THE BOTTOM TEN

Minnehaha football Coach Tim Brewster referred to the North Dakota State Bison as “the little guys in green” and grumbled that he wanted “to play a nonconference schedule that would help me with recruiting.”

Well, it’s North Dakota State that should gripe about wasting its time with pushovers like Minnehaha. The Bison won, 27-21, pushing the Golden Go-fers to No. 1 in the Bottom Ten. No wonder the Big Ten didn’t change its name when Penn State joined the conference; Minnehaha is no longer considered a member.

Meanwhile, formerly winless Colorado State pulled a choke job by crushing Nevada Las Vegas, 48-23, ending its chances for a BT title. Debuting at No. 10 after a 14-36 loss to Texas A&M; was fading Nebraska, amid speculation that interim Athletic Director Tom Osborne will be asked to step down after his winless reign.

Incidentally, the BT electors were unable to explain how winless Florida International (0-7), last week’s leader, could fall to No. 2 despite losing. Then again, who can explain the BCS?

*--* Wreck Team, record Last loss Next loss 1. Minnehaha (1-7) 21-27, N. Dakota State Michigan 2. Florida Int. (0-7) 14-28, La. Monroe Arkansas 3. Utah State (0-7) 28-31, Nevada La. Tech 4. Idaho (1-7) 31-45, New Mexico St. Nevada* 5. Marshall (0-7) 24-33, Southern Miss. Rice 6. Rice (1-6) 35-38, Memphis Marshall 7. Notre Dame (1-7) 0-38, USC Navy 8. The SMUs (1-6) 34-41, Two Lane Tulsa 9. Duke (1-6) Idle Florida State 10. Nebraska (4-4) 14-36, Texas A&M Texas *--*

* The next 10: 11. Ancient Miss (2-6); 12. Arizona (2-6); 13. Iowa State (1-7); 14(t). Washington State (2-5) and Washington (2-5); 16. Brown (2-4); 17. Alabama Birmingham (2-5); 18. Columbia (1-5); 19. Princeton (2-4); 20. Prefers to remain anonymous.

* Made you look, made you look.

* Rout of the week: Minnehaha (1-7) vs. Michigan (6-2).

* Crummy game of the week: Marshall (0-7) vs. Rice (1-6) (national title implications here).

* Why analysts get the big bucks: ESPN’s Lee Corso warned last week, “USC has to be careful -- Notre Dame’s wearing green.” The special uniforms enabled Notre Dame to lose only 38-0.

* Most polite team: Iowa State has been penalized an average of 30.6 yards a game, the least in Division I. What does that get you? Iowa State is 1-7.

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steve.harvey@latimes.com