Bottom 10

Tulane’s Green Ripple was idle last week but tightened its hold on first place because it looked so poor in practice.

Moving up to No. 2 was Purdon’t, which recorded a 21-28 upset loss to Northern Illinois -- the equivalent of, say, a top-10 team falling to Washington.

Meanwhile, Maryland claimed No. 3 after it was beaten by Middle Tennessee State. Imagine if it had been forced to play a team representing the entire state of Tennessee.

No. 4 Ball State again demonstrated its lack of athleticism, which is surprising since, as its name indicates, the school accepts physical education majors only.

And USC checked in at No. 20 on the basis of its winless conference record, signaling the end of an era. UCLA is 3-0. Sorry, Trojans fans; when it comes to football, L.A. is now Bruintown.

*--* Rk. Wreck (Record) Last Loss Next Loss 1. Tulane (0-2) Idle McNeese State 2. Purdon’t (1-2) 21-28, Northern Illinois Notre Dame 3. Maryland ((1-2) 31-32, Middle Tennessee Rutgers State 4. Ball State (0-3) 17-24, Army Auburn 5. Virginia (0-3) 34-37, Ole Southern Miss North Carolina 6. Wyoming (1-2) 0-24, Colorado UNLV 7. New Mexico (0-3) 13-37, Air Force New Mexico State 8. Miami (Ohio) (0-3) 26-48, Western Michigan Kent State 9. Michigan State (1-2) 30-33, Notre Dame Wisconsin 10. San Jose State (0-3) 17-42, Stanford Cal Poly *--*

11. Vanderbilt (1-2); 12. Tennessee (1-2); 13. Duke (1-2); 14. Alabama Birmingham (1-2); 15. Fresno State (1-2); 16. New Mexico State (1-2); 17. Utah State (0-2); 18. Eastern Michigan (0-3) or Western Michigan (1-2) (take your pick); 19. Gone fishing; 20. USC (0-1 in conference).

Others not receiving votes: Texas at El Pinpoint Paso (1-2), following a 38-12 win over No. 16 New Mexico State.

Rout of the week: Notre Dame (2-1) over Purdon’t (1-2).

Crummy game of the week: New Mexico State (1-2) at New Mexico (0-3).

Stat o’ the day: UCLA fan Peter Lee points out that only two Pacific 10 Conference teams have failed to beat USC during the Pete Carroll era: Arizona and Arizona State.

The wackiest poll of all: The Sagarin ratings had Ohio State No. 5 after its loss to USC. Then Ohio State routed Toledo, 38-0 -- and fell to No. 18. Thanks for the yuks, Jeff!

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