SMU One Stumble Closer to Title

By Steve Harvey
Rank Person

Colleges

SMU nearly blew the lead in the Bottom Ten but managed to pull out a dramatic 13-14 loss to South Florida to stay No. 1.

Poor No. 2 Georgia State (1-9). A season-opening 38-37 win over Abilene Christian is all that has kept the school from having a chance for a winless record. The BT race isn't over yet, though. The Bottom Ten Playoffs Selection Committee is still said to be "low" on the Panthers (the greatest praise a Bottom Ten team can receive).

There were dramatic happs elsewhere with Weber State (2-9) taking over No. 10 after the NCAA had slapped the school with penalties following revelations that a math instructor had completed quizzes and tests for five players.

The shenanigans evidently didn't make much of a difference. Weber is 2-9 this year after going 2-10 in 2013 and 2-9 in 2012.

The scandal came about, incidentally, after another instructor became suspicious upon discovering that one student had competed six quizzes and a final exam in less than an hour.

Statistics are incomplete in this area but it is believed that the student bettered the old NCAA record of six quizzes and a final exam in 63 minutes, 30 seconds, set several years ago by a Florida State wide receiver.

Colleges

Football Powerless Index

Team, Record................ Last Loss.....................Next Loss
1. SMU (0-9)................ 13-14, So Fla..................Cent Fla
2. Georgia St (1-9)........ Idle ................................Clemson
3. Kent State (1-9)........ 20-30, Bowling (Green) Snow
4. Idaho (1-9)............... 17-34, Troy.................... App St
5. Colorado (2-8) .........20-38, Ariz .....................Oregon
6. E Mich (2-8) .............7-51, W Michigan......... Ball State
7. Iowa State (3-7)........ Idle................................ Texas Tech
8. Vanderbilt (3-7)....... 10-34, Florida................. Miss St
9. UNLV (2-9)..............23-42, BYU................... Hawaii
10.Weber State (2-9).... Def. N Colo, 34-21..........Idaho St

Routs of the Week (regionals): Colorado (2-8) at Oregon (9-1) (West); Vanderbilt (3-7) at Miss State (9-1) (South); Snow vs. Buffalo (East).

Dishonorable mention: The Southeastern Conference fined Arkansas $25,000 after fans stormed the field following a win over then-No. 20 LSU. The conference reminded Arkansas that only players, coaches, officials and irrelevant sideline reporters are allowed on the field.

The Pros

"Just Win Maybe?" pleaded the placard of one rooter. And, incredible as it might seem, the Raiders (1-10) did win, ending a 16-game losing streak and underscoring the old saying, "On any given Thursday, any team in the NFL can beat any other team, though why they have to play on a Thursday and screw up the Bottom Ten rankings, we're not sure."

Earlier,  the NFL announced that Oakland has been mathematically eliminated from the Super Bowl competition.  (Amazing what calculations those highly-powered computers of today can make.) And now the Raiders have been ejected from the worst-of-the-worst race.

Meanwhile, rising to the top of the bottom is Washington (3-7),  where the players seem to be in revolt.  QB Robert Griffin III, critical of the team and himself following a 7-27 loss to Grampa Bay, later felt the need to tweet: "I would never throw my teammates under the bus!"

 It was an odd comment coming just a few weeks after the team bus had crashed on the way to a game.

Washington players were said to be nervous that they'll be boarding a bus this weekend in San Francisco, city of high bridges.

Wreck, Record........... Last Loss............... Next Loss
1. Washington (3-7)......7-27, Grampa Bay....S.F.
2. Oakland (1-10)         Def. K.C., 24-20......St. L
3. Jax (1-9)................... Idle......................... Indy
4. Old Orleans (4-6).... 10-27, Cincinnati..... Baltimore
5. Tennessee (2-8)....... 24-27, Pitts.............. Philadelphia
6. (Tie) N.J. Jets (2-8) and N.J. Giants (3-7); 8. Minnehaha (4-6); 9. Carolina (3-7-1); 10. NFC South (13-27-1)

Rout of the Week: S.F. (6-4) over Washington (3-7) (only rout scheduled).

Nutty Play of the Week: Aints fan Tony Williams was lambasted by the media after intercepting a souvenir football that a Bengals player had thrown into the stands to Bengals fan Christa Barrett. The New Orleans Times-Picayune said that Williams contended that Aints fans always jockey for position in those situations, similiar to how Mardi Gras "parade-goers compete for Zulu coconuts."