Bottom 10 year in review: The best/worst minutes of 2023

• Ryan McGee, ESPN Senior WriterJan 13, 2024, 06:40 AM ET Close Senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com 2-time Sports Emmy winner
• 2010, 2014 NMPA Author of the Year

Bottom 10 inspirational idea of the week:

Time flies, untidy as the mud on your truck tires
Now I’m missing your smile, hear me out
We might just ride around
And the roadway not taken looks real good now
And it always leads to you and my home town …

We might call it even
Despite the fact that I’m leaving
And I’ll be yours for the weekend
‘T is the damn season

— “‘t is the Damn Season,” by Travis Kelce’s girlfriend

Here at Bottom 10 head office, located in an abandoned Houston warehouse loaded with unsold Bluebonnet Bowl merchandise, we have actually invested the days since the end of the routine season and the beginning of bowl season pondering, well, the season itself.Last weekend

we enjoyed Army-Navy and the various lower-level NCAA playoff games, however, like we were throughout Championship Week before it, we resembled my pet dog after she buried all her toy bones in the lawn and after that right away forgot where she ‘d hid them. Without our precious Bottom 10 groups on the field, we were a dart without plumes. Lost.Final standings

were last week. In a stunning advancement, none of our groups made it into a championship game game. #robbed https://t.co/1e5JwaZH7w!.?.!— Ryan McGee(@ESPNMcGee)December 9, 2023 To counter such empty mid-December feelings– and, OK,

yes, to give myself a reason to state”sorry, I have to examine my phone “at the area Christmas celebration to prevent talking with that guy in my cul-de-sac who went to Florida State– we have actually procured a list of the most Bottom 10-ish minutes and memories of the 2023 college football season. We hope you enjoy it. And we hope that Connor Stalions hasn’t already destroyed it for you, due to the fact that we’re pretty sure we saw a guy in a Central Michigan Chippewas hat with binoculars outside our window earlier.With apologies to Taylor Swift, 1987 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl hero Brett Stafford and Steve

Harvey, here are the Bottom 10 Moments and Other Stuff for 2023. Bottom 10 Entryway of the Year, presented by Doors & More: Oklahoma, Week 13 No faster had the Sooners hit the field for their season ending and all-time Huge 12 finale versus TCU than they inadvertently reenacted the scene in “The Replacements” where Keanu Reeves & Co. fell out of the tunnel, though OU replaced the trip wire with a teammate’s head.Illegal block listed below the waist! pic.twitter.com/LtDlrKXQ1z!.?.!— Devin Staton( @DevinStaton) November 24, 2023 Bottom 10 News Conference Convo of the Year, presented by MCI

Calling Cards: James Franklin on tossing deep In the days leading up to Penn State’s pseudo-bye week against Bottom 10 stalwart UMess, Nittany Lions coach James Franklin was asked a question about taking shots downfield. Franklin reacted as if he had actually simply been informed by Jigsaw that he would have to consume his own arm off in order to escape the room. He ended his”no “-filled reaction by adding,”I’m hoping we can cut this out so that it doesn’t get out into the universe. “In related news, Penn State ranked 73rd in the country in yards per play.Quite the scene from #PennState Football HC James Franklin’s press conference this week pic.twitter.com/5NDvegIh4s!.?.!— Pleased Valley Insider(@PennStateRivals) October 10, 2023 Bottom 10 Injury of the Year, provided by Goody’s Back & Body Discomfort Powders: Western Kentucky’s Bryson Washington The WKU Hilltoppers were

all up in the middle of a seesaw fight with Louisiana Tech when sixth-year linebacker Bryson Washington was associated with a substantial deal with for loss. But during his stomp-footed event of the play, his

best leg bent like my putter after missing out on a gim me 2-footer at the regional muni course and then getting slammed into the green like Thor’s hammer. The bad news? Washington had to be helped off the field, and his jagged leg took control of college football social media timelines. Fortunately? He returned later on, recorded seven tackles and an interception, and won Conference USA Defensive Gamer of the Week. pic.twitter.com/xyguvzuLSD!.?.!— no context college football(@nocontextcfb)October 6, 2023 Bottom 10 Field of the Year, presented by NBC’s” The Blacklist” starring James Spader: SUNY Morrisville There were already college football fields of blue, gray, teal and even red and purple. However NCAA Division III rivals SUNY Morrisville presented a brand-new playing surface area this season that is solid black. That would never operate in the Deep South, where in September such a

surface would become one huge frying pan, but simply down the road from Syracuse, the Mustangs have no such concerns. Plus, it’s really slimming.pic.twitter.com/KTLLPAlSs7!.?.!— Matt Rogers( @CoachRogers13) July 6, 2023 Bottom 10 Stunt of the Year, presented by Cirque du Soleil’s Exchange: Garrett Shrader

