Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LAS VEGAS — College football means the most in the city of the home team, city of the visiting team and Las Vegas.
Today's question:
Who is going to win the BYU-UCLA game Saturday?
Today's answer:
UCLA
Today's lesson:
When in Vegas, do as the bookies do, remove all heart and soul from the sport and objectively look at the teams to determine a victor.
But doesn't past performance predict present predicaments?
Not in Vegas. Few seemed impressed or swayed by BYU's blue burst upon the college football scene.
Those last-minute heroics that brought teams down to their knees and tears to their eyes didn't impress Sin City. BYU is still a 16.5-point underdog.
On the second leg of our General RV road trip, Alex Kirry and I walked the Vegas Strip to see if the Vegas patrons were getting caught up in the Cougar Hail Mary mania.
This back and forth between friends showed the division between heart from brain.
"UCLA is going to win the national title," said Brian Fan. "They're (at least) a national title contender. BYU lost its quarterback for the season; they don't have a chance."
Heart fan spoke differently, "BYU's the Cinderella, right? Just throw a 'Hail Mary' and it's just completed every week. That dude (Tanner Mangum) just comes in and throws it up and they catch it."
I get why BYU is the underdog by two touchdowns and a field goal, according to the Bah Humbug Vegas Scrooges. The Cougars are missing their two best offensive players — Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams — and have flat-lined twice in the first two weeks before a pair of last-minute jolts brought this team back from the dead.
Objectively speaking, the Cougars are overmatched. They're playing another tough road game, this time in the historic Rose Bowl, against a top ranked opponent — not to mention having already ducked the Grim Reaper twice. At some point, you have to cash in your chips.
The biggest problem for Vegas oddsmakers is that this BYU football team doesn't care. It doesn't believe in those odds, they believe in themselves. They believe that 4th-and-whatever is just another opportunity for their golden-armed freshman to unleash another spiraling thunderbolt downfield for a touchdown.
They don't believe in the disbelief. If they did, when Hill went down, they would have curled into their football fetal formation and mourned their way into another eight-win season. Instead, they sit at a perfect 2-0 ranked in the Top-20 with a chance to beat a Top-10 team.
It doesn't matter that they're 16.5-point underdogs, that's why you play the game.
Everybody has a game plan until Mangum rolls right.
