Football Teams

Not that anyone in the sport of football was particularly happy about LeGarrette Blount throwing the sucker punch seen 'round YouTube. But from the high school ranks to the NFL, coaches could take one comforting thought: At least it wasn't one of my players. And in the days since Blount clocked an opponent and was suspended for the season, his mistake has been transformed into a teachable moment, an example to scare other athletes straight. "It was a gift for all of us to see the bad end of things," said USC Coach Pete Carroll, who addressed his team about keeping its cool.

A U.S. official and some colleges are telling the brewer of Bud Light to can it. Bud Light rolled out a marketing gimmick, "Fan Can," with the beer cans decorated with college team colors in selected markets just as the schools -- and their football teams -- were gearing up for a new season. But the campaign drew criticism from Janet Evans, a senior attorney with the Federal Trade Commission who oversees alcohol advertising, and from certain colleges because the cans could encourage underage drinking on their campuses.

How can Florida State fans complain that Bobby Bowden's team is never ranked anymore? Why, just this week the 'Nuls checked in at No. 7 in the Bottom Ten. Of course, they have a way to go to catch No. 1 New Mexico, which is winless. But BT pollsters tend to discount early-season victories, so Florida State (2-3) still has a chance to capture the Bottom Ten trophy, which depicts a Velveeta cheese statuette of Ryan Leaf being sacked in his own end zone. Another contender is Buffalo, which took over No. 2. But the Bulls must guard against a mowing down by Gardner-Webb.

Previously winless Tulane's shocking 42-32 win over McNeese State prompted another leadership change in the Bottom Ten, with Maryland taking over No. 1 from the Green Ripple. The plodding Terrapins have one victory this year -- over James Madison, most of whose players are built along the lines of the fourth President (he was 5 feet 4). Of course, if the Twerps -- whoops! the Terps -- do capture the championship trophy, will they drop it? They rank 118th in the nation in the ability to hang on to the ball, having fumbled eight times.

Rumors continued that the NCAA had devised a bail-out program for the rapidly weakening Pacific 10 Conference that would have the league's various flowerhouses taken over by the more solid Mountain West Conference. Or perhaps by the Ivy League. The calamity suffered by USC against Oregon State proved the wisdom of UCLA's marketing slogan: "The football monopoly in L.A. is officially over."

*--* CHRIS DUFRESNE'S RANKINGS AND COMMENTS: Rk. Team (Rec.) Comme nt (last week' s rank) 1 OKLAHOMA (5-0) Rankm an had weird dream Soone rs lost to Texas on Aybar 's botch ed suici de squee ze. (1) 2 LOUISIANA STATE (4-0) Not sure how afrai d team from the Bayou is going to be playi ng in "The Swamp ." (2) 3 MISSOURI (5-0) Tiger s have score d on 33 of 48 drive s direc ted by Chase Danie l. (3) 4 TEXAS (5-0) Bevo consi ders Texas State Fair game his annua l "geta way" weeke nd.

The NCAA released its latest Graduation Success Rates on Tuesday, with the football teams of the Pacific 10 Conference earning mixed grades. No surprise to see Stanford ranked at the top of the class. While the Cardinal has struggled through six consecutive losing seasons on the field, 93% of its players have earned degrees. Washington State is second among Pac-10 teams at 68%. The Los Angeles schools, UCLA and USC, registered at 62% and 54%, respectively.

Offensive linemen love it, game officials tend to hate it and some high school athletic associations are plotting to stop it. The A-11 offense has created such a stir since its creation last year that it might as well be known as the A-!! offense. It is a formation in which any of a team's 11 players could become eligible to catch a pass, leading to mass confusion among defensive players, their coaches, fans and, well, just about everyone.

Roughly halfway through, there are two ways to view the Pacific 10 Conference football season. Four teams log-jammed in first place -- and another statistically nipping at their heels -- implies a high degree of parity. Or, as Oregon State Coach Mike Riley said, "it's all jumbled up." The leaders currently are USC, Arizona, Oregon and Oregon State at 3-1. California is right behind with a 2-1 record.

Forget about the weekend action. Nov. 4 is the big day, marking the return of the team with two mascots (a donkey and an elephant). Yes, Electoral College (0-0) is back after a four-year absence (and hoping it won't have to go into overtime as it did in 2000). Meanwhile, Arizona State's Sun De Villes (they've altered the "Devils" name to change their luck) climbed to No. 5 behind Ole Mich (2-6). The funny little SMUs (No. 10) lost to Navy, 34-7, even though they didn't give up a passing yard.