[Editor’s note: The number of winless teams keeps dwindling, which means changes at the top of the Bottom 10. Could a Power 5 team in Arizona win the whole thing? And what is Tennessee doing in here?]
Inspirational thought of the week:
Why be afraid if I’m not alone? Though life is never easy, the rest in unknown And up to now for me it’s been, hands against stone Spent each and every moment, searching for what to believe
Coming out of the dark I finally see the light now And it’s shining on me Coming out of the dark
— “Coming Out of the Dark,” Gloria Estefan
Here at Bottom 10 Headquarters, located in the storage room where Stephania Bell keeps all her rubber injury demo skeletons, we are often asked, “Hey, what’s the best part of the Bottom 10 experience?”
Well, besides the hate mail, death threats and the continuing effort by angry Tennessee fans to have my UT diploma revoked, the most beautiful aspect of living in the Bottom 10 Cinematic Universe is when a team we have watched lose for so long finally wins. It happened two weekends ago when UMass defeated UConn and again seven days later when UConn defeated Yale.
And when a team really turns it around? Like, it doesn’t just win a game, it wins ALL its games, for us it’s like watching your kids go off to college and seeing all their wildest dreams come true. And if that college was, say, former Bottom 10 stalwart R.O.C.K. in the UTSA, its wildest dream was to defeat Rice, reach 7-0 and be ranked for the first time ever.
What we’re saying is, there is hope for all. Yes, there is light, even for those who are lost in the darkness of the catacombs of the Bottom 10. But take a hint from UTSA. Be a Roadrunner and know when to run toward the light at the end of the tunnel and when to run away from it. Until then, you’re just one of the Wile E. Coyotes who are on the list below.
With apologies to Chuck Jones, Mel Blanc and Steve Harvey, here’s the 2021 Week 7 Bottom 10 rankings.
1. unLv (0-6)
The Fightin’ Tark Sharks snatched defeat from the Jaws of victory, leading Utah State essentially the entire game before surrendering the losing TD with 35 seconds remaining. The good news? They weren’t even close to having the worst week among teams who play their home games at Allegiant Stadium … and the other team even won its game.
2. By The Time I Get To Arizona (0-6)
Did you have that one “friend” who would ruin every sleepover pillow fight by hiding something like a hardcover book in the pillowcase and smacking you upside the head with it? That’s what the Colora-duh Muffaloes did to Arizona in the Pac-12 Pillow Fight of the Week, winning 34-0. Now the Mildcats travel to Warshington for Pac-12 Pillow Fight of the Week: Episode II. The Other Huskies’ only two wins this season came against a pair of Bottom 10 Waiting List members, Arkansaw State and Cow Berkeley. Speaking of Huskies …
3. U-Can’t (1-7)
While the win was great and all, it did come against a 2-2 non-scholarship FCS team after nearly blowing a 21-0 lead, and the game was decided on a Yale Hail Mary (Yale Mary?) that was run twice because UConn had 12 men on the field on the first attempt and handed the Elis a do-over. Now UConn hosts Middle Tennessee, a team that has spent all season on the Conference USA one-to-two-win Bottom 10 Waiting List carousel of pain. The game is on Friday night, which is fitting because these days the crowds at The Rent make it look like a high school game. Speaking of C-USA …
4. FI(not A)U (1-5)
Word is that Bottom 10 regulars Minute Rice, the North Texas Lean Green and FI(not A)U archrival FA(not I)U, as well as three other schools, are pursuing leaving Conference USA for the American Athletic Conference of American Athletics of America. You know you’re having a rough season when you’re even losing big during an open date.
5. Tennessee fans (4-3)
This week’s Coveted Fifth Spot is reserved for those individuals who decided to turn the hallowed ground of Neyland Stadium into a trash bin, aka Colonel Mustard and his band of merry hillbillies. If General Neyland were still alive, not only would he have already hunted down those who dared to sully his namesake football cathedral, he would currently have them on maggot nest duty at the University of Tennessee’s famed forensics school body farm.
