[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]No matter what happens in the fall, Duke fans can always look ahead and find solace in the upcoming basketball season. And USC and Georgia backers can harken fondly back to just a few months ago, when they were locking up conference titles and playing in major bowl games. What do you say to the Ole Miss or Washington State student to keep him from stepping out on a ledge? While most schools have provided some redeeming value for its supporters this winter, a small handful of major programs have gone kerplunk in the two big money sports, football and men’s basketball. They represent the antithesis of all the euphoria and school pride that’ll soon be sweeping the nation once the NCAA Tournament kicks off.
They’ve tested your allegiance. They’ve caused a hazardous spike in your blood pressure. They constitute this year’s Oops and Helmets, emblematic of those name brand programs that neither bowled nor received an invite to the big dance in 2005-06.
Note: Perennial non-BCS doormats such as Eastern Michigan, San Jose State and Rice...have been intentionally omitted from the list. Not only would we get flagged for piling on, but you’d never read on if the compilation was dominated by teams from the Sun Belt, WAC and MAC.
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[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]1. Ole Miss – When you pronounce Ole Miss these days, be sure to put the emphasis on the miss. As in, missed out on a bowl game for the second straight year. And missed the NCAA Tournament after going 14-16. Or still misses Eli Manning and Rahim Lockhart. There were precious few bight spots in Oxford this year, causing coaching heads to roll in the Grove. New head coach Ed Orgeron assembled a pretty good defense in the fall, but the offense had rigor mortis, resulting in a 3-8 record and the firing of coordinator Noel Mazzone. They ended the suffering by stepping on the third rail of Ole Miss athletics, getting pounded by Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. For a time, it looked as if hoops would spare the program, but after peaking at 13-3, the Rebels lost 13-of-14 to close out the season and the head coaching career of Rod Barnes at the school.
Winter MVP – LB Patrick Willis
[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]5. Purdue – Considering the weighty pre-season expectations heaped on Joe Tiller’s team, Purdue had no business appearing in this space. The bar was already low for a young hoops team that won just nine games and lacked the depth to compete in the Big Ten, but that wasn’t the case in the fall. The Boilermakers were cast as a darkhorse contender for the Big Ten, and why not? They returned all 11 starters on a very good defense, and didn’t have to face Michigan or Ohio State. They did have to play the rest of the league, though, and that wound up being no blessing. The defense turned out to be a fraud, and after losing six in-a-row during the heart of the schedule, Purdue inexplicably drooped under .500 for the first time since 1996.
Winter MVP – DE Rob Ninkovich
[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif] 7. Wake Forest – Wake not in the NCAA Tournament? That’s blasphemous, but true. The Deacons, a preseason Top 25 team with a pair of Wooden Award candidates, slogged through one of their worst seasons in years, finishing 5-14 in league play and needing a couple of ACC tourney upsets last week just to qualify for the NIT. Wake Forest was once again plucky on Saturdays, upsetting Clemson and North Carolina State and scaring the bejeezus out of Florida State and Boston College on the road, but three straight seven-loss, bowl-free seasons are beginning to become a little too common around Winston-Salem. Winter co-MVPs – G Justin Gray and RB Chris Barclay
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