Biggest Shock Is That Rankings Don’t Overlap

THE COLLEGES

Here’s the latest from the silliest set of football rankings in the nation. No, not the Bottom Ten--the New York Times Computer Rankings, which have Notre Dame No. 3 this week. No. 1 is, of course, Florida State.

Surprisingly, none of the teams in the New York Times ratings shows up in the Bottom Ten, where excitement over Saturday is building. It’s Temple (1-9) vs. Pitt (2-8), Maryland (1-9) vs. Wake Forest (2-8) and Pacific (2-8) vs. San Jose State (2-8).

Talk about must-lose games.

They’ll be closely watched by a just-assembled Bottom Ten bowl coalition, representing Flushing Meadows, N.Y., Death Valley, Calif., Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz., and the Tijuana Bull Ring.

The favorite is Temple, which has lost nine games by an average of 45 points. But what do you expect from a team that is nicknamed the Owls and has to play day games?

Sad Sack (Record) Last Loss Next Loss 1. Temple (1-9) 7-49, W. Va. Pitts 2. Maryland (1-9) 21-44, N.C. State Wake Forest 3. Pitt (2-8) 0-33, B.C. Temple 4. Ark. State (1-8) 6-20, Pacific Nevada 5. San Jose St. (2-8) 14-28, L.V. Pacific 6. UTEP (1-9) 0-52, Colo. State New Mexico 7. Houston (1-7-1) 17-41, Cincinnati Texas Tech 8. Purdue (1-9) 24-27, Mich State Indiana 9. SMU (1-7-2) 24-41, Texas Tech Navy 10. E. Carolina (2-8) 3-6, Kentucky Cincinnati

11. Ole Southern Miss (2-8); 12. Northwestern (2-8); 13. (Choose one) Yale (2-7) or Columbia (2-7); 14. Duke (3-7); 15. Iowa State (3-7); 16. Oklahoma State (3-7); 17. Ole Miss State (2-6-2); 18. Stanford (4-6); 19. Idle; 20. New York Times Computer Rankings (glitch).

Rout of the week: Michigan (6-4) over Ohio State (9-0-1) (Buckeye Coach John Cooper is 0-4-1 vs. Michigan).

THE PROS

You could imagine the sighs of relief in the Midwest when the score was announced: Cincinnati 41, Houston 17.

Alas, that was a college score from Saturday. The pro game on Sunday produced the same old story: Houston 38, Cincinnati 3. And the Bungles’ winless drought reached nine games. They’re past the halfway point, now, in their quest to register the NFL’s first 0-16 season.

The Bungles know they can’t pass up this opportunity. It could be their last best chance before the expansionist Carolina Panthers go winless in 1995. The rankings:

THE UNWON

Loser (Rec) Last Loss Next Loss 1. Cincinnati (0-9) 3-38, Houston Jets 2. Philcox (0-1)* 5-22, Seattle Houston

*Cleveland QB Todd Philcox’s record in post-Bernie Kosar era.

BAYS, DUNES AND FREEWAYS DIVISION

Team, record Last Loss Next Loss 1. Tampa (2-7) 21-45, S.F. Minn. 2. Phoenix (3-7) 15-20, Dallas Idle 3. Rams (2-7) 0-13, Atlanta Wash.

Crummy game of the week: Washington (2-7) vs. Rams (2-7).