Good to Bad to Ugly in a Hurry

THE COLLEGES

Kudos to Indiana, which is believed to be the first team in the top 25 rankings ever to trail an opponent, 0-55. The Who?siers eventually rallied to lose 13-62 to Wisconsin--but were still reassigned to No. 10 in the Bottom Ten doghouse.

It’s another big year, meanwhile, for the Loan Star State--so named for the numerous scandals involving illegal payments to Texas football players.

Houston, which hasn’t scored in weeks, accelerated its quest for a second Bottom Ten title while SMU (No. 7) and Texas at El Dropped Paso (No. 8) wait in reserve.

Cal, the former Bottom Ten leader, ended its season-long losing streak with a 25-21 victory over Arizona State. In a way, though, Cal’s losing tradition was preserved. ASU’s Bruce Snyder used to be the Bears’ coach.

The rankings:

School, Record Last Loss Next Loss 1. Houston (0-4) 0-52, Ohio State Idle 2. Iowa State (0-4) 18-28, Rice Oklahoma 3. L. Lewis KO’d by McCall $$$ 4. Tennessee (1-3) 21-24, Miss State Washington St. 5. West Virginia (1-4) 6-34, Virginia Tech Missouri 6. New Mexico (0-4) 47-49, BYU Colorado State 7. SMU (1-3) 7-35, Texas Tech North Carolina 8. UTEP (1-3) 7-47, Air Force Hawaii 9. Arizona State (1-3) 21-25, Cal Stanford 10. Indiana (3-1) 13-62, Wisconsin Minnehaha

11. Tie between Arkansas (1-3) and Arkansas State (1-3); 13. Dartmouth (0-2); 14. Tulane (1-3); 15. Kentucky (1-3); 16-19. Pentagon (Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force) (2-10); 20. Idle.

Crummy Game of the Week: Missouri (1-3) vs. West Virginia (1-4).

Crummy Intrasquad Game of the Week: Houston.

Noteworthy losing streaks: Miami (Fla.) at home (1).

Another reason computers will never replace newspapers: Incensed over a reporter’s prediction that Virginia Tech would lose to Boston College on Sept. 17, fullback Brian Edmonds stuffed the newspaper clipping in his helmet for inspiration. Tech won, 12-7.

THE PROS

Still no word on whether ESPN will lodge broadcaster-tampering charges against the NFL over the efforts of Flagstaff Cardinal Coach Buddy Ryan to sign ex-Giant Phil Simms.

Elsewhere, several treasured streaks were broken. Denver’s John Elway had no interceptions run back for touchdowns for the first time this season. Cincinnati’s defense ended its sack-less skein at just three games. And New Orleans finally managed a run of more than 20 yards--by its punter.

Viewers of the Buffalo-Denver game could have been excused for thinking they were watching Ken Burns’ baseball documentary. At one point, ABC’s Frank Gifford--proving that he is in mid-season form--referred to Buffalo’s Thurman Thomas as Thurman Munson, the late Yankee catcher.

The rankings:

IT ISN’T KIDS’ PLAY

Kid, Team Dad Kid’s Record 1. Dave Shula, Cincy (Don) 0-4) 2. Wade Phillips, Denver (Bum) 0-4 3. Jimmy Irsay*, Indy (Bob) 1-3 4. Mike Shula** Chicago (Don) (2-2)

* General manager for Bob, the owner.

** Assistant coach

PLAYERS OF THE WEAK

Dud, Team Disaster 1. QB Klingler (Cincy) 10 of 30 passes, 3 ints., 115 yards 2. QB Erickson (Tampa) 7 of 20 passes, 124 yards 3. QB Esiason (Jets) 11 of 20 passes, 112 yards.