Misery Index Week 6: Ambivalent in Austin

Dan Wolken | USA TODAY Sports

If you take Texas' players and Mack Brown out of the equation, was anybody really happy about the Longhorns' dramatic 31-30 victory over Iowa State last Thursday?

Certainly not coach Paul Rhoads, whose postgame rant was one for the ages. And certainly not Iowa State fans, who believe the instant replay review that went against them at the end was part of a long-running conspiracy that favors the big, bad Texas machine. But perhaps the most interesting development is that Longhorns fans overall did not seem particularly giddy about going to 2-0 in the Big 12. That's pretty much where we're at right now with Texas. Even the wins don't seem that enjoyable.

Short of a full-blown turnaround in which Texas beats Oklahoma this weekend and then runs the table the rest of the year, that probably won't change. Brown may still be fighting for his job, but this has reached the point where some fans are so hungry for change that they might prefer a few more losses to just expedite this whole process.

Brown won't apologize for winning, no matter how lucky Texas gets, but it just seems like there are more holes in the bottom of the boat than ways to plug the leaks.

That is absolutely what the Misery Index is all about.

(Disclaimer: This isn't a ranking of worst teams, worst losses or coaches whose jobs are in the most jeopardy. This is simply a measurement of a fan base's knee-jerk reaction to what they last saw. The way in which a team won or lost, expectations vis-à-vis program trajectory and traditional inferiority complex of fan base all factor into this ranking.)

(Disclaimer No. 2: By virtue of firing their coaches, Connecticut and Southern Cal are hereby excluded from this and future editions of the Misery Index since fans can now look forward to a new regime taking hold in 2014.)

1. Texas: In addition to all the other stuff, the Longhorns' injury list is just depressing. Quarterback David Ash, on whom Texas had pinned its hopes this season, has struggled with concussions and won't play this coming weekend against Oklahoma. Cornerback Sheroid Evans is out for the year with a torn ACL. Linebacker Jordan Hicks won't play again in 2013 due to an Achilles injury. Other key players like receiver Mike Davis and playmaker Daje Johnson have missed time this year and still seemed banged up. Vegas proclaimed the Longhorns 10-point underdogs on Sunday for the Red River Rivalry. Back in the summer, this was a pick 'em. Tough times in Austin, indeed.

2. Cincinnati: Because so many other things were going on Saturday night, this score pretty much got lost in the shuffle, and the Misery Index had to do a double-take to make sure it was real: South Florida 26, Cincinnati 20. What the heck, Bearcats? Perhaps we should have seen trouble brewing a couple weeks ago when Cincinnati was only able to muster 14 points in a victory against 0-5 Miami (Ohio), but that was basically written off as a lack-of-focus game. Now we know: Something is very wrong with the Bearcats' offense, and this season is careening toward disappointment. If Cincinnati fans were going to have to deal with the reality of getting left behind in the most recent round of realignment, at least this season offered the opportunity to get one last BCS bowl bid and perhaps even spoil Louisville's season on the way out the door. But Cincinnati hasn't looked at all like a contender under Tommy Tuberville. Since the ugly 45-17 loss in Week 2 against Illinois, in which starting quarterback Munchie Legaux was lost for the season due to injury, this team just hasn't been the same. And losing to what had been considered the one of the worst teams in FBS will pretty much be the emotional checkout point for most Cincinnati fans in 2013.

3. Penn State: Though the NCAA's decision to reduce its penalties on Penn State brought great joy and relief a couple weeks ago, the damage in many ways has already been done. The magic from last year was only going to last so long, and now the bill is coming due. If any Nittany Lions fans had convinced themselves that the program wouldn't really drop off despite the scholarship limitations, Saturday's 44-24 loss to Indiana would be the market correction. Not that Indiana is a bad team, but it was a noticeable score in light of the fact that Penn State had won 11 of the last 14 under Bill O'Brien with the only losses coming to Nebraska, Ohio State and Central Florida. Getting handled by the Hoosiers has to be a bit frightening, especially with Michigan and Ohio State coming up next. Obviously, if the Nittany Lions pull a miracle, the entire narrative changes. But is this the start of a long-term slide?

4. Southern Miss: Is this program cursed or what? After enduring the painful, out-of-nowhere 0-12 Ellis Johnson era, something good is due to happen to this fan base. Right? Right? Forget a win at this point; just something to feel good about would be welcome. But yet again, Saturday delivered a gut-punch to Southern Miss. Given the best opportunity in a couple years to grab a win, the Golden Eagles instead lost at home to a bad Florida International team, 24-23, as Corey Acosta's 44-yard field goal to win the game was partially blocked at the line of scrimmage. That's now 17 consecutive losses for Southern Miss, which hadn't experienced a losing season since 1993 prior to last year. It's incredible, really, how far this program has fallen. Even worse, the end of this streak doesn't seem to be in sight.

