College football: Few deserve your bets for title

The college football season kicks off Thursday and shifts into high gear this weekend, but with so many teams vying for the Bowl Championship Series title, it can be hard to figure out which have the best shot at the championship.

That's where the odds come in - even if you don't want to bet on college games, the odds that Vegas and online booking sites place on teams can give you a sense of who's at the front of the pack.

The Wynn/Encore sports book has Alabama as the favorite at 11:5 to win the BCS title game Jan. 6 in Pasadena. Ohio State is second at 5:1; Oregon is third at 8:1.

Stanford opened at 30:1, but is now 14:1, showing that lots of bettors like the team. "They're a good team, a solid team," says Johnny Avello, Wynn's director of race and sports operations, "but maybe a win or two away from having a shot at the title."

Wynn lists Cal at 250:1. "Forget it," Avello says.

The online betting site Bovada.lv has the over/under on Cal at four games, meaning the site expects the Bears to win only a third of their regular season games under new coach Sonny Dykes. The over/under on Stanford is 9.5 games, meaning that if you bet on the over and the Cardinal win 10 or more of their 12 contests, you win.

At Wynn's sportsbook, Stanford is 2:1 to win the Pac-12 conference; the favorite is Oregon at 6:5.

College football futures are different than NFL futures because so few NCAA teams have a legitimate title shot, Avello says.

In the NFL you can squeak into the playoffs at 9-7, then get hot and win the Super Bowl. NCAA contenders are picked by computer and committee, meaning it's virtually impossible to bounce back from, say, a three-loss season and make the title game. That will be slightly more likely next season, when the NCAA launches a four-team playoff.

Teams like Alabama now have an advantage because of their history of success and the strength of their conferences. By comparison, Boise State went undefeated in the 2009 regular season, but didn't have a chance to play for the title because the BCS committee deemed its schedule too soft.

For single-game bets, Avello says the NCAA is different than the NFL because college teams won't sit on a lead. A team winning 38-13 with five minutes to go may try to run up the score because routs can lead to higher rankings. So it may end up covering a 30-point spread.

Michael Shapiro is a freelance writer and author of "A Sense of Place." E-mail: 96hours@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shapirowrites

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White Oak ISD: Female student in mascot costume 'roughed up' at football game

BULLARD, TX (KLTV) -

A female student from the White Oak Independent School District wearing a full mascot costume was roughed up by students at Friday night's football game against Bullard, according to White Oak superintendent Mike Gilbert.

"She was fine Friday night," said Gilbert. "She was checked out by medical staff. That was our priority."

Bullard ISD officials are investigating to find out the identity of the attackers.

"We have every confidence in Bullard ISD and are sure they will take every step to make sure nothing like this ever happens again," said the superintendent.

White Oak won the football game 35-14.

Copyright 2013 KLTV. All rights reserved.

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Joyous Afghans celebrate football win with dancing, gunfire

1 of 3. Afghan football fans celebrate winning the South Asian Football Federation championship after their team defeated India during the final match, in the streets of Kabul September 12, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Omar Sobhani

By Hamid Shalizi

KABUL | Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:34am EDT

KABUL (Reuters) - President Hamid Karzai embraced Afghanistan's victorious football team on Thursday, hours after they united the nation in a rare moment of shared joy, but officials also told jubilant Afghans to stop firing guns into the air in celebration.

The national men's team beat India 2-0 to win the South Asian Football Federation championship in Kathmandu late on Tuesday, Afghanistan's first international football title, sending tens of thousands of joyous Afghans into the streets.

Fans in cars and on motorbikes joined others on foot, cheering, blowing horns and waving Afghan flags throughout the night. Many danced in the streets of the capital, Kabul, after crowding around television sets in their homes, restaurants and coffee shops to watch the match.

"Now I know what being proud feels like, this is the happiest time in my life," said fan Ahmad Bashir, an Afghan flag draped over his shoulders.

"I have no idea what we will do if we ever win the World Cup," he said.

Most of those out in the streets of the strictly conservative Muslim country were men, although some families in cars joined in the celebrations, many shouting "Zendabad Afghanistan!" (Long Live Afghanistan!).

Afghans have struggled under the weight of three decades of conflict, stretching back through the occupation by former Soviet forces, a civil war, austere rule under the Taliban and then another 12 years of war since the Taliban were toppled.

Such celebrations would have been unimaginable under the Taliban, who banned music and television and forbade women access to education and most public gatherings.

The Taliban also banned most sport, and even used the national football stadium in Kabul for public executions.

"Our youths proved that we have the ability to make progress and win," Karzai said in a statement issued by the presidential palace. Karzai's office tweeted a picture of him watching the match in the palace.

Celebrations continued throughout Thursday, a brief respite for Afghans who fear increased violence as most foreign troops prepare to leave by the end of next year.

The night erupted into gunfire in Kabul and elsewhere across Afghanistan immediately after the match as fans fired AK-47 assault rifles - commonplace in many Afghan households - and even machine-guns into the air in celebration.

Witnesses said many of those firing into the air had been police. The gunfire panicked some residents, who feared an attack by the Taliban, and led to warning sirens being sounded in some foreign embassies.

The Afghan interior ministry and the intelligence agency congratulated the national football team in a statement.

They had to send out a second statement on Thursday urging people to stop the celebratory gunfire because of the risk posed by bullets falling back to earth.

(Editing by Paul Tait)

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