By Nick Zaccardi

6. Alabama

	Tyrone Prothro, whose 2005 catch against Southern Mississippi still ranks among the all-time best, may never play football again because of leg injuries. AP

The greatest choke jobs in sports are never forgotten.

Bill Buckner and Scott Norwood.

The 1992 Houston Oilers.

Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters and Jean Van de Velde at the 1999 British Open.

While the Alabama gymnastics team didn't quite get the same attention, their feat was nearly as impressive, or disappointing, depending on how you look at it. Up 147.625-147.3 going into the last rotation, No. 4 Alabama looked to slay host No. 1 Florida last week.

Then it happened.

The final three Crimson Tide gymnasts fell off the balance beam, including Olympic silver medalist Terin Humphrey. The Gators came through on floor exercise. Their last three gymnasts scored 9.9s to give UF a 196.825-195.65 come-from-behind win.

SPOTLIGHT: It's always football season in Tuscaloosa. Recent news has Tyrone Prothro undergoing a fourth surgery on his broken right tibia and fibula. The flashy wide receiver may never play football again, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.

On a side note, former coach Mike Shula inked a deal to become the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterbacks coach.

7. Vanderbilt

Without an athletics department, Vanderbilt seems to be doing just fine. The Commodores men's basketball team has won three straight games against ranked teams, Alabama, Kentucky and LSU. At 14-6, Vanderbilt is safely on the bubble -- at the very least -- and Derrick Byars and Shan Foster are making Nashville residents forget about Matt Freije.

Making a late push for homer headline of the week, Vanderbilt's student newspaper got caught up in the fan excitement. "Vandy does it again!" was the Vanderbilt Hustler's online edition headline after the LSU win. As far as newspaper etiquette goes, stash the exclamations until a major team does something in the postseason. For Vanderbilt, that wait might be shorter than originally thought.

8. Arkansas

It looks like Razorbacks football fans are having about as much success as their team's passing attack had last season. A group of about 50 protestors peacefully protested near the Tyson Poultry Center earlier this week, voicing their displeasure about the recent departures of offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and quarterback Mitch Mustain (though Mustain is still taking classes at Arkansas, but will transfer eventually).

Does anybody really think athletics director Frank Broyles and Coach Houston Nutt will worry about 50 pinheads after winning the SEC West title? Mustain has no leverage in this ordeal. Arkansas has the best one-two running combo in the country and the Razorbacks had an amazing season handing the ball off the Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Any Razorbacks fan who thinks the team would have done better with Mustain throwing 35 times per game ought to leave Fayetteville too.

9. Kentucky

Serves the Kentucky athletics program right. That's all I have to say after the Wildcats' women's basketball team fell to Mississippi State 83-75 in double overtime at Rupp Arena. The Bulldogs came back from 11 points down in the second half for the upset win.

In an athletics injustice, the game was just the second of four total contests at Rupp Arena for the Kentucky women this season. Mickie DeMoss' squad is usually banished into Memorial Coliseum, which had its capacity trimmed by 3,000 to 8,500 17 years ago during renovations. In contrast, Rupp holds 23,000 Kentucky fans.

Kentucky is the only school in the SEC that has its men's and women's basketball teams play in different arenas. Everybody else has learned to share, so why can't Lexington loosen up?

10. Mississippi

Last time, I preached about what I thought was Mississippi's lone reputable sports team. As it turned out, I was wrong.

The Rebels have two -- maybe thee -- good teams. In addition to the women's tennis squad, tabbed by coaches to finish second in the SEC West this year, the men's team has high expectations. Coaches picked Mississippi No. 1 in the West in the men's preseason rankings. As expected the women's basketball team came back down to earth with a loss to Georgia, so it might not be for real after all.

11. South Carolina

Steve Spurrier lost an in-state recruit to the Gators last week as defensive end Carlos Dunlap chose Florida instead of SC. In the past couple weeks, Urban Meyer has also picked up decommits who have left Pete Carroll and Charlie Weis, which might give the Ol' Ball Coach some solace.

12. Mississippi State

What can I say? Another week, another easy pick for the dead-last team in the rankings. The Bulldogs are lacking some sports teams and the ones they do have can't cut it in the SEC. It may be time for Mississippi State to start taking a long look at the Sun Belt Conference.

Nick Zaccardi is the Sports Editor at the Independent Florida Alligator. He can be reached at nzaccardi@alligator.org.