6. Kansas Nayhawks (1-5)
KU lost to Texas Tech 41-14 but trailed 41-0 with only 52 seconds remaining in the game. Those final two TDs were scored after Tech had already loaded all its gear and players onto the team bus to try to make an earlier flight home.
7. UMess (1-5)
The Minutemen survived their bye week leading into Saturday’s trip to Florida State, but just barely. After their team beat UConn to snap a 16-game losing streak, everyone in Amherst kept bringing over cases of Sam Adams and boxes of crullers from Dunkies.
8. Whew Mexico State (1-6)
The Other Aggies barely covered the spread against the Fightin’ Byes of Open Date U, but this week are sure to cover the beach barbecue spread when they travel to Hawaii. Heads up, NMSU, that guy asleep on the beach with the Rip Van Winkle beard and the faded 2002 Hula Bowl hoodie is Nick Rolovich. Don’t wake him.
9. Old Duh-minions (1-6)
If you’re looking to put some money on a team that could make a late fall run in the Bottom 10, keep an eye on the Monarchs, who could slip from their throne like it was covered in Crisco. They play Bottom 10 flirts Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee and Florida International, as well as 3-3 Florida Atlantic and the Charlotte 4-and-2’ers. Lose all of those and they will have a résumé worth considering. Also, if you’re looking to put some money on a team that could make a late fall run in the Bottom 10, then you most definitely have a gambling problem.
10. US(not C)F (1-5)
There are 14 one-win teams in FBS football and three are lumped together at the bottom of the American Athletic Conference of American Athletics. Two of those teams will face off on Nov. 20, when South Florida visits Tulame in what might very well be part of the Bottom 10 playoffs, taking place over the final two weekends of the regular season. The third one-win AAC team is Navy, which doesn’t play USF or Tulane. Also, we refuse to rank the Midshipmen anyway because: One, we love America, and two, we don’t want a cruise missile to land in our living room.
Waiting list: Arkansaw State, Ohio Not State, Tulame, Vanderbilt Commode Doors, The Yew, Southern Missed, North Texas Lean Green, Ill-ugh-noise, Cow Berkeley, Georgia Southern Not State, COVID-19.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes champion Sovereignty rallied after losing position heading into the final turn to win the $500,000 Jim Dandy by a length at Saratoga on Saturday.
Ridden by Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty ran nine furlongs in 1:49.52 and paid $3 to win as the 1-2 favorite against four rivals, the smallest field of his career.
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said Sovereignty would be pointed toward the $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 23 at the upstate New York track.
Approaching the turn, there were a few tense moments as it appeared Sovereignty was retreating when losing position to the advancing Baeza and deep closers Sandman and Hill Road, leaving Sovereignty in last for a few strides.
Alvarado said he never had a doubt that Sovereignty would come up with his expected run.
“It was everybody else moving and at that time I was just like, ‘Alright let me now kind of start picking it up,'” Alvarado said. “I had 100% confidence. I knew what I had underneath me.”
Baeza, third to Sovereignty in both the Derby and Belmont, finished second. Hill Road was another 9¼ lengths back in third. Mo Plex was fourth and Sandman fifth.
INDIANAPOLIS — Chase Briscoe became the first driver to win poles at NASCAR’s first three crown jewel races in one season Saturday, taking the Brickyard 400 pole with a fast lap of 183.165 mph.
His late run bumped Bubba Wallace out of the top starting spot.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won nine career poles, five coming this season including those at the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and now the only race held in Briscoe’s home state. He’ll have a chance to complete a crown jewel sweep at the Southern 500 in late August.
Briscoe has the most pole wins this season, his latest coming on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval. It also came on the same weekend his sister was married in Indiana. Briscoe has never won the Brickyard.
