LOS ANGELES -- Joe Paterno said he will coach from the press box for tomorrow's Rose Bowl matchup against USC.

Paterno addressed the media Wednesday morning on the eve of the New Year's Day showdown.

The 82-year-old coach said he's unsure whether he will come out of the tunnel with his players or address the team during halftime. He will decide that later today when he has a chance to take a look at the logistics for getting from the box to the field when the team visits the stadium for its squad photo.

-- Wible

Everyone knows Joe Paterno loves the media.

Alright, maybe "love" is too strong of a word. "Accepts" it is probably more appropriate. But this morning, maybe Joe's famous Nike shoes were tied a little too tight. As his players sat in table in the back of the media room, Paterno took the stage amidst a swarm of reporters, cameramen, and a few alumni sprinkled about.

Needless to say, it was loud. And Joe didn't feel like waiting for people to get quiet...

"If you guys are gonna shoot the bull, then get outta here!" Paterno barked into the microphone.

Wow, I guess someone's a little tired for the 8 a.m. press conference.

Anyway, after his little outburst he took a few questions, making sure to remind everyone in between each response that he had a lot of work to do.

He talked about his hip, his possible return to the sidelines, and the ins-and-outs of USC. Meanwhile, his players chilled in the back, answering a few questions here and there. They were dressed in their jerseys, each tucked into a pair of warmups. It was classy, and consistent....

Then USC's turn came...

Beatboxing, hooded sweatshirts, hell even rollerderby hats were the names of the game for the Trojan team. Players filed in and took more questions from reporters, while Pete Carroll took his turn at the podium answering questions.

Right now, it's writin time for us here at the Marriott in Los Angeles. There's word of a possible beat writers basketball game later today, the perfect combination of savvy trash-talking and cheap beer.

As for after that? Be on the look out for the Collegian football writers' Rose Bowl preview video. We hope to make it out to a nearby beach to shoot this baby on the sand. Plus, who doesn't like to see three out of shape dudes with their shirts off?

-Eller

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that USC safety Kevin Ellison, who has not practiced since the Trojans' win over UCLA with a knee injury, will not play in Thursday's Rose Bowl.

There is no word on how serious his injury at this point.

Ellison has played in eight games this season, and has registered 47 tackles. The senior is also tied for second on the team with seven pass breakups.

Goooood morning readers. It's just after 10 am on Day 3 out here in Los Angeles, and we're comin at ya from the Mariott hospitality room in sunny California.

To be frank, we're in horrible shape right now. A night of sampling a few beers, a bed time of close to 2 am, and a wakeup call of 545 am has our group running a little slow. But, fear not everyone. We know how important our coverage is to you, and that's why we suffer through these less than four hours of sleep nights.

Both Penn State and USC finished up their press conferences for the day. For the Lions, Daryll Clark, Deon Butler, Jordan Norwood, and Evan Royster came out, and talked about everything from the USC defense to Daryll's reunion with his older brother. A few bits of news surfaced, both of which you can read about later today. But to fill you in...

-Offensive coordinator Galen Hall said he will return as Penn State's offensive coordinator.

-Jordan Norwood, who had been battling an unspecified injury for about the past month, said he is at "about 90 percent" and his injury was simply that he rolled his foot against Michigan State. At Penn State's Rose Bow media day earlier this month, Norwood practiced in a medical jersey. At Saturday's team practice, however, Norwood was back in his offensive starters' jersey, and is expected to be ready for Thursday's game.

The Trojans came in the room next, and you've never seen such an intimidating group of players. Wible's eyes were huge, Travis was crying, and Nate made his way to the nearest corner to hide from Rey Maualuga, Brian Cushing, Taylor Mays, Fili Moala.

NOTE: No beat writers actually cried, were wide-eyed, or ran to room corners upon sight of the players.

I stayed at Maualuga's podium for the entire time, because I like his hair. He was very well spoken and opened up about his childhood, even making jokes with reporters. He admitted to be a romantic guy, having a last name that is mispronounced by tons of people, and never having stepped foot in Los Angeles before arriving to USC.

As for the plan the rest of the day? We're off to see Penn State's open practice (yay, stretching!) and then over to watch the Trojans actually run drills. After that, we'll write some more and then find the nearest couch/bed/park bench to sleep. Jealous, aren't you?

