Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te&#8217;o. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

Occasionally, our daily countdown of the top newsmakers, groundbreakers and world-class fakers gets taken over by a single subject. Today, we delve into the cyber-sensational love story between a Notre Dame football hero and his undead fictional girlfriend.

1. Manti Te'o

The girlfriend wasn't the only one who was completely phony. (previous ranking: 1)

2. Lennay Kekua

"All she wanted was some white roses," like most pretend chicks. (unranked)

3. Deadspin

And you thought all they'd ever uncover was Brett Favre's junk. (unranked)

4. Jack Swarbrick

Notre Dame hierarchy standing firmly behind its star for at least a few more minutes. (unranked)

5. The Internet

Billions of women in cyberspace, many of them naked, and Te'o had to fall for a fake one. (unranked)

6. Oprah Winfrey

Picked the wrong transparent fraud to interview this week. (unranked)

7. Brian Kelly

REALLY wishes he took that Eagles job now. (unranked)

8. Heisman Trophy voters

About 321 of them feeling really, really stupid. (unranked)

9. Brent Musburger

Old fogey doesn't understand why anyone would make up a fake girlfriend when there are plenty of quarterbacks' girlfriends to drool over. (unranked)

10. George O'Leary

Remember when Notre Dame's problems were limited to fictional resumes? (unranked)

Others receiving votes

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, Reagan Maui'a, "Catfish", George Gipp, Annette Santiago, Chicago Tribune, Nick Saban, Touchdown Jesus, Jayson Blair & Janet Cooke, Sports Illustrated, Hawaiian Mormons, Mel Kiper Jr.

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