Wallace starts next to Briscoe on the front row after posting a lap of 183.117 mph. Those two also led a pack of five Toyotas to the front of the field — marking the first time the engine manufacturer has swept the top five spots.
Qualifying was held after a brief, rescheduled practice session. Friday’s practice was rained out.
Briscoe’s teammate, Ty Gibbs, has the early edge in the championship round of NASCAR’s first In-Season Challenge. He qualified fifth at 182.445. Ty Dillon starts 26th. The winner will be crowned champion and walk away with $1 million.
Last week’s race winner Denny Hamlin faces a major hurdle in winning his first Brickyard title. He crashed hard during qualifying and will start from the back of the field, 39th, as he tries to become the fifth driver to complete a career sweep of the Cup’s crown jewel races. The 44-year-old Hamlin signed a two-year contract extension with JGR on Friday.
There’s plenty of history in the rivalry between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. It’s about 116 miles from Citi Field to Citizens Bank Park. The two teams been competing for the NL East since 1969. Star players from Tug McGraw to Jerry Koosman to Lenny Dykstra to Pedro Martinez to Zack Wheeler have played for both franchises. Mets fans loathe the Phanatic, and Phillies fans laugh derisively at Mr. Met.
Despite this longevity, the two teams have rarely battled for a division title in the same season. The only years they finished No. 1 and 2 or were battling for a division lead late in the season:
1986: Mets finished 21.5 games ahead
2001: Both finished within six games of the Braves
2006: Mets finished 12 games ahead
2007: Phillies finished one game ahead
2008: Phillies finished three games ahead
2024: Phillies finished six games ahead of Mets and Braves
So it’s a rare treat to see the Mets and Phillies battling for the NL East lead in as New York faces the San Francisco Giants on “Sunday Night Baseball” this week. This season has also been a bit of bumpy ride for both teams, so there is pressure on both front offices to make trade deadline additions in hopes of winning the World Series that has eluded both franchises in recent years despite high payrolls and star-laden rosters. Let’s dig into what both teams need to do before Thursday.
The perfect trade deadline for the Mets
1. Bullpen help
The Mets already acquired hard-throwing lefty Gregory Soto from the Orioles, but David Stearns will likely look for another reliever, given that the Mets’ bullpen has struggled since the beginning of June with a 5.02 ERA. In my grade of the trade, I pointed out the importance for the Mets to add left-handed relief. Think of potential playoff opponents and all the key left-handed batters: Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on the Phillies; Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy on the Dodgers; Kyle Tucker, Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong on the Cubs.
Soto has held lefties to a .138 average this season, and it does help that the Mets have two lefty starters in David Peterson and Sean Manaea. They also just activated Brooks Raley after he had been out since early 2024. If he is back to his 2022-23 form, when he had a 2.74 ERA and held lefties to a .209 average, maybe the Mets will feel good enough about their southpaw relief.
They could still use another dependable righty reliever. Mets starters were hot early on, but they weren’t going deep into games, and outside of Peterson, the lack of longer outings is a big reason the bullpen ERA has skyrocketed. Carlos Mendoza has overworked his setup guys, including Huascar Brazoban and Reed Garrett. Brazoban has never been much of a strike thrower anyway, and Garrett similarly faded in the second half last season. Adding a high-leverage righty to set up Edwin Diaz makes sense. Candidates there include David Bednar of the Pirates, Ryan Helsley of the Cardinals, Griffin Jax or Jhoan Duran of the Twins, or maybe a longer shot such as Emmanuel Clase or Cade Smith of the Guardians.
Mark Vientos was a huge key to last season’s playoff appearance and trip to the NLCS, hitting .266/.322/.516 with 27 home runs after beginning the season in Triple-A. He hasn’t been able to replicate that performance, though, hitting .224/.279/.354. That has led to a revolving door at third base, with Vientos, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio starting games there in July. Overall, Mets third basemen ranked 24th in the majors in OPS entering Friday.
