Ole Miss, following in the plodding footsteps of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and USC, took a Top-5 tumble on Thursday night at South Carolina.
That means a team ranked within the Top 5 has lost in each of the first four weeks of the 2009 season. The last time that happened was way back in 1990.
But who’s to say that it ends here? Why not five-for-five?
Let’s take a look at next week’s candidates for catastrophe.
Top-ranked Florida (at Kentucky on Saturday) and No. 2 Texas (hosting UTEP on Saturday) are both “safe” with byes next weekend. Give the schedulers a raise for that one.
No. 3 Alabama (hosting Arkansas on Saturday) plays at Kentucky next week. We’ll set that line at 13 points. The Tide should roll.
No. 4 Mississippi, of course, is no longer in the picture.
No. 5 Penn State (hosting Iowa on Saturday) will be at Illinois next week. We’ll make the Illini a nine-point dog. They have a better shot than Kentucky.
No. 6 California, which figures to move into the Top 5 if it’s able to win at Oregon on Saturday afternoon, will welcome some very special guests to Strawberry Canyon next weekend . . . none other than . . . the USC Trojans.
There. You. Go.
A Top-5 dive five weeks in a row.
Afraid not this year Tamanaha. Cal is much more focused, playing an SC team at home with serious QB and play-calling questions. Carroll’s gonna need more than a Bill Withers tug-at-your-heartstrings cameo to run the table the rest of the Pac 10 season.