Ball State

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."

Woke up Sunday never expecting to see the Angels on television right after sunrise services, or these unexpected college football story lines: Oregon is 3-0 and leading the Pacific 10 Conference. That's right, the program you switched off after LeGarrette Blount's punch the Thursday before Labor Day has won five consecutive games and suddenly controls its fate in the race for at least one of this year's Rose Bowls. The Ducks came to Los Angeles without their starting quarterback and two starting cornerbacks and dumped UCLA's Bruins, 24-10.

at Texas El Paso 58, No. 12 Houston 41: Donald Buckram ran for 262 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Miners (2-3, 1-0 Conference USA) over the Cougars (3-1, 0-1). Houston's Case Keenum threw for 536 yards and five touchdowns. Tulsa 27, at Rice 10: G.J. Kinne led the Golden Hurricane (4-1, 2-0 C-USA) past the Owls (0-5, 0-2). at Central Florida 32, Memphis 14: Brynn Harvey ran for 219 yards as the Knights (1-4, 1-2 C-USA) defeated the Tigers (1-4, 0-2). East Carolina 21, at Marshall 17: Patrick Pinkney scored on a 30-yard run for the Pirates (3-2, 2-0 C-USA)

at No. 3 Alabama 35, Arkansas 7: Greg McElroy passed for a career-high 291 yards and three touchdowns as the Crimson Tide (4-0, 1-0) won its 18th consecutive league opener dating to its 1992 national championship season. A relentless defense hounded the nation's No. 2 offense, as Ryan Mallett went 12 for 35 for 161 yards for the Razorbacks (1-2, 0-2). No. 7 Louisiana State 30, at Mississippi State 26: The Tigers (4-0, 2-0) stuffed the defense at the goal line with 1:08 left to preserve the victory.

UCLA's victory Saturday was tempered by an injury suffered by cornerback Aaron Hester , leaving a thin position a little weaker. Hester suffered a cracked right fibula on the first series against San Diego State, then played on it until the second quarter. He said he expected to be out at least three weeks. "I was making a tackle with [linebacker] Reggie Carter and just kind of landed wrong," said Hester, a redshirt freshman. "It just kept hurting." Courtney Viney , a 5-foot-7 sophomore, took over for Hester and probably will start against Tennessee next week.

They whiffed a fat batting practice pitch. Blew a gimme putt. Inexplicably clanked a slam-dunk. Pardon the sports jargon, but it's a civil way to characterize incompetence and failure in Sacramento. It avoids invective language already too prevalent in California's Capitol. Three weeks ago, as I left town on vacation, the politicians seemed poised to close a $24-billion deficit hole, which would have saved the state from issuing costly IOUs and suffering national ridicule.

Tennessee's NCAA women's title defense ended sooner than expected, wrapping up the worst season ever for Pat Summitt's storied program. Ball State, seeded 12th, stunned the two-time defending national champions, 71-55, Sunday in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Bowling Green, Ky., ending one of the more remarkable streaks in college basketball history. The fifth-seeded Lady Volunteers (22-11) had never before lost on the opening weekend of the tournament, going 42-0 through the years.

Ball State fumbled away its perfect season. The 12th-ranked Cardinals coughed up the ball four times and Buffalo scored off each turnover, routing the previously unbeaten team, 42-24, Friday night in the Mid-American Conference championship game at Ford Field in Detroit. "We kind of shot ourselves in the foot," defensive end Brandon Crawford said. "They capitalized off the opportunities."

Nate Davis threw four touchdown passes, and No. 14 Ball State survived a scare from Central Michigan on Wednesday night in a 31-24 victory at Mount Pleasant, Mich., that gave the Cardinals a school record for wins in a season. The victory also clinched a share of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference for Ball State (11-0, 7-0), which has never played in the league title game. The Cardinals can win the division outright with a win over Western Michigan on Tuesday.