Who is Yordenis Ugas, and why is he fighting Manny Pacquiao?
-
Mike CoppingerESPN
YORDENIS UGAS WAS silent. He was happy, soaking in the moment. The 35-year-old had just received an unexpected call, offering him an opportunity he’d long dreamed of.
The answer about whether or not he’d take a fight against boxing’s only eight-division champion, Manny Pacquiao, was never in doubt. Of course he said yes.
And when Ugas steps into the ring against Pacquiao on Saturday in Las Vegas, he’ll be defending his WBA “super” welterweight title against a 42-year-old living legend having only 11 days’ notice.
Both men were training for drastically different fights on the same card: Pacquiao against IBF and WBC world title holder Errol Spence Jr.; Ugas against Fabian Maidana. Both Spence and Maidana suffered eye injuries that knocked them out of those fights. Suddenly, Pacquiao and Ugas were set to headline a PBC on Fox pay-per-view at T-Mobile Arena.
“I was surprised,” says Ugas, ESPN’s No. 6 boxer at 147 pounds. “I had emotion running through [me], but I also knew I was prepared. This was meant for a reason.”
If Ugas seems unfazed, it’s because of everything he’s been through over the past decade in his professional career, and everything that led up to this point. He’s an Olympic medalist for his native Cuba, who defected to the United States to pursue his professional dreams. He spent two years (from 2014 to 2016), retired from the sport. And before he could even launch his professional career, Ugas struggled for years to get his feet underneath him.
The stars have finally aligned for Ugas. It’s been a long time coming.
TWO YEARS AFTER winning bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Ugas made the only choice available if he wanted to pursue his dream of winning a world title: He defected from Cuba.
“Imagine being in the open sea for two days, you’re in a small little boat so you’re all over the place with the waves,” Ugas recalled. “I thought at every moment I was going to die. It’s not something I would wish on anyone; it’s very dangerous.”
That small raft brought him from Cuba to Mexico. From there, he made his way to Miami, where many Cuban defectors have settled over the past few decades.
Living in the United States with a minimal support system and little money was difficult, and lonely. During those seemingly never-ending days, Ugas would head over to McDonald’s and order a dollar-menu apple pie. Not just one — sometimes as many as seven. It was comfort food, and the only meal he could afford that would offer any solace.
But Ugas’ pro career started well enough inside the ring. He recorded five wins in 2010, and that November, two key things happened: Ugas got his first up-close look at Pacquiao, when Pacquiao picked apart Antonio Margarito in a 154-pound title fight and became boxing’s first eight-division world champion. And that night, as Ugas was ringside at the home of the Dallas Cowboys, he met Bob Arum and laid the groundwork for his first promotional contract.
“Ugas was wearing a white suit, he had that Don Johnson look, no shirt on, and Arum f—ing falls in love with the look,” Top Rank Boxing matchmaker Brad Goodman recalled. “Arum thought he was the real deal.”
TOP RANK SIGNED Ugas and placed him on a February 2011 card against Carlos Musquez. Ugas won his first six fights with the promotion, running his record to 11-0 with five knockouts.
Then they stepped up the competition for Ugas with a fight against Johnny Garcia, on Showtime’s prospect-oriented series, ShoBox: The New Generation. It was a disaster for Ugas, who suffered his first professional loss via split decision. And that wasn’t all.
“His first showing to really showcase his skills, and he lost a split decision,” Goodman says. “He really didn’t go out there and shine like he was supposed to. We were just real down [on him] and we just released him.”
The release, Ugas says, was a psychological blow that took him years to recover from. He won four fights after parting ways with Top Rank, but then lost back-to-back fights against Emanuel Robles and Amir Imam in 2014. Following the unanimous-decision setback to Imam that May, Ugas suddenly called it quits.
His career hadn’t gone the way he planned; far from it, in fact. At 15-3, and just four years into his pro career, Ugas couldn’t handle losing. He had been one of the best amateurs in Cuban history, winning several national championships and a gold medal at the 2005 World Championships in Mianyang, China.
“Dark days back then, it was very depressing,” Ugas said, via translation from his manager, Luis DeCubas. “I’ve been competing in boxing over 20 years; never not been competing; never thought I didn’t have a future. Sitting in a room with no future, no money, no life: it’s pretty depressing. You think the worst things.
