The Bottom Ten

Rice had a 10-3 record in 2008, including a win in the Texas Bowl, yet still failed to crack the Associated Press top 25 rankings.

Well, the sleepy Owls aren’t being ignored this year. Their 0-7 record has elevated them to the top of the Bottom Ten, following a 13-49 loss to East Carolina.

Rice ranks No. 120th -- last -- among major schools in scoring defense, coughing up 45 points per game.

The Houston Chronicle reported that when a sportswriter showed the defensive stats to Coach David Bailiff the other day, Bailiff said, “Fortunately, I don’t have my glasses.”

But let’s look on the positive side: Jeff Sagarin’s Top 245 computer rankings say Rice is the 168th-best team in the nation.

*--* Wreck, Record Last Loss Next Loss 1. Rice (0-7) 13-49, East Carolina Central Florida 2. Western Kentucky (0-6) 22-30, La.-Lafayette Middle Tennessee 3. Ball State (0-7) 17-31, Bowling Green Eastern Michigan 4. New Mexico (0-6) Idle Nevada Las Vegas 5. Washington State (1-5) 14-27, Arizona State California 6. Florida State (2-4) Idle North Carolina 7. Miami (Ohio) (0-7) 7-28, Ohio (Ohio) Northern Illinois 8. Eastern Michigan (0-6) 6-28, Kent State Ball State 9. Fla. International (1-5) 33-42, Troy Arkansas State 10. Illinois (1-5) 14-27, Indiana Purdue *--*

11. Syracuse (2-4); 12. Vanderbilt (2-5); 13. Utah State (1-5); 14. San Jose State (1-5); 15. Alabama Birmingham (2-4); 16. Akron* (1-5); 17. Florida Atlantic (1-4); 18. Hawaii (2-4; 1-3 on mainland); 19. On sabbatical; 20. Oklahoma (3-3).

*Not affiliated with discount store chain.

Crummy game of the week: Midwest -- Ball State (0-7) at Eastern Michigan (0-6). Rockies -- Nevada Las Vegas (2-5) at New Mexico (0-6).

That gentle touch: The defense with the fewest sacks in the nation is Western Kentucky, with two in six games. Close behind, with four, is Texas of El-Can’t-Get-to-the-Passer.

Special citation: Police said a fan at the recent Minnesota-Wisconsin game was so out of control that they had to repeatedly use a Taser on him. “Even worse,” pointed out Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, “more charges are pending.”

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