5. Iowa State: We get it, alright? We know you think you got jobbed by the officials Thursday night and that Texas gets all the calls and blah, blah, blah. But of the many instant replay sins the Misery Index saw this past weekend, this one might have been the least egregious. The truth is, no matter which team came out on the short end of this review, they were going to feel awful. Yes, Texas running back Johnathan Gray gave up the ball just before the goal line and Iowa State came away with it, which would have ended the game in a Cyclones upset. But in the mess of bodies around the goal line, it was very difficult to tell where forward progress was stopped, when the play was dead and how the ball transferred. Even on replay, you never actually see Gray give it up; you just see him hit a wall of bodies and then a defender running the other way with the ball. It's a brutally close, brutally difficult call and there wasn't clear video evidence to overturn the call on the field. Having said that, Iowa State could have ended the game multiple times before the controversial call. How about not letting Texas drive 75 yards in 2:49 for a winning touchdown? How about not committed three penalties – including two obvious pass interference calls – on that drive? How about, on the previous drive, going for it on fourth-and-3 from Texas' 6-yard line instead of kicking a field goal that wasn't going to help you much anyway?

6. Georgia Tech: This is somewhat of a hometown ranking, as the Misery Index originates from Atlanta. We would not necessarily have noticed the misery at Georgia Tech otherwise, but as we drove back into town late Saturday night from Tallahassee, and then got back in the car Sunday morning to go get breakfast, there seemed to be an inordinate amount of talk radio crankiness on the part of Georgia Tech fans. Let's cut to the chase: After Saturday's 45-30 loss to Miami, this smells like a 6-6, 7-5 Georgia Tech team, which would pretty much fall in line with most of the past decade (aside from the 2009 ACC championship, which was later vacated due to NCAA violations). At some point, fans tire of that. In fact, many Georgia Tech fans are already tired of it, which dredges up all the arguments about Paul Johnson's option-based offense, his failure to recruit with the so-called big boys and his 1-4 record against Georgia. But perhaps Tech fans are in need of an expectation adjustment. This is not a program built to contend for national titles on a regular basis. It's just not. It can be a very good, 8-win or 9-win program, but it is handicapped by several factors including finances, local fan support (Georgia and the SEC overshadow everything) and high academic standards. In theory, Johnson's system should level the playing field, but this is not an easy place to win consistently. You don't like Johnson's style, his awkward and arrogant personal manner, his system? Fine. But be careful what you wish for.

7. Mississippi State: There is zero reason to believe that Dan Mullen's job is in jeopardy no matter what happens this season. He has built enough goodwill and has enough trust with athletics director Scott Stricklin that it's hard to envision circumstances under which the Bulldogs will make a change. But there is a lot of grousing, to be sure, in Starkville. Though Ole Miss' struggles of late – on and off the field – are something of a salve, no other developments in the SEC West so far point to good things for Mississippi State. Alabama is Alabama, Texas A&M is going to be tough to keep up with, you're pretty far behind LSU already and Auburn is clearly back on the upswing. The Bulldogs could have come out of Saturday's loss to LSU feeling positive if it had stayed close, but a getting outscored 28-0 in the fourth quarter is a morale setback.

8. North Carolina: The defense wasn't a complete debacle. That's about the nicest thing you can say at this point about the Tar Heels, who fell to 1-4 after a 27-17 loss at Virginia Tech. The opportunities to pull this season out of the dumpster are now getting fewer and fewer for North Carolina fans, who are quite used to – and, frankly, bored with –this routine by now. At some point, the label "sleeping giant" no longer applies if you never wake up. On paper, this season looked like it had a lot of potential for the Tar Heels to be a factor in the ACC. But if they lose to Miami next week, it's going to take a big second-half run just to make a bowl game.

9. Virginia: At the end of every season, there are always a few scores from September that will make us scratch our heads in hindsight. BYU losing to Virginia in the season opener, 19-16, may very well turn out to be one of those games. BYU has turned out to be a pretty decent team, while Virginia has turned out to be a team that loses at home to Ball State by three touchdowns. That's the kind of result that can make message boards light up with calls to fire everybody. At least on Virginia's message boards this weekend, a number of posts have been prefaced with some variety of the disclaimer that "Mike London is a very good man." As a football coach, you rarely want people to preface any description by talking about what a great person you are because what usually follows isn't good. Virginia still has a chance to turn things around in ACC play, but this team really struggles to throw the ball, and it faces a couple pretty good rushing defenses in October. Something better change, and fast.

10. TCU: Three things are happening simultaneously at TCU. One, the week to week grind of the Big 12 is a lot more difficult than what the Horned Frogs faced in the Mountain West. Two, the team and program overall just isn't quite as good as it was in 2010 when it won the Rose Bowl. Three, there has been a significant amount of bad luck strike the team in the last 18 months. Having said all that, fans have noticed the drop-off offensively since former co-offensive coordinator Justin Fuente left to take the head coaching job at Memphis. It's not quite a Michigan State-level grind to put points on the board these days, but it's not far off, either. Though a late touchdown made the game closer than it probably was, TCU fell 20-17 to Oklahoma despite gaining just 210 offensive yards. On Sept. 12 in a loss to Texas Tech, the Horned Frogs had the opposite problem: They had 401 total yards but just 10 points. Either way, the bottom line is an 0-2 record in the Big 12. Make no mistake, TCU is happy to be in a better, much more lucrative league, but fans are having to absorb a lot more losses than they grew accustomed to over the last decade.

Also receiving votes (Miserable, but not quite miserable enough): N.C. State, Hawaii, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, SMU, Iowa, Air Force.