“I was retired, 100 percent out of boxing; wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I was confused. I didn’t know what I was going to do in life, period. … Bad time in my career; bad time in life.”
“He’s not a drinker, but [he was] hanging out until late, not taking things seriously, not running,” said DeCubas.
Ugas was living in New Jersey at that point, and to get by, he worked odd jobs to pay the bills — the first jobs he ever had outside of boxing. Hard labor.
Then Ugas received the call that “100 percent changed my life.” On the other line, along with DeCubas, was Aroldis Chapman, the future MLB All-Star closer. Chapman, a fellow Cuban defector and one of Ugas’ closest friends since they arrived in Miami, had signed a lucrative contract with the Cincinnati Reds in January 2010, and he was ready to offer Ugas a much-needed lifeline and a doorway back into boxing.
The message from Chapman: “I’ll give you the money to move to Vegas, but you better take this as your last opportunity.”
WHILE HE WAS living in New Jersey during that two-year hiatus, Ugas had plenty of time to think. He couldn’t wrap his head around it all. How had he reached this point?
He surveyed the boxing landscape and saw who was thriving. Terence Crawford? Ugas beat him when they met in the Pan American Games qualifier in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, in 2007. Sadam Ali. Darleys Perez. Jose Pedraza. Along with Crawford, all titleholders at that time. And all fighters Ugas had beaten as an amateur.
“These guys are champions; I’m not a champion?” Ugas recalls thinking. “I gotta be a champion.”
Determined to make the most of the opportunity Chapman placed at his feet, Ugas packed up what little he owned and moved to Las Vegas for a fresh start — linking up with trainer Ismael Salas, another Cuban, and reuniting with DeCubas. He changed his lifestyle and dedicated himself completely to his craft.
He also moved up in weight, from 140 pounds to 147, and witnessed the birth of his son, Yordenis Jr. — the two biggest factors in his dramatic turnaround, Ugas says.
During the second act of his career with DeCubas, in which he eventually signed with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions promotion, Ugas impressed as a reliable fill-in. Less than a year into his return, Ugas scored a second-round stoppage vs. Nelson Lara on two days’ notice in 2017. Later that year, he agreed to take on an even better opponent on one week’s notice, defeating Thomas Dulorme by decision.
“I could tell when he came out [to Las Vegas,] he wasn’t playing around,” DeCubas said.
“He just made a complete turnaround. He has all the ability in the world,” said Goodman, who considers Ugas’ inside game his best attribute. “… He’s very calm. He carries a lot of confidence. Nothing rattles him.”
By 2019, Ugas had put together eight consecutive victories, and lined up opposite Shawn Porter for a WBC welterweight title shot — the kind of opportunity he had long dreamed of. Despite being as much as a +400 underdog, Ugas went punch for punch with Porter, and in the minds of many in the boxing world watching that night, did enough to win. But the cards ultimately went against him, albeit narrowly in a split decision.
Besides the controversial defeat to Porter, Ugas’ résumé includes decision wins over solid fighters like Jamal James, Abel Ramos and Omar Figueroa Jr., as well as TKOs vs. Bryant Perrella and Ray Robinson.
None of those boxers, of course, come close to the legendary Pacquiao.
1:03
Manny Pacquiao shares his thoughts on his new opponent Yordenis Ugas, following Errol Spence Jr.’s withdrawal due to injury.
SEVEN YEARS ON from hitting the pause button in his career, Ugas, a fighter once labeled a bust, is on the doorstep of a life-changing opportunity.
“I never expected to fight Manny Pacquiao, especially at his age and how much more ahead [of me] he was,” Ugas said. “He’s such a great fighter and he showed [it] with what he did against Keith Thurman and Adrien Broner [in his two most recent fights]. What a great fighter he still is, even at 42 years old.
“He’s one of the greatest fighters of all time, there’s no question about it. It’s going to be a pleasure and honor to share the ring with a legend. But once the bell rings, all that goes out the window and it’s a fight. It’s not, ‘I’m fighting Manny Pacquiao.’ I’m fighting for my life.”
“He has to prepare for his future outside of boxing; these are the fights that do that,” DeCubas says. “And a win over Pacquiao sets him up for life.”