I'm Eller, and I'm sleepy. Outta here.

LOS ANGELES -- Greetings from the "work" room of the media hotel, stationed at the Marriott in Downtown Los Angeles.

The day got off to a rough start when Eller decided not to set his phone alarm. He thought he could wake up at 6 a.m. on his own but slept until Wible checked the time on his phone -- it was 6:30 a.m., a half-hour after we needed to roll out of bed. Fortunately, we hurried to get out of the house, and Wible booked it to the hotel in 50 minutes. We arrived for the 8 a.m. start with plenty of time to spare.

Travis, who loves Brett Favre, has turned on his favorite quarterback with some unprintable language. This wasn't long after he argued Favre was the best QB of all-time.

Recapping some of the day's news ...

* Tom Bradley said he wouldn't be defined by whether he is some day Penn State's coach and said he has been contacted by schools this year about openings, though he didn't want to disclose much more details beyond that.

* DE Aaron Maybin is running with the second team. No official reason why, but DT Jared Odrick said Maybin may have missed the team's Friday visit to Disneyland. No need to read much into it; CB Lydell Sargeant said Paterno holds one practice a year when he cracks the whip to reinforce it's all business, so it would be a stunner if Maybin's playing time is affected.

* LB Tyrell Sales said he thinks Paterno will be on the sidelines. He also said he was sure Paterno would run onto the field Thursday. Paterno reinforced Friday he wants to be on the field but isn't sure if his recovery will cooperate.

The coverage posted late last night, in case you missed it:

Nate Smith's photo gallery.

A look at the Lawry Beef Bowl.

A.Q. Shipley thinks he has found a way to circumvent Penn State's parking police.

-- JL

Backup linebacker Bani Gbadyu did not make the trip because of academic reasons, sports information director Jeff Nelson said today at practice.

Gbadyu, whose most extensive action was on special teams, played in 10 of Penn State's 12 games and finished with 25 tackles, three tackles for loss and an interception.

-- JL

All I can say is, man prime rib is delicious. Especially when its free.

Day 1 of our stay out in California is almost complete, and man what a busy day it was. Things kicked off at around 9 when the five of us(Nate came along too) headed to the media hotel to get our credentials. They're sweet, complete with our pictures on the passes (Wible looks a little constipated in his).

After that we headed to Penn State's "open" practice, which essentially is 15 minutes of stretching. The players looked ready to go, and Joe Paterno was walking around without a cane, back to his ol' self.

Some Notes from practice:

Stefen Wisniewski took some snaps with Daryll Clark, as he is expected to move to center next season.

Jordan Norwood was suited up in his light blue jersey, signaling his likely return to the starting offense. Norwood was battling an unspecified injury, but looks to be back in form.

Though we could only watch 15 minutes of Penn State's practice, USC's was a dream. Picture this, readers. You want to watch the team practice? Go ahead, any time. You want to watch Rey Maualuga smash opposing players' heads during practice? Come on in. You want to see Pete Carroll toss footballs around, and joke around with players? Of course.

Just another day in the life of a Trojan fan. Their practices are open to the public, and surrounded by palm trees on the USC campus. USC looked fired up, running through offensive and defensive drills, including some conditioning drills too. The most memorable moment from practice came when Maualuga leveled a scout team running back, leaving fans watching on the sidelines in awe of his hitting abilities.

ATTN: Possible John Voight sighting at USC's practice!!!! :ATTN

On the way out of USC's practice, our very own Travis Johnson reported seeing a man who looked a lot like famous actor John Voight. (Note: This is not the Jon Voight whose '89 Lebaron was purchased by one George Costanza.)

The highlight of the evening was the 53rd annual Lawry's Beef Bowl. Penn State arrived around 4, dressed nicely in suits. And then there was the Collegian crew. Needless to say, we were sadly underdressed, and looked like fools in a very nice restaurant. Thankfully we were still served, and out came the prime rib....

Prime Rib Status:

Eller: Medium Well
Johnson: Medium
Langenbacher: Well Done
Smith: Medium
Wible: Rare

Fairly balanced, you could say. Anyway, it was absolutely delicious. They stuck us in a room where we couldn't see the players, so no word on how much the team ate as a whole.

