miami in the case involving former booster Nevin Shapiro.

Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times: The 16th and last season of the Bowl Championship Series is shaping up like the others — full of controversy.

Ed Sherman, Sherman Report: A Native American group says Lee Corso's dressing as a Seminole leader showed a lack of respect.

Drew Sharp, Detroit Free Press: Michigan and Michigan State each have lost only one game, but neither team appears on the columnist's Associated Press top 25 ballot.

Associated Press: Kansas, under the direction of Crewcut Charlie Weis, is quickly becoming the graveyard of quarterbacks.

Reporters Notebooks

Nick Baugardner, MLive.com: Since Brady Hoke took over the Michigan program in 2011 — a span of 30 games — the Wolverines have lost a whopping 61 turnovers.

Russell Levine, Pucks and Puzzle Pieces: A crappy effort by Michigan against Connecticut cannot dent his joy in having shared the experience with his autistic son.

Rick Morrissey, Chicago Sun-Times: Sports Illustrated's Oklahoma State series shows why sportswriters can't be fans.

Zack Tegler, New York Times: An interesting read on what it's like to be a member of the Nebraska marching band on game day.

Chris Dufrense, Los Angeles Times: Stanford's David Carr might have learned a painful lesson on Saturday. Never turn an impressive victory into a mess.

Chadd Cripe, Idaho Statesman: Boise State did not receive a point in voting for the Associated Press or USA Today coaches poll. It's the first shutout for the Broncos since Oct. 16, 2005.

Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette: The Hlist. Favorites in the 57 Division I-A games last weekend won all but two of them. The favorites covered the spread in 36 of the 57 games.

Reporters Notebooks

George F. Will, New York Post: Big-time college football, although a peculiar appendage of institutions of higher learning, is at least adding to our knowledge of brains by fueling studies of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the cumulative effect of repeated small "subconcussive" blows to the head.

Blake Ursch, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech is mulling options on how to deal with foxes that may be living in or around Jones AT&T Stadium. The foxes, likely attracted to scraps of food left by stadium visitors on game days, can carry rabies.

Jason Rowan, Yardbarker.com: Louisiana State and the Zeta Zeta chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity have apologized for an insensitive sign about the Kent State massacre.

John Helsley, Oklahoman: T. Boone Pickens is now taking shots at Sports Illustrated. His weapon of choice? Twitter.

Kevin Scarbinsky, AL.com: As long as Nick Saban coaches, his agent's phone will ring.

Audrey Snyder, PennLive.com: Penn State tries to add to the game day experience by pumping music through the Beaver Stadium speaker system between plays, but not everybody likes the artificial noise. "They play a lot of that nonsense. I sit in south end zone and it's so loud they give you earplugs for free," one fan said.

Reporters Notebooks

The Linemakers, Sporting News: The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas has already opened wagering on a potential Alabama-Oregon matchup in the Bowl Championship Series title game. The Crimson Tide is a 3-point favorite with -120 vigorish.

Melissa Brown, AL.com: Alabama has suspended student block seating — also known as student organization seating — for Saturday's game against Colorado State after alleged discrimination within the Greek system. Traditionally white fraternities were nearly exclusively granted coveted end zone seats for several years.

Anthony Gimino, Tucson Citizen: Is the SEC that much better than the Pac-12? Since 2000, there have been 27 meetings, with the SEC holding a 14-13 edge. However, the Pac-12 was 16-8-3 against the spread in those games, highlighting the notion that the conference out West is often undervalued and perhaps underrated.

John Solomon, AL.com: Division I-A teams averaged 71.9 plays per game through the first three weeks, compared to 71.5 in all of 2012.

Bruce Feldman, CBS Sports.com: A behind-the-scenes look at how Texas A&M prepared for Alabama.

Stephen Tsai, Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Is Hawaii about to fill the Oct. 19 opening in Colorado's schedule?

Audrey Snyder, PennLive.com: Penn State's seat-licensing fee, implemented in 2011, chased away about 5,000 season-ticket holders, but officials said the move brought in an additional $5 million to the athletic department.

Charles Thompson, PennLive.com: Penn State trustees are being asked to provide $30 million in a borrowing program to the athletics department, which has entered troubled financial times in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex scandal. The athletic department outstripped revenues by more than $6.1 million in 2012-13.

Reporters Notebooks

Tony Jones, Salt Lake Tribune: The rivalry between Brigham Young and Utah has taken a controversial turn three days before the teams play. A video has surfaced showing what appears to be Utah players engaging in a mock baptism.

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports: A new book titled, "The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football," exposes the underbelly of a dysfunctional system.

Matt Jones, Whole Hog Sports: The latest outrageous coaching contract has been finalized. Bret Bielema  will make $2.95 million annually, with on-field and academic incentives totaling up to an additional $700,000 each year. He has a no-compete clause with other Southeastern Conference teams and becomes the 12th highest-paid coach in the land.

Steven Braid, New York Times: 'Cat napping. Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald places an unusual emphasis on his players' sleep behavior as a way to improve their performance.

Kevin Schnepf, Forum News Service: Some North Dakota State fans are upset that ESPN's "GameDay" will broadcast from downtown Fargo instead of the Fargodome. "Way to screw the pooch on that location," one fan wrote on Twitter.

Garry Smits, Florida Times-Union: A little perspective on Division I-AA teams "upsetting" Division I-A foes. The combined records of the 10 I-A teams defeated by I-AA teams is 4-20.

Tom Shatel, Omaha World-Herald: The writer responds to comments made about him by Bo Pelini: "I've been cursed at by better coaches than Pelini. Worse coaches, too."

Bud Withers, Seattle Times: The Pacific 12 only added to the confusion of the Wisconsin-Arizona State ending.

Stefanie Loh, U-T San Diego: Should San Diego State play Colorado on Oct. 19? Both teams have a bye and the Aztecs are eligible to play a 13th game because of the NCAA's "Hawaii Exemption."

Michael Rand, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Samantha Ponder is still not pregnant, she will have you know.