Ugas (26-4, 12 KOs) enters the fight against Pacquiao as the WBA champion, a position he was elevated to back in January. The old champ? Pacquiao, who won the title from Thurman in July 2019 but hasn’t fought since. Due to the long layoff, the WBA appointed him champion in recess. Pacquiao petitioned the WBA to be reinstated ahead of the Spence fight, but in a surprise decision, the WBA ruled last month to maintain Ugas as champion.
“Ugas is a champion because they gave him my belt,” Pacquiao said last week. “Now, we have to settle it inside of the ring. I cannot take him lightly because he’s the kind of fighter who will take advantage of that.”
Ugas is in a familiar position, both as a last-minute replacement and as a +280 betting underdog as of Wednesday morning at Caesars Sportsbook.
Given what he has fought through — defecting from Cuba, fighting back from a two-year hiatus and the disappointment of not getting the win over Porter, among many other challenges along the way — doubting Ugas’ chances Saturday is a risky position to take.
“If he’s overlooking me, he’s going to have a problem,” Ugas said. “I’m in the prime of my career. I’m a world champion; I’m fighting at the highest level I ever fought. You put the championship pedigree with the Olympic pedigree — I can’t wait for the fight.”
Baseball’s winter meetings are just around the corner, and we’re ready for some blockbuster deals.
We’ve already seen some intriguing trades this offseason with the New York Mets acquiring Marcus Semien from the Texas Rangers for Brandon Nimmo and the Boston Red Sox adding Sonny Gray to their pitching staff — but there are even bigger stars who could move in the weeks ahead.
With that in mind, we asked our MLB insiders to give us their preferred destination for some of the biggest names in our ranking of the top 25 MLB offseason trade candidates.
Where did we send All-Stars Ketel Marte and Byron Buxton? Which Red Sox outfielder is on the move in our deals? And which contenders get starting pitching help? Let’s find out.
The Arizona Diamondbacks should trade Ketel Marte to the …
The Mariners plucked from the D-backs to jolt their offense just five months ago, acquiring corner infielders Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor. They should do so again, this time for Marte, the star second baseman who can be had for the right return. The Mariners have a need for another bat, and Marte would represent a massive upgrade over merely re-signing Suarez or Jorge Polanco.
Marte would slide in perfectly ahead of fellow All-Stars Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh, allowing Randy Arozarena to join Naylor in the middle of the lineup and giving Seattle arguably the best offense in the American League — to pair with what is likely the best pitching staff.
Coming off a gut-wrenching loss in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, it’s the perfect move to push the M’s toward the first World Series berth in franchise history. And whether it’s Cole Young, Michael Arroyo or Felnin Celesten, the Mariners might have enough young, promising middle infielders to satisfy the D-backs’ likely desire for a Marte replacement without parting with Colt Emerson. — Alden Gonzalez
Boston Red Sox for Jarren Duran and Kyson Witherspoon
Roman Anthony‘s 2025 breakout rendered Duran expendable in an outfield already staffed by Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu, both of whom offer more remaining team control. And with presumed second-baseman-of-the-future Kristian Campbell struggling as a rookie (86 OPS+, -1.0 WAR), the door swung open for a move of this magnitude.
Duran’s proclivity for doubles and triples will play beautifully in Arizona (just ask Corbin Carroll), and Witherspoon, the No. 15 pick in the 2025 MLB draft, instantly becomes the club’s best pitching prospect. — Paul Hembekides
The Red Sox should trade Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies for a package including Alec Bohm
These lightning-rod players certainly are not coming off their best seasons and perhaps each needs the proverbial change of scenery. The Red Sox may need someone to play third base, and Bohm, while no match for Alex Bregman, is a capable hitter and defender. The Phillies could then get a more consistent third baseman who enjoys playing in Philadelphia. Duran would fill Philadelphia’s center-field need, and it would create some opportunity in a crowded Boston outfield. See, trades can work out for both teams! — Eric Karabell
The Cleveland Guardians should trade Steven Kwan to the Mariners
I love this idea so much. Kwan would return to the West Coast, about a four-hour drive from Corvallis, where he starred for Oregon State. He would give the Mariners a needed upgrade at a corner outfield spot, teaming with Julio Rodriguez to improve Seattle’s outfield defense. Most importantly, he could slide into the leadoff spot, offering contact and OBP as a poor man’s Ichiro, hitting in front of Cal Raleigh, Rodriguez and his old Cleveland teammate, Josh Naylor. Let’s get this done. — Bradford Doolittle
The Chicago White Sox should trade Luis Robert to the …
Rumor mill whispering has connected the Royals with Boston’s Jarren Duran for the hefty price of Cole Ragans, a swap I can’t abide. The Royals have starting pitching depth, but they don’t have ace depth and Ragans must stay. Duran isn’t an ideal defensive fit for Kauffman Stadium if you view him as a center fielder, and the Royals need to upgrade at that spot badly.
