Let's come back to Earth for a moment, shall we? Everyone is excited about Mike Leach and what he brings to Washington State. And fans are expecting greatness, or at least good-enoughness, pretty quickly. But if the odds for the Cougars' season-opener against BYU are any indication, it's probably time to temper those expectations.
Everywhere one looks at the moment -- at least in Vegas -- the Cougars are about two-touchdown underdogs against the other Cougars. The line opened with BYU giving 13-1/2 points most places, and it's stayed that way so far. While most Washington State fans are expecting a win or a close game, Vegas isn't so sure.
There's a few things to keep in mind here. First, Leach's offense is as difficult to perfect as it is easy to install. The offense can be put into place in just three or four days, but when it comes to running it in the exact way Leach wants, the time-frame is measured in years, not days. There will probably be hiccups, especially in that first game.
And there's the whole past performance thing that comes into play when projecting season-opening games. Washington State simply wasn't good last year. There were flashes of brilliance, sure, but more often than not the Cougars were just pedestrian. One can put all the faith they want in Leach, but he still has to go out and prove it.
For those thinking BYU is a game Washington State will come out and take the world by storm, scale it back a bit. This is a difficult matchup with a lot of unknowns. And clearly Vegas has quite a bit more faith in BYU at the moment.
That said, would it surprise anyone if Leach pulled a rabbit out the hat and knocked BYU on its backside? Probably not. But we just don't know.