I haven't been this excited about a set of Bottom 25 rankings in quite some time.

As I wrote last week, the odds were high that at the end of this past weekend, we wouldn't have any winless teams remaining on the FBS level, and that's exactly what happened. Rice beat Prairie View A&M to get its first win of the year, and now everybody has one.

This is good for a few reasons. First and foremost, I want every team to get a win. As I've written here in the past, just because I put out The Bottom 25 rankings every week during the season doesn't mean I'm actively rooting for any of these teams to fail. The truth is I want every team to win all the time, but that's not possible.

So knowing that every team will experience the joy of victory at least once this season makes me happy.

What makes me happier is that we're more than halfway through the season and there are no fewer than eight teams in contention for The Bottom 25 title right now. That's fantastic.

That means we're going to have a very exciting title race over the coming weeks, and I can't wait to see how things shake out.

As for this week's rankings, we have a new No. 1 team, though it's not a team that hasn't been in our No. 1 spot before. We'll find out who it is in a moment, but first, a reminder on how these rankings are compiled.

1. My opinion has absolutely nothing to do with the rankings. They are based on a mathematical formula of my creation. Keep this in mind before you call me an idiot, which I know you will.

2. There is true equality to start. Math doesn't play favorites. Before the season begins, defending national champion Alabama is just as good as our defending Bottom 25 champion Central Florida. The only factor that matters in the rankings is how you've performed on the field in 2016.

3. Wins and losses mean more than anything. I have a lot of different statistics involved, and I factor in strength of schedule (remember, everybody begins the season with the same SOS), but at the end of the day whether you won or lost is going to mean more than anything else. Also, my formula doesn't have much respect for FCS teams.

4. I won't share the formula. I just don't want to. I'm not a mathematician. I know my formula isn't perfect. I don't think a perfect formula can exist, so I don't share it because I don't care what anybody thinks about it. So don't ask.


25. Nevada, 3-5 (Last week: Not ranked): Nevada enters The Bottom 25 for the first time this season even though it has three wins. That's what happens when your three wins are Fresno State, Buffalo and Cal Poly.

Last week: 42-34 loss vs. Wyoming | Next week: No game

24. Georgia State, 2-5 (23): Sorry, Georgia State, beating Tennessee-Martin isn't enough to get you out of The Bottom 25.

Last week: 31-6 vs. Tenn.-Martin | Next week: at South Alabama

23. Arizona, 2-5 (25): The Wildcats had last week off, and move up two spots. Congrats!

Last week: No game | Next week: vs. Stanford

22. Oregon State, 2-5 (NR): The Beavers dropped out for a bit, but they were always on the periphery. Getting blown out by Washington brings them back to us.

Last week: 41-17 loss at Washington | Next week: vs. Washington State

21. Miami (Ohio), 2-6 (14): Don't look now, but the RedHawks are on a two-game win streak! As a result, they've gone from No. 8 to a win over a Eastern Michigan away from probably getting out.

Last week: 40-26 win at Bowling Green | Next week: at Eastern Michigan

20. Illinois, 2-5 (NR): Want to feel old? Illinois' starting quarterback on Saturday was Jeff George Jr. He's still young, though he probably aged around 10 years against the Michigan defense.

Last week: 41-8 loss at Michigan | Next week: vs. Minnesota

19. East Carolina, 2-5 (22): If the Pirates don't pick up a win against Connecticut this weekend, I'm not sure they'll get another one this year. This is a team that could climb.

Last week: 31-19 loss at Cincinnati | Next week: vs. UConn

18. Arkansas State, 2-4 (20): The Red Wolves had last week off, and will look to continue their winning ways against the Warhawks.

Last week: No game | Next week: vs. Louisiana-Monroe

17. Kent State, 2-6 (19): I don't think Kent State can win the title this year, but it's not entirely out of it, either. It just needs a lot of help.

