Bottom Ten

class84 · October 10, 2007

And we're the pillow fight of the week again......

The Bottom 10 inspirational thought of the week:

Instant Karma's gonna get you

Gonna knock you off your feet

Better recognize your brothers

Ev'ryone you meet

Why in the world are we here

Surely not to live in pain and fear

Why on earth are you there

When you're ev'rywhere

Come and get your share

-- John Lennon, "Instant Karma"

The Imagine Peace Tower on Videy island in Iceland was unveiled on Tuesday on what would have been John Lennon's 67th birthday. A beam of light radiates from a wishing well bearing the words "imagine peace" in 24 languages. During the unveiling ceremony, Yoko Ono urged the world to give peace a chance.

The Bottom 10 is all about giving peace a chance. The Bottom 10 also would like to display a message from its wishing well. Our beacon would welcome all teams to visit.

The light certainly has shined on USC over the past five seasons. The Trojans have won Pac-10 and national titles. They've been to the Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl. USC has been a Power 16 regular. The Trojans are stars on signing day.

But something was missing from the Trojans' résumé. Thanks to Stanford, that's about to change. The Bottom 10 welcomes USC to the highly coveted No. 5 spot. Come and get your share.

The 41-point favorite Trojans suffered a 24-23 loss to the Cardinal in the Coliseum on Saturday. Talk about your double fantasy -- both USC and UCLA (Week 3 ) have visited the Bottom 10's No. 5 spot this season.

When it comes to surprises, results among the bottom of the football barrel have mirrored the shockers in the top 25 rankings. Bottom 10 regulars Temple, Rice, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe all won over the weekend to earn an escape. Even new Bottom 10 favorite Notre Dame is no longer around. The Irish beat UCLA on Saturday. Maybe teams looking for a way off the Bottom 10 should start scheduling trips to L.A.?

Florida International, which has lost a Div. I-A-worst 18 straight games, remains No. 1. The Panthers are joined by the other four I-A teams still searching for their first win of the season.

We'll let the songs of John Lennon guide us through the latest edition of the Bottom 10. But don't forget to catch the pillow fight of the week: Louisiana-Monroe at North Texas.

Have a comment about the Bottom 10 ranking? Send us your thoughts.

So, with apologies to Steve Harvey, here's the Bottom 10:

ESPN.com's Bottom 10

RANK TEAM RECORD COMMENT

1. FIU 0-6 "Imagine": Imagining no possessions isn't hard for the Panthers to do. They have lost 18 straight games.

2. North Texas 0-5 "(Just Like) Starting Over": Making the coaching move from high school to college is just like starting over for Todd Dodge -- and the Mean Green's record is proof.

3. Marshall 0-5 "What You Got": You don't know what you got, until you lose it. The Herd have been reminded six straight times.

4. Utah State 0-6 "How Do You Sleep?": After losing 12 straight games, the answer to that question is probably not very well.

5. USC

4-1 "Instant Karma": If a Tree falls on the Trojans in front of 85,125 in the Coliseum, you can bet that the Bottom 10 will hear about it..

6. Colorado State 0-5 "Whatever Gets You Through The Night": After losing 12 straight games, the Rams probably will try anything at this point.

7. Idaho 1-5 "You Are Here": The Vandals are here because their only win is a seven-point escape against I-AA Cal Poly.

8. Louisiana Tech 1-4 "Nobody Loves You (When You Are Down And Out)": LSU is ranked No. 1. Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe won on Saturday. Doubt the Bulldogs are getting much love these days.

9. Northern Illinois 1-5 "Remember": The Huskies went to bowl games in 2004 and 2006. After Saturday's loss to Temple, that must feel like a long time ago in DeKalb.

10. NC State 1-5 "Isolation": Boston probably doesn't feel as isolated to Tom O'Brien these days. While BC is 6-0, his Pack have not beaten a I-A team in 2007.

Waiting list: Clemson's special teams, Duke (1-5), Iowa State (1-5), Louisville's defense, Middle Tennessee (1-5), Minnesota (1-5), SMU (1-4), Syracuse (1-5) and UAB (1-4).

David Duffey is the college football editor at ESPN.com.

October 10, 2007

The excitement of nearly reaching the pinnacle is almost too much to bear. The only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that we have a good chance for this week, though the competition is very tough.

Enrollment at Rice is bound to drop. They've gone completely off the map. Think of the future researchers and statesmen who will be salivating at even the faint hope of getting into NT.

foutsrouts · October 10, 2007

Well at least they haven't yet figured out our connection to Utah State. They might make things sound even more insulting if they add that to our resume.

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 10, 2007

What do they say about publicity - "any publicity is good publicity?" If true, this is a good thing, because I don't see us getting off this Top 10 all season.