- Bottom 10
[
ESPN publishes the "Bottom 10" worst college football teams weekly during the regular season.] The Bottom 10 (sometimes called "ESPN.com's Bottom 10") is a week-by-week regular season ranking of the worst tencollege football teams in the NCAA Division I FBS from ESPN.com [ [http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/bennett/2007/09/wednesday-business-blog_26.html Louisville Courier-Journal.com] "Wednesday Business Blog" by staff writer Brian BennettSeptember 26 ,2007 ] and often includes editorial comments meant to provoke a humorous response in readers. [ [http://media.www.ntdaily.com/media/storage/paper877/news/2006/09/08/Sports/Nt.Among.Leagues.Worst-2262736.shtml NT Daily News] "NT among league's worst" by Michael Neglia,September 8 ,2006 ] Placement on the rankings is somewhat arbitrarily based on the sportswriters' whims, with the "coveted Number 5 spot" normally reserved for the team whom the writers consider to be on the losing end of the biggest upset of the week, such as Clemson's most lopsided defeat in a home-opener in school history to start the 2003 season. [ [http://news.greenvilleonline.com/blogs/bwright/archives/000272.html Greenville Online] "Tough times for football at Clemson" by Bart Wright,September 4 ,2003 ]At times, certain aspects of college football may receive a ranking, such as the
2006 Wisconsin Badgers football team non-conference schedule--the "schedule" received the ranking, not the team. [ [http://www.madison.com/wsj/blogs/badger/index.php?ntid=97252&ntpid=50 Madison.com] "Badgering UW's non-conference schedule" by Rob Hernandez,September 2 ,2006 ]The Bottom 10 in popular culture
The Bottom 10 rankings are occasionally referenced by other sporstwriters when writing editorials about teams that the writers consider to be poor performers. One example of this can be found in the Stanford Review: "Stanford has consistently maintained the #2 spot on the ESPN “Bottom 10” rankings, only losing, or winning depending on your perspective, to equally hapless Duke." [ [http://www.stanfordreview.org/Archive/Volume_XXXVII/Issue_8/Features/features5.shtml Stanford Review] "Time for Harris to Go?", Stuart Baimel,
December 1 ,2006 ]Original idea
The
Chicago Tribune credits the idea toLos Angeles sportswriter Steve Harvey approximately 30 years before ESPN began using the term. [ [http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/rosenblog/2007/09/pulling-out-the.html Chicago Tribune Sports Online] "Pulling out the stops" by Steve Rosenbloom,September 5 ,2007 ] ESPN now publishes the rankings "With apologies to Steve Harvey." [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?page=bottom100712 ESPN.com Bottom 10 Rankings] "Final Bottom 10 finds 2007's real McCoys", David Duffey,January 14 ,2008 ]Other Bottom Ten's
[http://www.writersshack.com The Writer's Shack] also publishes a Bottom Ten. The college Bottom Ten generally moves on Monday, and the NFL Bottom Ten on Tuesday's. Writer Gaylon Kent admits to reading Steve Harvey's Bottom Ten growing up.
References
External links
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/rankingsindex ESPN.com college football ranking index]
* [http://www.writersshack.com Writer's Shack Bottom Ten]
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