Well there you have it. As I type the four of us are sitting upstairs in the Smith's house, typing our stories for you faithful readers. Also, be sure to check out the videos which should be uploaded soon.

I'm Eller, saying have a good night.
***

I think I can see space out the window.
It's Wible here coming at ya from somewhere over the Rockies, at least that's what those giant dark masses of rock look like in the distance.
We three football writers (not to be confused with the three kings), along with our editor, are sitting at the back of a Boeing 737 on our way to Pasadena for the granddaddy of em all.
When we left Dulles Airport in Washington the mercury in the thermometer was hovering around 38 degrees, according to the pilot, it's 55 in L.A. right now. 55, I thought this was California, oh well, I digress.
Anywho, this is a pretty friggin' long flight, so I've had plenty of time to upload the pictures of my nephew from Christmas, get a couple games of chess in, take a nap and enjoy a Heiniken (which, contrary to popular belief, always tastes better when it's $6).
Also came up with a few revelations during our nice like five-and-a-half our sojourn across this great country of ours.

Revelation 1 -- Pilots are lying when they say "please turn your cellphones off" before a plane takes off.
In case you've never flown before, pilots are required to direct passengers to turn off all cellphones and electrical devices as the plane taxis onto the runway. Once you reach cruising altitude, then passengers are allowed to turn them on, provided the transmission function is turned off (i.e. the phone can't receive nor send texts or calls).
Since I have a couple pictures and videos on my phone I wanted to put on my laptop, I turned it on once we were allowed, and low and behold midway through uploading a video of the world's loudest concert played by a non-musical instrument, my phone vibrates and it's a text from my mom saying "great. Let us know when you arrive, dad just walked in the door,"
This was a response to the text I sent her (yes I text my mom, she's kinda hip) as we boarded the plane.
So I proceeded to test this whole thing out, what kind of cell service is there at 15,000 feet?
Well apparently it's pretty good because I sent and received roughly 10 texts during the flight. Granted, the service was very spotty, but I mean for being in a plane a couple miles in the air, it sure beats the pretty friggin ridiculous charges for the airphone.
And besides, what are these planes made of? There's gotta be a couple million dollars worth of computer technology in this thing and you're telling me the cell phone I got for free because my mom got the same one is going to bring it down? Puhlease, if planes can get hit at high speeds by frozen chickens, surly they can withstand a couple measly texts.
So lesson No. 1, next time you're on a plane, feel free to text, I did, and we're still sailing.

Revelation No. 2 -- The people at United Airlines must
Quick interruption, the time on my phones just jumped back an hour, we're in the Pacific time zone ladies and gentlemen.
Anyway, back to my original thought, the people at United Airlines must be so desperate for customers that they're trying to encourage the mile-high club.
(Warning, everything contained in Revelation No. 2, save for the actual play list is totally tongue-in-cheek, so relax and laugh).
Here's the actual playlist, in order, from one of the in-air radio channels.
Rocky Mountain High - John Denver - No really that hot and heavy in nature, but Denver is the mile-high city and it's a good song for cuddling, really sets the mood.
Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band - Here we go. (Writer's note: this is a personal favorite of mine and I've been known to sing it to standing ovations on karaoke nights.) Made famous by the hairy, yet sensual Ron Burgandy and the Channel 5 NEwsteam in Anchorman, this song just screams, well, I'm not really comfortable repeating what it screams.
But the lyrics go a little like this "please be waiting for me baby when I come around, we can make a lot of love before the sun goes down, thinking of you's working up my appetite, looking forward to a little afternoon delight, rubbing sticks and stones together makes the sparks ignite and the thought of loving you is getting so exciting, sky rockets in flight, afternoon delight."
What might be even more scary is that I can sing every single word of the song by heart.
Let's Get it On - Marvin Gaye - A true classic and friend of heart-shaped, velvet-sheet lined beds everywhere, the title says it all. Gaye's voice is one of the most recognizable of all-time and the way he sings the line "Giving yourself to me can never be wrong if the love is true," makes women everywhere melt.
Ticks - Brad Paisley - Aight, so I'm from a rural area, so for your city slickers out there, this may not sound appealing, but for those of us who hunt and grew up surrounded by cornfields, this song is pretty gosh darn heavy.
"I'd like to see you out in the moonlight, I'd like to kiss you way back in the sticks, I'd like to walk you through a field of wild flowers, and I'd like to check you for ticks."
See, ticks, for you city slickers again, are little bugs that like to suck blood. They live in the weeds and woods and are tiny, so they stick on like Velcro and never let go. They have a nack for getting anywhere, and I mean anywhere, on a person, so you never know where one might be. So checking for ticks involves hands in pretty much every nook and cranny imaginable.
Personally, I've never fully checked anyone for ticks, but ff you've never kissed someone under the stars in the woods or an open field, you wouldn't understand, but from somebody that has, it don't get much better than that.

