Bottom Five December 3
By Ron Haramia
Commentary
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
236. Oklahoma (10-2)
237. Goal posts (winless)
238. Florida (8-4)
239. (tie) Colorado State (10-3) and LSU (8-4)
240. The Pitts (8-4)
With the end of the regular season at hand for most college teams, those playing last Saturday wanted to make a statement before the bowl selection committees decide who will vacation where, during the Christmas holidays.
Unfortunately, that statement was �We are overrated� for this week�s Bottom Five members.
For the second year in a row, OU lost to Oklahoma State-will-beat U, saying later to the Sooners national title hopes. Oklahoma�s defense, ranked ninth in the country, allowed 357 yards passing, including 226 to one player - Rashaun Woods. You would think Woods might have been somewhere on the scouting report. All he did was catch 12 passes, with three of them for TDs in the first half (60, 41, 13 yards disrespectively).
After the win, Oklahoma St. students/fans/inebriated wackos stormed the field and tore down the goal posts to celebrate. I, for one, would sure like to see this act of celebration/vandalism stop. How about hootin� and hollerin� your lungs out instead of causing $30,000 worth of damage to your favorite school, while possibly killing a classmate in the process?
Fifteenth-ranked Florida got swamped by an FSU team with four losses and ranked No. 23. The last time Florida State was ranked so low, Florida was not even a state.
Not to be outdone, No. 16 Colorado State and No. 18 LSU lost to unranked teams. The Rams gave up 36 points while losing to UNLV for the first time since gambling was invented (1982, BC). LSU fans and players were too busy planning their attack on the goal posts when Arkansas scored on a Hail Mary pass play to win by one.
The Pitts 24-17 loss to West Virginia will probably send them to that famous, I�m not making this up, Continental Tire Bowl. The Mountaineers were led by former Pittsburgh high school star Rasheed Marshall (one TD rushing, one TD passing, 25-yard reception from his QB position). I guess the Pitts coaches don�t travel to Pittsburgh for recruiting purposes, only to get to the college campus.
You can still catch these teams in action one more time. Their schedules read TBA, but that stands for �Too many Bowls Around (so we�ll be invited anyway)�.
NOTES: Sure Notre Dame got creamed by a USC team that is not overrated. On the bright side, at least the Irish did not wait until a bowl game to get waxed. Now they will play in a mid-tier bowl and may actually win (if their offense can ever out-score their defense and special teams).
PRO FOOTBALL
28. NFC North (18-30)
29. Arizona Cardinals (4-8)
30. St. Lose Rams (5-7)
31. Houston Texans (3-9)
32. Cincinnati Bungles (1-11)
With the Green Bay Packers sewing up the NFC North title (hard to brag about that) at 9-3, the battle is for second between the Champaign Bears, the Cowardly Lions, and the Minnesota Tikes, who have nine wins combined.
Sunday lowlights for the Bears included having a center-snap intercepted in their 30-20 loss to the Pack.
Quarterback Jim Miller said, �That is just basic football - center/QB exchange. Those things happen.� Only to Da (3-9) Bears.
The Lions tried to hide by playing on Thursday, but since it was one of only two games on Thanksgiving, the Bottom Five saw them lose to the New England Patty Cakes 20-12. If only Jason Hanson could have kicked seven field goals instead of four for Detroit.
The Tikes, who cannot win on the road, are not winning at home either. In their loss to the Falcons, they gave up 173 yards rushing to the opposing QB! Did Dan Marino, Dan Fouts, or Johnny Unitas have that many yards running in their careers? I know, I know, the Atlanta signal-caller is Carl Lewis, I mean Michael Vick. But still, 173?
The Chiefs� Priest Holmes practiced what he preached in gaining 169 total yards to outgain the entire Cardinal team (122) in the Cards 49-0 loss to KC.
The Rams, now 0-7 with their first-string QB playing, lost to the Eagles, who were using their third-string QB. The Rams� third-stringer is 5-0 this year, but they are saving him for the playoffs they will not make.
The Texans scored only a measly field goal with three minutes left against one of the worst defenses in the league (Colts). Quarterback David Carr was sacked six more times. He now has �Sack right/left�, on his wristband as one of 20 plays the Texans use each game.
Leading 23-14 entering the fourth quarter, the Bungles played like they are capable of, and lost 27-23 to the Ravens (6-6).
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