Lack of production at third is one reason the Mets’ offense has been mediocre rather than very good — they’re averaging 4.38 runs per game, just below the NL average of 4.43. They could use another premium bat, given the lack of production they’ve received from center field and catcher (not to mention Francisco Lindor‘s slump since the middle of June). Maybe Francisco Alvarez‘s short stint back in Triple-A will get his bat going now that he’s back in the majors, but going after Suarez to hit behind Juan Soto and Pete Alonso would lengthen the lineup.
Tyrone Taylor is a plus defender in center and has made several incredible catches, but he’s hitting .209/.264/.306 for a lowly OPS+ of 65. Old friend Bader is having a nice season with the Twins, hitting .251/.330/.435. Maybe that’s a little over his head, given that he had a .657 OPS with the Mets last season, but he would still be an offensive upgrade over Taylor without losing anything on defense — and he wouldn’t cost a top-tier prospect. The Mets could still mix in Jeff McNeil against the really tough righties, but adding Suarez and Bader would give this lineup more of a championship feel.
The perfect deadline for the Phillies
1. Acquire Jhoan Duran
Like the Mets, the Phillies already made a move here, signing free agent David Robertson, who had a 3.00 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 72 innings last season with the Rangers. On paper, he should help, but he’s also 40 and will need a few games in the minors to get ready. Even with Robertson, the Phillies could use some more help here. They’ll eventually get Jose Alvarado back from his 60-game PED suspension, but Alvarado is ineligible for the postseason. At least the Mets have an elite closer in Edwin Diaz. Jordan Romano leads the Phillies with eight saves and has a 6.69 ERA. Matt Strahm is solid, but more useful as a lefty setup guy than a closer (think of all those left-handed batters we listed for the Mets, then sub out Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo for Harper and Schwarber).
And the Phillies’ bullpen has consistently come up short in big games. Think back to last year’s NLDS, when Jeff Hoffman lost twice to the Mets. Or 2023, when Craig Kimbrel lost two games in the NLCS against the Diamondbacks. Or the 2022 World Series, when Yordan Alvarez hit the huge home run off Alvarado in the clinching Game 6.
So, yes, a shutdown closer is a must. Maybe that’s Bednar, maybe Clase if he’s available (although he struggled in last year’s postseason), maybe Helsley. But the guy Dave Dombrowski should go all-in to get: Duran. The window for the Phillies is slowly closing as the core players get older. Duran is under control through 2027, so he’s a fit for now and the immediate future. The trade cost might be painful, but with his 100 mph fastball and splitter, he has the elite stuff you need in October.
The Phillies have received below-average production from both left field (mostly Max Kepler) and center field (Brandon Marsh/Johan Rojas platoon). The center-field market is pretty thin except for Bader or maybe a gamble on Luis Robert Jr. I’d pass on Robert, stick with the Marsh/Rojas platoon and upgrade left field with O’Hearn, who is hitting .281/.375/.452 for the Orioles. He isn’t the perfect fit since, like Kepler, he hits left-handed and struggles against lefties, but he’s a patient hitter with a much better OBP, and he’s passable in the outfield.
Here’s the bottom line: The Phillies have to admit that some of their long-term position players aren’t getting the job done — such as second baseman Bryson Stott, who has a 77 OPS+. Third baseman Alec Bohm has been better but also has a below-average OPS.
That makes Castro a nice fit. He’s not a star, but he’s an above-average hitter, a switch-hitter who plays all over the field for the Twins, having started games at five different positions. He could play second or third or start in left field against a lefty. Philadelphia could even start him in center instead of Rojas, although that would be a defensive hit. Bottom line: Castro would give the Phillies a lot more versatility — or a significant offensive upgrade over Stott if they start him every day at second.
Note as well: Stott has hit .188 in 33 career postseason games. Bohm has hit .214 with two home runs in 34 postseason games. The Phillies need a different offensive look for October.