Enter Robert, whose work on strike zone judgment seemed to be paying off in the latter stages of last season. He’s younger than Duran and has more power upside without sacrificing speed and defense. The Royals’ new hitting staff is hyper-focused on improving pitch recognition, and I’d love for them to be new voices in Robert’s ear. The Royals could keep Ragans and modulate their rotation/prospect return based on Chicago’s willingness to pay down some of Robert’s $20 million for next season. Alas, this would be more palatable from a payroll perspective if the Royals had not already committed $8 million to run it back with Jonathan India. — Doolittle
Philadelphia Phillies
It’s time. Time for Robert to find a new home and time for the Phillies to mix up the vibe a little. It’s possible that last season proved to be Robert’s current floor — good defense and 33 stolen bases will help teams win games. But it’s also just as possible the ceiling is still within reach after years of underachieving. First off, getting away from the Sox did wonders for Gavin Sheets and Andrew Vaughn. The same could be true of Robert if he moves on, especially since he’s finally cutting his chase rate down.
Now put him in a good lineup with even better pitches to see — and perhaps a little more pressure to perform — and the Philles could just get the best version of him. He has hit 28 homers in a season. He hit .338 in another (partial year). Put it all together and he might turn into a steal. — Jesse Rogers
The Minnesota Twins should trade …
Byron Buxton to the Los Angeles Dodgers
This falls into the “Why? Because they can, that’s why” category. Enough is never enough for the Dodgers, so this offseason’s installment of making sure they have too much is the acquisition of the best available player at the position they may actually believe they need to upgrade. Move Andy Pages to left, slot Buxton into the top half of the lineup and go for three in a row. — Tim Keown
Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers to the New York Yankees
Ryan was a popular name at the trade deadline, and he’s popular again coming off an All-Star season with a rebuilding team and two years of team control remaining. The Yankees don’t need another front-line starter, but Ryan would give them some rotation stability early in the season with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon (and Clarke Schmidt) on the injured list, and he would supply insurance should Cole or Rodón return later than usual or struggle upon return. And as these front offices like to say: You can never have enough starting pitching.
Jeffers would quench the Yankees’ need for a right-handed-hitting catcher after carrying three left-handed-hitting catchers for most of the 2025 season. He would platoon with Austin Wells and allow the Yankees to move Ben Rice, also a left-handed hitter, to first base full time. — Jorge Castillo
The Miami Marlins should trade Edward Cabrera to the New York Yankees for Jasson Dominguez If the Yankees are truly focused on keeping their payroll in check, they’ll need to be creative in how they address their roster shortcomings. Presuming that the team re-signs Cody Bellinger, the Yankees will already have spent a majority of their available free agent budget, and have rendered Dominguez excess with top prospect Spencer Jones also an in-season debut candidate. Dominguez is the kind of high-ceiling youngster the Marlins should be targeting.
Cabrera is a talented, albeit injury-prone, starter who can provide critical rotation depth while the team waits for the healthy returns of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt. Dominguez’s two additional years of team control might make this a slight overpay for the Yankees, but Cabrera’s projected $3.7 million salary via arbitration could make him an ideal, budget-conscious acquisition. — Tristan Cockcroft
The Miami Marlins should trade Sandy Alcantara to the Athletics
Alcantara’s return from Tommy John surgery was a disaster in the first half of the season, as he entered the All-Star break with an ERA over 7.00. That made him untradeable; it made no sense for the Marlins to deal him at the trade deadline with his value at a low point. Alcantara found his groove over his final 12 starts, however, posting a 3.13 ERA with 69 strikeouts versus 18 walks over 77 innings. That is a pitcher you can trade.
The A’s finished 26th in rotation ERA in 2025. The rotation did struggle at home with a 5.52 ERA in Sacramento, so that led to inflated ERAs, but their only two returning starters with more than 100 innings are Jeffrey Springs (4.11 ERA) and Luis Severino (4.54 ERA). It will be difficult for the A’s to lure a decent free agent starter to Sacramento — they had to overpay to sign Severino — so a trade makes sense. Alcantara is signed to a reasonable $17.3 million for 2026 with a $21 million club option for 2027, which even the A’s can afford.