OK, well we gotta land and the flight attendant keeps yelling at me to turn off my computer, guess I shouldn't tell her about the texts, eh?
But we'll be keeping you updated on all our journeys in and around Pasadena, and keep checking the homepage for the latest and greatest when it comes to news about Penn State football.
Now I just gotta find a place to get a fish taco, catch yall on the flipside.

-- Wible

***

MARTINSBURG, Pa. -- Welcome to what might be the world's smallest and slowest airport, also known as the Altoona/Blair County Airport.

The airport -- located beyond cornfields and cow pastures in the middle of nowhere in a town with not much more than two traffic lights -- has three flights a day from here to Dulles in Washington, D.C., and my 10:30 a.m. flight was delayed until 11:45 a.m.
One positive about the wait: The layover in Dulles won't be as long. The flight from Dulles to Los Angeles is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., so I'll have a wait of about an hour and a half instead of three hours.

Service at the counter crawled, mostly because a woman with a Yorkie Terrier in her carry-on bag held up one of the two workers for at least 30 minutes while the other 20 or so passengers impatiently waited for boarding passes and baggage check-ins.
Some of those passengers, myself included, are flying free from Altoona to Dulles because the airport is giving away flights as it tries to reach 10,000 passengers, which it hasn't done for several years. By reaching 10,000 in a year, the airport is eligible for $1 million in federal aid instead of $150,000. At last check, the airport was projected to be a couple hundred short.

The airport is so remote and services are so limited there isn't any type of wireless signal, so I'll check back in Dulles after I meet up with the rest of the crew.

-- JL

***

Good afternoon, readers and welcome to the Daily Collegian football staff's travel log/blog for the 2009 Rose Bowl. I'm football editor Brian Eller here, and along with the three writers, we'll be taking you through our journey out to Pasadena, California.

It's a little before 1:30 on Friday the 26th, and I'm sitting here in Dulles International Airport waiting for our flight. Unfortunately the flight has been delayed until 430, on account of a lack of pilots. Merry Christmas.

Travis just arrived, looking like he hasn't slept in two days. He's sipping his Starbucks Turtle Mocha, a blend of coffee, caramel and pieces Snickers. I'm enjoying my cheese pizza from Subway.

Plans for the filght include a nap for Travis, and a James Bond film fest for myself. Thanks, Santa. Well, for now, we're gonna walk around and get some food. We'll update when we get in the air, if we ever do...

Joe Paterno is 82 today.

Odds are Paterno will celebrate his birthday with his Penn State coaching colleagues.

"I think the coaches and the staff gets together and takes him out," Penn State punter Jeremy Boone said last week. "But as far as the players, we really don't do too much."

Boone said he and his teammates would tease their coach about his age at practice leading up to the Rose Bowl.

"We should maybe put a card together for him," Boone said. "But we give him a hard time out at practice and fool around with him."

Paterno's birthday is coming after a tumultuous season, health-wise for major college football's all-time winningest coach. Paterno injured his hip early in the season while attempting an onside kick in practice. The injury and the resultant pain grew worse as the season wore on, Paterno said last week.

The ailing coach had his injured hip replaced on Nov. 23, the day after his team earned a Rose Bowl berth.

"I think definitely this year, with everything that he's been through, with the year we've been through and the year we've had, I think it's definitely going to be a day of celebration for him," Penn State kicker Kevin Kelly said last week.

-- TJ

I believe Andy Williams said it best....

"It's the most wonderful time of the yearrrrr!"

