Cynthia Sperber

Natalie Imbruglia Patricia Velásquez Jennifer Morrison Adrianne Palicki Amanda Righetti

Mary Elizabeth Winstead Piper Perabo Anna Kournikova Esther Cañadas Kate Beckinsale

Kristin Kreuk Molly Sims Monika Kramlik Lacey Chabert Amber Brkich

We’ve got another sweet slate coming your way courtesy of our pals at NVIDIA and we’ve just GOT to let you know that this week ends tomorrow! Get your entries in quick and get in on this contest or you’ll be fresh outta luck! What we’ve got here is a series of tablets, all of […]

Kelly Monaco Gisele Bündchen Jennifer Aniston Amy Cobb Deanna Russo

Victoria Pratt Shakara Ledard Vanessa Marcil Rachel McAdams Kristin Cavallari

Eight hyper-specific predictions for the Mountain West Conference. Part of Mid-Major Week.

? Different conference, same old story for Boise State, which will do to the Mountain West what it did to the WAC: Dominate it. Quarterback Kellen Moore is on pace to break the FBS career mark in wins ? he’s 38-2 in his three seasons ? and returns the bulk of the offensive line and running game that has made the Broncos such a consistent offensive threat. Look for Boise to take down the MWC’s reigning power, TCU, on Nov. 12, with a little nod to the conference bigwigs who moved the game to the blue turf.

? TCU’s 25-game regular season winning streak will come to an end before its visit to Boise in November. The defense will be alright despite heavy attrition, but with a new quarterback (sophomore Casey Pachall) and four new starters on the offensive line, the Frogs will go down at some point in the first eight games with less than 17 points on the board.

? After snapping a seven-year drought in 2010, Air Force will take the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy as the top service academy for the second year in a row. Prior to last year, the Falcons last held the trophy for six consecutive seasons from 1997-2002. But since 2003, the honor had belonged exclusively to Navy, which ripped off 15 straight wins over it Commander-in-Chief rivals until Air Force snapped the streak last October.

? Colorado State will improve its rushing output by 50 yards per game on and finish in the top half of the conference on the ground. That’s a bold statement, considering the Rams finished near the bottom of the league on the ground in 2010 and don’t have any of the MWC’s four returning 1,000-yard rushers. But they do return backs Raymond Carter and Chris Nwoke, four of the five starters from last year’s young offensive line and a sophomore quarterback, Pete Thomas, who has the arm and now the chops to open up defenses after taking more than his share of lumps as a true freshman.

? San Diego State’s scoring average will fall back below 30 points per game despite the return of prolific quarterback Ryan Lindley and running back Ronnie Hillman, the MWC’s leading returning rusher. The Aztecs put up 35 points per game in 2010, easily their highest mark since 1996, but will sorely miss Michigan-bound offensive coordinator Al Borges and NFL-bound targets Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson, the two most productive receivers in the conference by a very wide margin.

? Wyoming will win more games over the first half of 2011 than it did in all of 2010, when it finished 3-9. True, the Cowboys will be forced to start a true freshman quarterback after watching four veterans ride into the sunset since the end of last season, but they also get Weber State, Texas State, Bowling Green, Utah State and UNLV before a mid-October bye week. The Pokes should be favored to win at least four of those before the going gets much tougher down the stretch.

? UNLV will win exactly as many games this year as it did a year ago ? two. It’s not that UNLV didn’t get better during the offseason or even as the season progressed a year ago. It’s that the Rebels still aren’t where a lot of the other Mountain West teams are in terms of confidence, and a non-conference slate that includes games at Wisconsin, at Washington State and against Hawaii probably won’t do too much to boost that swagger. (Though that Washington State game just might.) Coach Bobby Hauck knew he’d have a rebuilding project when he took over a year ago, but with just nine returning starters, the turnaround is probably not going to happen this year.

? New Mexico coach Mike Locksley will make it through the season without being accused of punching anyone on his own sideline, but he won’t survive into 2012 as the Lobos’ head coach. Locksley avoided the ax last year thanks to a $1.5 million obligation to the state to buy out the rest of his contract, and his third team in Albuquerque should be better than his first two. But that’s not saying quite enough: As embarrassing as the Lobos were in 2009-10, even dramatic improvement leaves them well behind the pack.