Last week: 14-10 loss vs. Ohio | Next week: at Central Michigan

16. New Mexico State, 2-5 (18): The Aggies came close to beating Georgia Southern, but this week they have the misfortune of being the team that has to play Texas A&M after its loss to Alabama. Get ready to suffer for the actions of others.

Last week: 22-19 loss vs. Georgia Southern | Next week: at Texas A&M

15. Charlotte, 3-5 (8): Charlotte went on the road, won its third game of the season and it still can't even get out of the bottom 15. Wins over FAU, Marshall and Elon aren't worth much.

Last week: won 27-24 at Marshall | Next week: No game

14. UTEP, 2-5 (7): The most exciting game you didn't bother to watch this weekend? Well that would be UTEP's five-overtime win against Texas-San Antonio on Saturday.

Last week: 52-49 win at UTSA | Next week: vs. Old Dominion

13. Iowa State, 1-6 (13): The Cyclones had last week off, and in a rare occurrence for any team on a bye in these rankings, they actually stayed in the same place.

Last week: No game | Next week: vs. Kansas State

12. Marshall, 2-5 (12): Marshall lost to Charlotte in our Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week, and didn't move up or down in the rankings. I'm as befuddled as you are.

Last week: 27-24 loss vs. Charlotte | Next week: at Southern Miss

11. Louisiana-Monroe, 2-5 (17): The Warhawks take a large leap to No. 11 this week after getting run over by New Mexico. Seriously, New Mexico rushed for 476 yards against them. Can they put up an encore against Arkansas State in this week's Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week?

Last week: 59-17 loss at New Mexico | Next week: at Arkansas State

10. Massachusetts, 1-7 (10): UMass has now played three games against SEC opponents this season, and while it hasn't won any of those games, it has been surprisingly competitive in each of them, losing by an average of 10.3 points.

Last week: 34-28 loss at South Carolina | Next week: vs. Wagner

9. Texas State, 2-5 (15): The Bobcats bounce into the bottom 10 after a blowout loss to the boys of UL-Lafayette.

Last week: 27-3 loss vs UL-Lafayette | Next week: No game

8. Florida Atlantic, 1-6 (9): The Owls had last week off. A lot of our teams had last week off. Felt kind of lonely Saturday.

Last week: No game | Next week: vs. Western Kentucky

7. San Jose State, 2-6 (11): Is it sick that I'm already looking forward to the San Jose State-Fresno State showdown at the end of the regular season? It's possible that game could decide our champion.

Last week: 42-3 loss at San Diego State | Next week: vs. UNLV

6. Rutgers, 2-6 (6): You almost did it, Rutgers. You almost picked up a conference win. Unfortunately, it might have been your last chance to do so.

Last week: 34-32 loss at Minnesota | Next week: No game

5. Rice, 1-6 (1): Let's not focus on the fact that Rice gave up 44 points to Prairie View A&M, let's just focus on the fact that Rice won the game.

Last week: 65-44 win vs. Prairie View A&M | Next week: at Louisiana Tech

4. Fresno State, 1-7 (4): If Fresno State ends up winning The Bottom 25 title this season, Tim DeRuyter won't be around at the end of the season to celebrate with his team.

Last week: 38-20 loss at Utah State | Next week: vs. Air Force

3. Bowling Green, 1-7 (3): Just in case you weren't a believer in Bowling Green's championship credentials, that loss to Miami (Ohio) had to have made you one.

Last week: 40-26 loss vs. Miami (OH) | Next week: No game

2. Buffalo, 1-6 (5): I thought Buffalo would take over the No. 1 spot with Rice's win, but the formula sure showed me. Still, I don't think there's a team in the bottom five that doesn't have a great shot at winning it all this year.

Last week: 44-7 loss at Northern Illinois | Next week: vs. Akron

1. Kansas, 1-6 (2): Kansas returns to a very familiar place in The Bottom 25, and with games against Oklahoma and West Virginia coming up the next few weeks, odds are good it will stay here for a bit.

Last week: 44-20 loss to Oklahoma State | Next week: at Oklahoma

No Longer Ranked: UL-Lafayette, SMU, Northern Illinois