With the Nick Kurtz-led offense, the A’s will score runs. If they can build out the rotation and bullpen, they have the look of 2026’s sleeper playoff team. Their farm system is improved and they have low-salaried pitching depth with guys like Mason Barnett and Jack Perkins to throw back Miami’s way. — David Schoenfield
The Washington Nationals should trade MacKenzie Gore to the Baltimore Orioles
Gore hasn’t quite made the jump to front-line starter. But he has some qualities in common with higher slot lefties who are front-line types, like Blake Snell and Max Fried, so there could be another gear to be teased out. He also comes with two years of control and his arbitration number this year should land around $5 million.
In return, the Orioles can send a prospect package featuring OFs Slater de Brun and Austin Overn and RHPs Esteban Mejia and J.T. Quinn to the Nationals. Baltimore doesn’t have to include C Samuel Basallo and can probably hang onto OF Dylan Beavers, as well. I have the Nats opting for a larger package of players that includes what I think will be the sorts of prospects we’ll see new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni target. It helps new execs coming from the draft side of evaluation to target recent draftees, with de Brun and Quinn from the 2025 draft and Overn from the 2024 draft. — Kiley McDaniel
The Pittsburgh Pirates should trade Mitch Keller to the San Francisco Giants
The Giants churned through 15 starting pitchers in 2025 and return only three who made more than 10 starts (Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp), leaving two slots to fill aside from the depth that is required in this era. Hayden Birdsong and Carson Whisenhunt are the top internal candidates, but adding a veteran starter for stability looks like an offseason necessity.
Keller is signed for three more years at an AAV of about $18.5 million. His biggest strength has been durability and consistency, making at least 29 starts four seasons in a row and averaging 183 innings and 2.1 WAR the past three seasons. His strikeout rate has declined from 25.5% to 20.0% since 2023, so that’s a minor cause for concern, but moving to the Giants, with better defense behind him and a stellar catcher in Patrick Bailey should help lower his batting average allowed.
Do the Pirates have enough rotation depth to trade Keller? Probably not, but they do have Paul Skenes, Mike Burrows, Braxton Ashcraft, Johan Oviedo and Bubba Chandler, plus Jared Jones returning from injury, so there at least is the makings of an exciting young rotation even without Keller. They need power, however, so the ask from the Giants would be their top prospect, first baseman Bryce Eldridge.
Too steep for the Giants? Perhaps. Eldridge has 35-homer potential and has produced while being very young for his levels, reaching Triple-A in 2025 at just 20 years old. He does have some holes in his game, with a 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, he struggled against breaking balls from left-handers, he has below-average speed and his defense at first base is fringy, so he might be a DH with Rafael Devers playing first. The power is real — enough for the Pirates to gamble on and also real enough that he’ll be difficult to pry away from the Giants. — Schoenfield
Inspirational thought of the week:
Hang on to your hopes, my friend
That’s an easy thing to say
But if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend that you can build them again
Look around
The grass is high
The fields are ripe
It’s the springtime of my life
Seasons change with the scenery
Weavin’ time in a tapestry
Won’t you stop and remember me?
Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter
— “Hazy Shade of Winter” by Simon & Garfunkel (or The Bangles, depending on how old you are)
Here at Bottom 10 Headquarters, located behind the bank of telephones used to raise money for the “Free Marty Smith From Oxford” fund, we once again look at the calendar and realize that it is conference championship weekend, which means it’s time for the Bottom 10 to make like Lane Kiffin and run for the exit amid a shower of boos and middle fingers.
The #Bottom10 Selection Committee is currently in session to determine the final 2025 rankings, to be revealed Wednesday morning. pic.twitter.com/WdIvj25gNW
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) December 2, 2025
Due to an unprecedented coaching carousel that was so bonkers we’ve renamed it the Coaching Tilt-A-Whirl, the candidates list for this year’s Bottom 10 Selection Committee grew faster than Brian Kelly’s lawyers’ billable hours invoice. The final roster: me, my dad, Captain Morgan (aka my stepdad), Mike Gundy, current Northwest Oklahoma defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville and former Texas State Armadillos head coach Ed “Straight Arrow” Gennero. As our vote began, we were joined by Sam Pittman, who pulled up to our meeting spot, a truck stop behind the Gaylord Texan where the fancy-schmancy CFP committee was gathered, behind the wheel of a shoebox Winnebago blasting Skynyrd and towing a pontoon boat upon which the name “S.S. YESSIR” was airbrushed.
