DEADSPIN calls out the cops, as they discover the real starting point for traveling down that path toward a life of crime. Poverty? Drugs?

No - college football!

(Miami and Florida International trading pigskin pleasantries.)

MARGINAL REVOLUTION comes across a paper (PDF file) from Daniel Rees of the University of Colorado-Denver explaining the relationship between homecoming and home invasion.

According to their research, “Assaults increase by about 9% when a community hosts a college football game, vandalism increases by about 18%, and DUIs increase by about 13%.”

And it gets worse when the underdogs pull off an Appalachian State: “An upset loss at home is associated with a 112% increase in assaults and a 61% increase in vandalism.”

Good thing we were off the streets of Tuscaloosa when UL Monroe came to town.

We’re not sure we agree that college football causes more crime. Most fans seem so rational and well-behaved.

But if you enjoyed Prof. Rees’ groundbreaking gridiron expose, you’re sure to get a kick out of his other works: “Exercise and Adolescent Depression” and “The Effect of Sexual Abstinence on Educational Attainment.”