College Football 2011: 11 Teams Whose Seasons Have Already Fallen Apart

What do these 11 squads have in common?

Their seasons have all gone up in smoke.

Before the year started, expectations where sky high, every fan was filled with boundless optimism, and coaches were talking incessantly about taking things "one game at a time".

For these teams, platitudes have failed, and reality has come crashing in.

They are toast.

Their pre-season expectations have been deflated, some have plummeted from the rankings, and some are just fulfilling their annual rite of passage...starting zero for September.

But as Chicago Cubs' fans say with eternal optimism: "There's always next year".

11. Boston College Eagles

When a fan of your school wears a hat like this, its a sign they have to come up with a creative way to entertain themselves, because the team is abominable.

Go ahead, insert an adjective meaning "bad" and then multiply it exponentially, and you have BC this season.

They are currently 0-3, including a loss to lowly Duke and a blowout loss to UCF.

The Eagles have fewer rushing yards per contest then the Knob Hill Auxiliary Women's Flag Football Team, and are averaging a paltry 13 points per game.

UMass is next on the schedule, so hopefully a win is in the offing.

At least they had better bring this one home, as their next five games are against opponents who are currently a combined 11-3.

10. Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Goofers have been one of the worst BCS teams in the country for the past several seasons.

This year, even with new head coach Jerry Kill, things aren't looking much better.

Kill is a great option to fix this unit, but it might be more than even he can handle.

North Dakota State is coming to town, and the Gophers have a history with the Bison, having lost to them back in 2007.

After their tangle this week, the Big Ten schedule starts, and from the look of things, an improvement on last year's 2-6 conference record would be nothing short of a minor miracle.

9. UConn Huskies

Did we really expect a team that hired a coach who hasn't been coaching for years to lead this team to a good season?

Paul Pasqualoni seems to be a nice guy, but with the way his squad is performing, he is likely to prove what Leo Durocher once said—"Nice guys finish last".

The Huskies are 1-2, with losses to the worst team in the SEC(Vanderbilt), and a worse than average Big 12 unit(Iowa State).

Cheer up, UConn faithful!

At least your one win came against that mighty powerhouse, Fordham.

There is a very good chance the Huskies finish without a win in the Big East.

8. Ole Miss Rebels

Houston Nutt's time is quickly running out.

The Rebels have not accomplished anything of any significance since Eli Manning left, although two Cotton Bowl wins are pretty solid.

However, they are heading the wrong way, sitting at 1-2, with Georgia, Arkansas and Alabama coming up in three of their next four.

Oh yeah, and they already lost to Vanderbilt.

Nutt better start working on his resume.

Any time a squad averages just barely 250 total yards per game, they are going to struggle; throw in the fact that Nutt is the coach, and this team has no shot.

7. Oregon State Beavers

Yeah, they have only played two games, and that was without receiver James Rodgers, but even so, you can stick a fork in the Beaver's season.

Their first loss was to FCS Sacramento State.

They followed up that performance with a 35-0 beatdown against Wisconsin.

Mike Riley gets all kinds of credit for being a good coach, but his method of using his quarterbacks is absolutely, positively the dumbest thing you may see this season.

They had last week to recuperate, regather and reconsider ever setting foot on the field again.

A visit from UCLA could be dubbed the "Futility Bowl" and they may pull it out, but after that, it's hard to pick one game for the rest of the season where the Beavers will be expected to win.

6. UCLA Bruins

How did Rick Neuheisel ever convince somebody to hire him again?

As coaches go, he's quite possibly in the bottom five in the nation.

The Bruins sit at 1-2, and while USC has been languishing under NCAA sanctions and post-season bans, Neuheisel has succeeded in making exactly no headway into their stranglehold on Los Angeles.

They were embarrassed by Texas at home, and lost to Houston in the opener.

Now, when looking at their schedule, it's questionable whether they can win three games all season.

Good work, Rick.

5. Miami(OH) Redhawks

Even with several starters returning, and big things expected this season, they lost to Minnesota.

Need we say more?

4. Arizona Wildcats

You have to admire the Wildcats bravery in facing up to their brutal schedule, but at the same time it's like watching the scrawny would-be hero confronting the bully, only to be pummelled into the ground, repeatedly.

The 'Cats won their opener against Northern Arizona, then things tanked.

It's tough to beat one ranked team averaging only 55 rushing yards per contest, much less four in a row.

To put that in perspective, consider that there are 100 individuals who average more rushing yards per contest than the Wildcats, including several quarterbacks, a 60 year old man, and some girl on crutches.

They have now lost to Oklahoma State and Stanford by a combined score of 74-24.

This weekend they host Oregon, and next week travel to USC.

1-4, anybody?

3. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Dan Mullen's team had some high expectations entering the season.

Apparently cowbells are not conducive to winning.

The Bulldogs are now 1-2, and have yet to win a game against a conference foe.

They have effectively ended any shot, however slim, they had at making a BCS game, and proved to be a disappointment.

I know one loss was to a very good LSU team and another was by a half inch, but a loss is a loss, and if the Bulldogs want to be taken seriously as a contender in the SEC, at some point they will have to win those kind of games, especially at home.

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

You know it, I know it, even Lou Holtz knows it, and it's doubtful he remembers where he is half the time.

The Buckeyes are in trouble.

They completed a paltry four forward passes in the game against Miami.

Joe Bauserman has been repeatedly dared by defenses to throw the ball downfield and cannot get it done.

The Buckeyes are out of the top 25 for the first time since '04, and are 80th in the country in points scored.

For any other team, one loss is not that bad, it's normal, but for a squad such as OSU that has enjoyed such tremendous success in recent seasons, it's scraping the bottom of the barrel.

This team is in trouble, with a visit from Michigan State in two weeks and a trip to Nebraska looming.

Can Braxton Miller grow up fast enough to save the season from being a total disaster?

1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Irish are not going to a BCS game.

After all of the pre-season predictions and expectations, this is a major let-down for a program that has been mediocre for far too long.

After an underwhelming 1-2 start, the Irish should be able to get back to .500 this weekend, but will lose at least one more contest before the end of the season, especially if they continue to turn the ball over 3-5 times per game.

Sure, those of you who did not drink the Kool-Ade are not surprised, but for those of us who were fooled into thinking this unit was BCS capable, it appears as if the Irish are prepared to fade back into oblivion once again.

Sun Bowl, anybody?

By the way, for those of you upset by Brian Kelly's sideline outbursts, he's got nothing on this guy.