Once again, we leaned on our Bottom 10 FPI formula. No, not the ESPN Football Power Index, but rather the Faux Pas Index. Because everyone loves math.
Teams receive one point for each win, minus one point for each loss, minus one point for each loss of their longest losing streak of the year, plus a minus-10 bonus if that longest losing streak is currently active. We also subtract the number of points they have surrendered on the season from the number of points they scored, subtract or add points based on their season turnover margin and subtract their weakness of schedule (WoS) ranking. If a team fired its head coach, that earns a 50-point subtraction, aka the Randy Edsall Fired Coach Bonus.
Divide all of that by the number of games played, and there’s your Bottom 10 FPI score. Because it’s hard numbers, the results are indisputable. And by hard numbers we mean that we made the formula so badly complicated that it’s too hard to dispute because it’s not worth wasting the effort to do so.
With apologies to Tennessee wide receiver Deon Hardin, Mizzou running back Ahmad Hardy, Rice running back D’Andre Hardeman Jr. and Steve Harvey, here’s the final 2025 Bottom 10 rankings.
Wins: +0
Losses: -12
Longest losing streak: -12 (current -10)
Point differential: -330 (133 for, 463 against)
Turnover margin: -7
WoS: -91
Randy Edsall Fired Coach Bonus: N/A
Total: -450
Games played: 12
Final Bottom 10 Faux Pas Index: -37.5
The Minuetmen had their wet hay in the barn a full week early, having played their final game of the season on the Tuesday afternoon prior to Thanksgiving. Once they got that hay into the barn, they remembered that the Salem witch trials took place in Massachusetts and they immediately burned that barn down in an effort to exorcise their Bottom 10 demons.
Wins: +2
Losses: -10
Longest losing streak: -8
Point differential: -241 (213 for, 454 against)
Turnover margin: +2
WoS: -104
Randy Edsall Fired Coach Bonus: N/A
Total: -359
Games played: 12
Final Bottom 10 Faux Pas Index: -29.9
The Bearkats kompiled a two-win kampaign, but still katapulted kompletely over kontenders who had only one win. How did they akkomplish that? Bekause of a krappy strength of skedule and a defense too frekwently skored upon.
Wins: +1
Losses: -11
Longest losing streak: -11 (current -10)
Point differential: -230 (170 for, 400 against)
Turnover margin: -5
WoS: -30
Randy Edsall Fired Coach Bonus: -50
Total: -346
Games played: 12
Final Bottom 10 Faux Pas Index: -28.8
Many people in the greater Stillwater area had told me that I didn’t have the Kowboys, er, sorry, Cowboys ranked low enough. When we did the FPI math, it backed up those complainers with the same amount of force that it backed down their team.
Wins: +1
Losses: -11
Longest losing streak: -9 (current -10)
Point differential: -217 (237 for, 454 against)
Turnover margin: -11
WoS: -66
Randy Edsall Fired Coach Bonus: N/A
Total: -323
Games played: 12
Final Bottom 10 Faux Pas Index: -26.9
Just as the arithmetic hurt OSU, it helped GSU, which jumped/fell from No. 2 to No. 4. That might not seem like much, but for a team that last won a game more than 80 days ago, you’ll take whatever good news you can get.
5. The Lane Train
Marty said if I didn’t have Kiffin in the Coveted Fifth Spot again this week he would beat me over the head with the turkey leg he wasn’t able to eat with his family on Thanksgiving because he had to go to Oxford and hold a microphone instead.
Wins: +2
Losses: -10
Longest losing streak: -6 (current -10)
Point differential: -148 (222 for, 370 against)
Turnover margin: -4
WoS: -90
Randy Edsall Fired Coach Bonus: -50
Total: -316
Games played: 12
Final Bottom 10 Faux Pas Index: -26.3
Easily, the most vocal “How can we not be ranked?!” #Bottom10Lobbying crowd of 2025 was Rams Nation. And when we did the math, they were proved right as Colorado State leapt like a ram from a rock formation off the Waiting List into the canyon of nearly the top/bottom five. Now they have hired professional Bottom 10 rehabilitation specialist Jim Mora, who totally ruined what used to be the Bottom 10’s version of Chiefs vs. Eagles, UMess vs. U-Can’t, by inexplicably turning the Huskies into winners.
