Bottom of the Barrel

It's official, the Bulls have hit rock bottom.

The Bulls were ranked No. 1 on ESPN.com's Bottom 10 this week. The list, which is compiled each week by ESPN's college football staff, ranks the nation's worst teams.

No stranger to the position, this was the third time the Bulls earned the spot - They held it Nov. 26 and Dec. 3, 2002.

Judging by the buzz around campus, however, this may be the first time people at UB are taking notice. By the time the Bulls landed in the spot last year, few people were surprised, given their 1-9 record.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Jordan Zahn, a freshman business major, about the ranking. "If I wanted to see a good football team I would have gone to Florida."

This time around, the Bulls, who were ranked No. 114 out of 117 coming into the season by Sports Illustrated, were hit with the spot the first week the list came out. The Bottom 10's writers cited the team's nation high 11-game losing streak and last weekend's loss to Rutgers as the biggest reasons for the Bulls' rank.

"They lost to Rutgers," said Joe Wojcieckowski, a writer for ESPN.com and one of the list's creators. "Any team that loses to Rutgers is automatically a candidate for the No. 1 spot. They also have the longest losing streak."

While the writers seem to take the list lightly, UB football officials had a different tone about the rankings. When contacted about the list, UB head coach Jim Hofher wasn't available to comment.

"Coach Hofher is busy preparing for the No. 23 team in the country," said UB Assistant Athletic Director Paul Vecchio. "I don't want to pull him away from that to talk about a poll."

Vecchio said the poll's writers didn't necessarily know much about the Bulls and suggested that their assessment of the UB program may be out of touch.

"They're basing this on last year's team, not the team we have out there now," said Vecchio.

"For example, the (Buffalo) Bills were 3-13 in 2001, then they lost the first game of 2002 and people thought 'Here we go again,'" Vecchio said. "But the Bills ended up going 8-8 on the year."

The list, however, does make an accurate statement about the state of UB football, Vecchio said.

"The poll says that we've got nowhere to go but up," said Vecchio.

The writers who come up with the list say that statement isn't necessarily true. They say the list is made for fun and the ranking is more about the Bulls' current losing streak rather than the program as a whole.

"A bunch of us sit around and look at the state of college football," said Wojciechowski. "It's basically a way for us to have fun. We're not necessarily saying that they're the absolute worst team in football."

Some students said they thought rankings such as this one could hurt the recruiting process for future years.

"We weren't doing a good job at it to begin with," said Zahn, the freshman business major. "And now with this, it's going to be tough."

Vecchio, however, said he didn't think the ranking would seriously affect prospective players.

"Our recruits know where we've been and where we're going," said Vecchio. "If something like this keeps them away from us they probably were not interested in the first place."