That's right, college football fans, bowl season is less than 24 hours away, and set to provide sports fans around the nation with a full slate of college football through this holiday season. Here are some of the things that you may have missed over the past couple of days...

1) Bradford wins the Heisman Trophy

In one of the tightest races in the past few years, Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford won the 2008 Heisman Award, beating out Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. Bradford was sensational for an 11-1 Sooner team set to face Florida in the national championship Jan. 8. Last year's winner Tebow finished third in the running, despite finishing with the most first-place votes.

2) 2009 kickoff classic set

Though the 2008 bowl season is less than a day away, it's never too early to think about the future. One of the most anticipated matchups for 2009 has been slated for Sept. 5, when Virginia Tech will take on Alabama. The Crimson Tide upset then-No. 9 Clemson 34-10 in the inaugural event this season.

3) Star Search

A number of college stars have already taken a big step toward achieving their NFL dreams. Florida's Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin, Mississippi's Greg Hardy and Penn State's Jared Odrick have already put their names in.

Nowww to the fun part. The part where I make my selections for each of this season's bowl games and then look back at how poorly I selected. The winners are in bold.

EagleBank Bowl
Wake Forest vs. Navy

New Mexico
Colorado State vs. Fresno State

magicJack St. Petersburg
Memphis vs. South Florida

Pioneer Las Vegas
BYU vs. Arizona

R+L Carriers New Orleans
Southern Miss vs. Troy

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia
Boise State vs. TCU

Sheraton Hawaii
Hawaii vs. Notre Dame

Motor City
Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan

Meineke Car Care
West Virginia vs. North Carolina

Champs Sports
Wisconsin vs. Florida State

Emerald
Miami (Fla.) vs. California

Independence
Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech

Papajohns.com
NC State vs. Rutgers

Valero Alamo
Missouri vs. Northwestern

Roady's Humanitarian
Maryland vs. Nevada

Texas
Western Michigan vs. Rice

Pacific Life Holiday
Oklahoma State vs. Oregon

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
Houston vs. Air Force

Brut Sun
Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh

Gaylord Hotels Music City
Boston College vs. Vanderbilt

Insight
Kansas vs. Minnesota

Chick-fil-A
LSU vs. Georgia Tech

Outback
South Carolina vs. Iowa

Capital One
Georgia vs. Michigan State

Konica Minolta Gator
Nebraska vs. Clemson

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi
Penn State vs. USC

FedEx Orange
Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech

AT&T Cotton
Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech

AutoZone Liberty
Kentucky vs. East Carolina

Allstate Sugar
Utah vs. Alabama

International
Buffalo vs. Connecticut

Tostitos Fiesta
Ohio State vs. Texas

GMAC
Ball State vs. Tulsa

FedEx BCS National Championship Game
Florida vs. Oklahoma

-So there you have it. I'll admit, I like to play it safe. But, there are a few games that could go either way.

For you avid readers, a real treat. We will be headed out to the Rose Bowl December 26. Check out the footblog to read about our trip. The fun, the work and the utter insanity.

-Eller

Now that you can add comments to blog entries, let us know what you think about the Rose Bowl and how Penn State matches up against Penn State.

The line (now at 9.5) hasn't budged much from when it initially opened at 10.5. Personally, I think Penn State will keep it close for most of the game, if not until the end, and if the Nittany Lions catch a few breaks, an upset of USC isn't unrealistic. Joe Paterno's teams are always prepared to play in bowl games, and this team seems to be on a mission.

It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff uses Stephfon Green, who didn't contribute as much late in the season as he did early in the season. Green is one of the the few Nittany Lions whose speed compares favorably to USC's defense, and that speed could help him break a few long plays.

How do you see the Rose Bowl playing out, and what do you think are the keys for a Penn State victory?

-- JL

Because of some unforeseen circumstances, (aka having a snow/sleet/ice storm knock the power out in my house Tuesday night) I wasn't able to blog last night, but it was a pretty big day for the Penn State football program.

Not only did Joe Paterno and the university agree on a deal until 2011, but the Lions picked up a big recruiting verbal commitment and some more hardware to add to the trophy case.