- - -
Some predictions contributed by Graham Watson.
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Ali Campoverdi Giuliana DePandi Pamela Anderson Amber Arbucci Christina Aguilera

This upcoming Sunday will be a major day for women’s soccer as the US team advances to the World Cup finals to play against Japan. Never before has women’s soccer generated as much excitement as with last few intense wins that brought US and Japan face to face for the final showdown. And to keep […]

Alice Dodd Kate Walsh Autumn Reeser Camilla Belle Blu Cantrell

Emma Watson Amy Smart Sarah Wynter Jaime Pressly Ashanti

Raquel Alessi Marisa Coughlan Shanna Moakler Portia de Rossi Jolene Blalock

Part of Mid-Major Week.

When the Pac-12 and Big Ten started the expansion craze last year, BYU could feel the tectonic plates of college football begin to shift. There were “personality” clashes in the Pac-10, which meant a place in that league wasn’t guaranteed. The Big 12 had several teams rumored to be moving elsewhere and at one point, the entire conference almost ceased to exist, so that wasn’t an option either.

But BYU had different plans and wanted to embrace expansion on its own terms. As other schools started shift, it was the perfect time for BYU to make its move.

The pieces for independence have been in place for some time for BYU. It had a TV station that was implementing high definition. It had a good relationship with ESPN. It had a brand that was marketable all over the world. And it had a proven track record of winning even though the program hadn’t played in a BCS bowl like a couple of its Mountain West counterparts.

It just needed the right time and the right motivation to make the move.

The Mountain West wasn’t getting any closer to an automatic BCS bid and with Utah, the Cougars most hated rival, moving on to a better conference, BYU had to do something to appease its constituents.

Fight or flight; it chose both.

When BYU formally declared its football independence on Sept. 1, it was a monumental day for the program. BYU had played in a conference since its football program began in 1922. Striking out on its own was a risky venture, but one that gained traction and support as soon as it was announced.

As the Cougars started adding stellar opponents to its slate — opponents they would have never added while in the Mountain West — the excitement and support grew, especially with ESPN television backing their every move. BYU’s first independent schedule features Ole Miss, Texas, Utah and Conference USA champion UCF. Future schedule include games against Notre Dame, Texas, West Virginia, Oregon State, Boise State and Utah.

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said the key to BYU going independent was scheduling attractive teams and then going out and beating those teams on a regular basis.

The ultimate goal is becoming the Notre Dame of the West.

“We could get our bell rung a few times — big time,” Holmoe said. “And maybe even this year. But it’s either take the chance or not. This was too good of a chance. We’re optimistic, but it’s a long road.

“Independence could be an incredible shot in the arm. Does it help and push us forward? Yes. Now if we are good — only one thing that means good and that means winning games — that could be a great push and momentum and who knows where we go.”

While there are risks, the rewards are too great to ignore. The television exposure, the recruiting advantage, and of course, an opportunity to play for a BCS bowl. The Cougars had that opportunity as a member of a conference, but now they can dictate it on their own terms. No longer will they be held back because of a perceived weak schedule or looked down upon for not playing tougher teams during the nonconference. No longer is BYU’s season defined by games against Utah and TCU. With it’s schedule, which will only get better as the years go on, BYU will be treated more like a “Big Six” conference school than a non-AQ that must go undefeated to have a sniff at a BCS bowl.

Initially, BYU will be treated like fellow independents Army and Navy in terms of consideration for BCS bowl status. The Cougars must win nine games and rank in the top 14 of the BCS standings to be considered for an at-large selection. The ultimate goal is to achieve Notre Dame’s BCS status, which stipulates the Irish can earn an automatic BCS berth if it finishes in the top eight.

But BYU knows it has to prove itself on a consistent basis to earn that right.

In the past five seasons, BYU has won 10 or more games four times, but it has never done enough to play in a BCS bowl like Utah, Hawaii, TCU and Boise State.

“You have to start winning games,” Holmoe said. “TCU, Boise State and Utah — as hard as it is for me to say that — they’ve earned respect of the nation by going to BCS [bowl] games and winning.

“I think if we play well — we’re going to have a better schedule now than in the Mountain West — if we can be undefeated with our schedule, we’ll be in a BCS bowl game.”

Last year’s 7-6 finish was BYU’s worst season since going 6-6 in 2005. But what’s impressive about 2010 campaign is that the Cougars started 2-5 and dug themselves out to finish the year on a 5-1 run. It’s that kind of will and determination that gives BYU the confidence that it could be successful as an independent.

“I’m anxious for this to be a defining moment in the institution’s history to move forward,” BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “Whether I’m capable of helping this program do it or not, [I know] somebody will. I hope I’m able to. To not take the risk would not be right.”

Curtsy (female version of the hat tip) to Brett McMurphy
- - -
Graham Watson is on Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

Cameron Diaz Sofía Vergara Nicole Richie Norah Jones Nicky Hilton