Wins: +1
Losses: -11
Longest losing streak: -9 (current -10)
Point differential: -264 (172 for, 436 against)
Turnover margin: -8
WoS: -70
Randy Edsall Fired Coach Bonus: N/A
Total: -271
Games played: 12
Final Bottom 10 Faux Pas Index: -22.5833333
Niners officials reached out to the Bottom 10 committee to see if perhaps they might receive bonus cool points for the fact that their record was 1-9 when Georgia paid them $1.9 million to play “between the hedges.” We told them no, but only after reaching out to UNCC math professors, who assured us that the laws of natural numerical law would not allow us to add something called “cool points” to something called a “Faux Pas Index.” Speaking of math, Charlotte also is now part of a Bottom 10 FPI first, a numerical tie! With whom … ?
Wins: +2
Losses: -10
Longest losing streak: -7
Point differential: -135 (218 for, 353 against)
Turnover margin: -11
WoS: -60
Randy Edsall Fired Coach Bonus: -50
Total: -271
Games played: 12
Final Bottom 10 Faux Pas Index: -22.5833333
It should be no surprise that the Beavers would be in some weird spot here after spending their entire season stuck in a bizarro Bottom 10 vortex. They won the tiebreaker with Charlotte via one common opponent, Appalachian State. The Niners lost at home to the Mountaineers 34-11, while the Beavs lost in Boone by only four points. One of only a pair of members of the 2Pac conference, Oregon State had already beaten its only league colleague, Warshington State, in Week 10, but then immediately lost to Sam Houston. Then all the Beavers had to do was beat Wazzu again to depart these rankings for good, but they lost 32-8. Now they will do like all beavers and spend the winter not hibernating, but packed into a mud lodge with other beavers, shivering and seeing who has to swim out under the ice to get food. In related news, that’s also how we on the Bottom 10 Selection Committee spent this week. We sent Mike Gundy out to get the food because his haircut totally looks like a beaver.
Wins: +2
Losses: -10
Longest losing streak: -5 (current -10)
Point differential: -85 (280 for, 365 against)
Turnover margin: -12
WoS: -109
Randy Edsall Fired Coach Bonus: N/A
Total: -229
Games played: 12
Final Bottom 10 Faux Pas Index: -19.1
Representatives of the Minors crashed our committee meeting to remind us that while they understood they would likely have to be ranked, no matter what the math said, they had to be ranked above/below Sam Houston because they beat the Bearkats head-to-head. But we didn’t hear any of that because when we say they crashed our meeting, they literally crashed our meeting. Paydirt Pete had to use his pickax to pry the UTEP conversion van free from where it ran into the trailer carrying Pittman’s pontoon boat.
Wins: +2
Losses: -10
Longest losing streak: -10
Point differential: -88 (305 for, 393 against)
Turnover margin: -9
WoS: -54
Randy Edsall Fired Coach Bonus: N/A
Total: -169
Games played: 12
Final Bottom 10 Faux Pas Index: -14.08
The Golden Beagles were in a Bottom 10 peloton to the finish line, which was more like that scene at Oklahoma a few weeks ago when the Sooners got lost in the smoke of their stadium entrance and fell over each other, piling up like firewood for winter. In the end, Arkansaw and Pur-don’t received too big of a Power 4 WoS boost, while Muddled Tennessee and No-vada both had the audacity to win two out of their final three games, hitting the Raise Hell Praise Dale 3-victory mark and moving out of the running. We started to do the FPI math on a few other teams, but when the batteries ran out in our Texas Instruments calculator, Coach Pittman, relieved his former Hogs missed the final cut, announced, “I’ll go to the store, but it won’t be to buy batteries. It’ll be to buy beer.” Meeting adjourned.
Waiting List: Arkansaw Fightin’ Former Petrinos, No-vada, San No-sé State, Pur-don’t, Muddled Tennessee State, Northern Ill-ugh-noise, ULM (pronounced “Uhlm”), conference tiebreakers that require slide rules.
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment3 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024