ESPN College Football

Weeks: Preseason | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

The Bottom 10 inspirational thought of the week:

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

So many times, it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

-- Survivor, "Eye of the Tiger"

As one aging former champion prepares to don the red, white and blue trunks and step back into the ring, another former champion is logging its famous orange and white checkerboard end zone all the way into the Bottom 10.

Rocky is back. Rocky Top isn't.

Sylvester Stallone is preparing to bring his most famous character back in a sixth (and hopefully final) installment of the "Rocky" series. Sly plans to start filming "Rocky Balboa" in Philadelphia and Las Vegas next year.

Over in Knoxville, Tenn., Tennessee is probably looking for ways to dispose of this year's game films. The Vols opened the year ranked No. 3, but have slumped to 3-4 and are in danger of not becoming bowl eligible.

To make matters worse for Smokey's team, the last loss came at Neyland Stadium to Vols nemesis Steve Spurrier and South Carolina. Want more? It was the Gamecocks' first ever win in Knoxville. How about a final insult? Tennessee retired Peyton Manning's No. 16 Saturday. Maybe the Vols forgot Peyton went 0-4 against Spurrier's Florida teams.

A Rocky Top resignation ensued. Offensive coordinator Randy Sanders resigned Monday. But Sanders is sticking around for the rest of the year, so he will be able to enjoy Tennessee's week in the highly coveted No. 5 spot of the Bottom 10.

Keeping with the theme, Temple, another Philly favorite, stays at No. 1 this week. But since the Rocky series only goes six deep, we will need some help to fill out the available spots in the Bottom 10. Good thing Stallone also plans to make another Rambo film.

Pillow Fight of the Week: The Rice Owls (0-7) fly to Dallas to take on the SMU Mustangs (2-6).

Have a comment about the Bottom 10 ranking? Send us your thoughts.

With apologies to Steve Harvey, here's this week's Bottom 10.

ESPN.com's Bottom 10
	RANK	TEAM	Record	COMMENT
	1.	Temple	0-9	"Rocky I": The Owls can relate to Rocky Balboa's status before getting the title fight with Apollo Creed. Of course, nobody will be employing the Owls as hired muscle.
	2.	Buffalo	0-8	"Rocky II": Rocky was laid off by a meat packing company in the sequel, but the Bottom 10 just can't get rid of the Bulls.
	3.	Rice	0-7	"Rocky III": What would Clubber Lang's prediction for the Owls season be? "Pain."
	4.	New Mexico State	0-8	"Rocky IV": The Aggies should listen to Rocky's advice: "If I can change, and you can change, everybody can change."
	5.	Tennessee	3-4	"Rocky V": Tommy Morrison portrays the villain in this forgettable film. Vols nemesis Steve Spurrier has a prominent role in UT's forgettable season.
	6.	Syracuse	1-7	"Rocky Balboa": Does anyone really want to see another Rocky film? Does anyone really want to see the Orange play again this year?
	7.	Duke	1-8	"First Blood": The Blue Devils have about the same chance for success in the ACC that the small town cops did of catching Rambo.
	8.	F_U	2-12	"Rambo: First Blood Part II": One of John Rambo's lines sums up the season for the Owls and Panthers: "Sir, do we get to win this time?"
	9.	Kent State	1-7	"You taught us to ignore pain, right?" asks Rambo. The Golden Flashes need that lesson.
	10.	San Jose State	1-7	"Rambo IV": Production for the fourth Rambo film will start after the sixth Rocky film wraps. Wonder if the Spartans will be winning by then.

Waiting list: Army (1-6), Illinois (2-6), Mississippi State (2-6) and Washington (1-7).

Dropped out: Ball State, Idaho and Michigan State.

David Duffey is a college sports editor at ESPN.com.