, Syracuse Best I can tell, former St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith never did his signature backflip at old Yankee Stadium, but on Nov. 11, Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader did one in new Yankee Stadium as the Orange hosted Pitt. He had actually divided out large for a tried halfback pass and apparently believed that the unscripted gymnastics regular would offer the type of distraction the technique play would need to work. However not only did the cornerback assigned to defend Shrader not see the flip

, the play was operated on the opposite side of the field, a double pass that ended flat

as running back LeQuint Allen captured a lateral and tossed an extremely deep however really incomplete pass. play 0:19 Syracuse QB backflips during team’s technique play Syracuse runs a technique play, and quarterback Garrett Shrader does a backflip as a diversion.Bottom 10 Other Stunt of the Year, provided by Sansabelt slacks: Iowa Cheer Hey, at least Shrader kept his trousers on … Bottom 10 “Blind Side “of the Year, provided by the Memphis Lawyers Institute for Billable Hours: New Mexico State vs. Hugh Freeze When Auburn and first-year coach Hugh Freeze were stunned on the Plains by a 31-10 loss to Bottom 10 legends-turned-Conference U.S.A. competitors New Mexico State, it marked only the second time in current memory that a group entered into a game as a 21-plus-point underdog but won by 21 points or more. The last time it occurred? One year back, when

those very same Aggies did the same thing at Liberty, which was coached

by … Hugh Freeze.2022 Hugh Freeze against New Mexico State and 2023 Hugh Freeze versus New Mexico State pic.twitter.com/fEq7lHZCcH!.?.!— Jason Kirk(purchase my novel )(@JasonKirk_fyi)November 18, 2023 Bottom 10 Uniform of the Year, provided by Pearl Jam’s “Black “: Florida Gators, Week 10 The Gators still own the distinction of having actually won our Bottom 10 All-Time Worst Uniforms title a couple of years back, through their duds that were expected to look like genuine gator skin however ended up looking like tree bark. There

were no such disruptive information in their military salute unis versus Arkansas, which instead were strong black. Not orange. Not blue. Not even white. Black. At twelve noon in central Florida. Those in the Swamp were having a hard time choosing how they felt about the look. However when the Hogs were already up 14-0 after 3 minutes of play, Florida fans ‘minds had gone to a place as dark as the threads on the field.October 7th, the Miami Hurricanes used their all black uniforms and lost to Georgia Tech. November fourth, the Florida Gators wore their all black uniforms and lost to Arkansas. Good idea Florida State didn’t wear an all black uniform this season– Leader Sean(@FlSkinsFan4Life) November 4, 2023 Bottom 10 Game of the Year, presented by

Timex: Georgia Tech at Miami, Week 6 As that tweeter– or X’er, whatever– had actually alerted, black magic was really real in 2023. Simply one month previously, the Canes seemingly had Georgia Tech put away, up 3 points in the middle of Yellow Coat area as going to Tech had no timeouts remaining(or possibly they did; there was some confusion about that, too). That’s when Miami picked to run the ball rather of taking a knee and presumably ending the game with half a minute staying, icing the win and effectively defending its No. 17 nationwide ranking. But the Canes ran it. And fumbled it. And after that Tech went 74 lawns in four plays and 25 seconds. And after that Miami lost. And after that the nation lost it.

play 0:53 Miami’s coaching blunder results in legendary Georgia Tech return Miami’s option to run the

ball causes an essential fumble, which Georgia Tech recuperates and later finishes the

miracle comeback.Bottom 10 Exit of the Year, presented by your Uncle Lonnie and his Irish exit later on this month after Christmas supper: O possum, my possum This mad marsupial being required to exit Texas Tech’s game with TCU back on Week 10 will be all of us in a few weeks

as the 2023 college football season comes to a close. And if you believe he’s cute, head to Lubbock, where this possum has actually ended up being a full-on animal corporation, spawning T-shirts and signs any place the Red Raiders teams reveal their teeth.Possum being accompanied off the field throughout the Texas Tech/TCU game pic.twitter.com/z2v7RBSTYu!.?.!— Dallas Texas television (@DallasTexasTV)November 3, 2023