The Present

First, the awards, the Associated Press released its All-American team and four Penn Staters found their way onto the squad. Defensive end Aaron Maybin was named to the first team, center A.Q. Shipley to the second squad and guard Rich Ohrnberger and wide receiver/kick returner Derrick Williams to the third team.

Maybin and Shipley were also named second-team All-Americans by SI.com.

That makes 11 Penn State selections on various All-American teams so far this postseason.

The Future

Tuesday night also saw the Lions getting some much-needed help for the future of the program when Chesapeake, Va. quarterback Kevin Newsome verbally committed to suit up in blue and white.

The 6-foot-3, 213-pound Newsome, who played this last fall for the Hargrave Military Academy, is rated a four-star prospect and the eighth best prep quarterback in the country according to scout.com. A dual-threat signal caller, Newsome runs the forty yard dash in 4.5 seconds.

This was a big pickup for the Lions after Pat Devlin's transfer left Penn State without a scholarship backup quarterback for next season. Landing Newsome, who said he will enroll this January to get a start on spring practice, means the Lions can continue to run the Spread HD for the next four or five years (or however long Paterno plans to stick around).

Newsome originally committed to Michigan in April, but then changed his mind in August and reopened his recruiting.

-- Wible

Backs:

RB - Shonn Greene - Iowa
RB - Kendall Hunter - Oklahoma State
QB - Colt McCoy - Texas

***

Specialists:

K - Louie Sakoda - Utah
P - Kevin Huber - Cincinnati
KR - Brandon James - Florida

***

Receivers and Tight Ends:

TE - Chase Coffman - Missouri
WR - Jarett Dillard - Rice
WR - Michael Crabtree - Texas Tech

***

Offensive Line:

LT - Jason Smith - Baylor
LT - Andre Smith - Alabama
LT - Michael Oher - Ole Miss
OG - Duke Robinson - Oklahoma
C - A.Q. Shipley - Penn State

***

Defensive Backs:

CB - Eric Berry - Tennessee
CB - Malcolm Jenkins - Ohio State
CB - Alphonso Smith - Wake Forest
S - Taylor Mays - USC

***

After a commercial featuring Ki-Jana Carter's 83-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage in the 1995 Rose Bowl.

Now the linebackers

LB - Scott McKillop - Pitt
LB - Brandon Spikes - Florida
LB - Rey Maualuge - USC

***

Not wasting any time here, go right to the defensive line, and maybe that early montage was some crafty foreshadowing by the producers because there's Aaron Maybin at one defensive end spot.

Here's the AFCA defensive line:

DE - Jerry Hughes - TCU
DE - Brian Orakpo - Texas
DE - Aaron Maybin - Penn State

DT - Terrence Cody - Alabama (one of my personal favorites because I like big guys and Cody is 6-foot-5, 365 pounds, nuff said).

***

Howdy yall, Wible here checking out the announcing of the American Football Coaches Association All-American team.

Pretty standard into montage featuring clips of the guys you'd expect, Tebow, McCoy, Bradford, hey, there's Aaron Maybin.

Only in Los Angeles could a fashion statement be worth two timeouts.

USC coach Pete Carroll said this week that his Trojans will wear their home cardinal jerseys when they travel across the LA freeway for their showdown with crosstown rival UCLA on Saturday, which if the Trojans win puts them in the Rose Bowl against Penn State.

Because the Trojans are the visiting team, the NCAA requires them to wear white uniforms. Because Carroll insists the Trojans wear their home jerseys, USC will lose a timeout before the start of each half, giving Carroll four instead of the normal six.

But the laid-back Carroll doesn't mind. He said he thinks having his Trojans in their cardinal red jerseys and UCLA in its powdered blue jerseys will look cool on the field,

"I don't care about it right now," Carroll said. "I think it's the fun thing to do, and I think the fans will appreciate it over time."

It used to be a tradition for both schools to wear their home jerseys during their annual end-of-the-year battle, but it ended in 1982. But Carroll, and first-year, also very laid back, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel both said they like the idea of bringing back that tradition.

Now if the clock runs out on the Trojans as their trying to get their field goal team onto the field for a tying, or winning, field goal, Carroll might want to consider a job as a fashion designer (tongue firmly planted in cheek). But since USC opened the week as 32-point favorites, it's easy to understand Carroll's optimism.

-- Wible