There isn't a lot of turnover in this week's Bottom 25. Only four new teams enter the rankings, which is the fewest number of new teams we've seen this season. That, combined with temperatures dropping across the country and skies turning grayer are the surest signs of fall.
We've reached the midway point of the 2019 regular season, and the rankings have more data to work with. This means far fewer swings based on one result. That's not to say things aren't going to change -- there's plenty of movement within The Bottom 25 -- it just means we won't be seeing teams go from The Bottom 10 to out of The Bottom 25 altogether anymore.
If you want out now, there are no quick fixes. You're going to have to work to do it.
| Team | Name | Status | News |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 25. UNLV | 2-4 | The Rebels pulled off one of the more surprising upsets of the 2019 season, beating Vanderbilt 34-10. I did not see that coming! Unfortunately, that win wasn't enough to get the Rebels all the way out of The Bottom 25. (Last Week: 12) |
 | 24. Ohio | 2-4 | I can no longer continue to tell myself that the Bobcats would get things together in conference play. A close call against Buffalo followed by a home loss to Northern Illinois strongly suggests otherwise. (Not Ranked) |
 | 23. Northwestern | 1-4 | Northwestern had last week off, and gets to host Ohio State on Friday night. It seems like the perfect time for Northwestern to do that whole Northwestern thing of winning a game you don't expect to, doesn't it? (23) |
 | 22. Northern Illinois | 2-4 | The Huskies picked up their first win since opening weekend against Ohio, but it's not enough to get out of The Bottom 25. Maybe a win this week against No. 17 Miami (OH) would do the trick? (14) |
 | 21. Charlotte | 2-4 | The 49ers join our ranks for the first time this season. After a 2-1 start to the year, three straight losses have brought them home. This week the 49ers are on the road to take on Western Kentucky. (NR) |
 | 20. Colorado State | 2-5 | The Rams' 35-21 win over New Mexico wasn't enough to get out of The Bottom 25. Still, I was happy to see so many Bottom 25 teams picking up wins over the weekend. I tell you, The Bottom 25 should be a Power Five conference. (15) |
 | 19. Middle Tennessee | 2-4 | Welcome, Blue Raiders! You were on the cusp the last few weeks, but your 15-point loss to Florida Atlantic, combined with a bunch of other teams winning, has brought you home. Another tough road game against North Texas just might keep you here another week. (NR) |
 | 18. Georgia Southern | 2-3 | The Eagles took last week off to continue celebrating their win over South Alabama. This week it's Coastal Carolina coming to town. (19) |
 | 17. Miami OH | 2-4 | The Redhawks don't have a particularly bad loss this season, they just have too many losses. Well, OK, maybe losing by 71 to Ohio State is a bad loss, even if it's against Ohio State. You don't see a lot of 71-point losses going around. Anyway, this week Miami hosts No. 22 Northern Illinois. (NR) |
 | 16. Texas State | 2-4 | The Bobcats saw their two-game win streak come to an end against Louisiana-Monroe over the weekend. They get a bye this weekend before a road game against Arkansas State. (21) |
 | 15. UCLA | 1-5 | Somebody asked me this week if UCLA would have been better off hiring Butch Jones instead of Chip Kelly. I didn't have an obvious answer for them. That seems like a bad sign. Anyway, the Bruins get Stanford on Thursday night. (16) |
 | 14. New Mexico | 2-4 | Outside of their 66-14 blowout loss to Notre Dame, the Lobos have been competitive in all their games, they just haven't been competitive enough to win more. This week another tough road test awaits against Wyoming. (20) |
 | 13. UTSA | 2-4 | The Roadrunners lost to UAB 33-14 on Saturday and moved up five spots in the rankings anyway. Math is fun! Do you know what else will be fun? A home date with No. 6 Rice this Saturday. (18) |
 | 12. Bowling Green | 2-4 | You know what was more surprising to me than UNLV beating Vanderbilt? Bowling Green, a 27-point underdog to Toledo, beating the Rockets 20-7. Sure, Toledo did almost as much to win the game for the Falcons as the Falcons did, but it still counts! (3) |
 | 11. Old Dominion | 1-5 | The good news for Old Dominion is that its five losses have come by 11.8 points per game, which isn't awful when compared to others in similar positions. The bad news is they're still five losses, and the sole win was a three-point win over Norfolk State. (13) |
 | 10. South Alabama | 1-5 | The Jaguars have the honor of playing on Wednesday night against Troy after taking last week off. God bless Tuesday and Wednesday night football. The MAC and Sun Belt deserve the Congressional Medal of Honor for their contributions to this country. In fact, maybe the Congressional Medal of Honor isn't good enough. Maybe we should create another medal that's even better, just for the MAC and the Sun Belt. (11) |
 | 9. Georgia Tech | 1-5 | I'm just trying to figure out which ACC team Georgia Tech is going to beat because it's going to beat an ACC team. It's the ACC, and that's just what happens. Will it be Miami this week? Could be! It will probably be Pitt, though. Yeah, Georgia Tech will beat Pitt and then Pitt will win the Coastal anyway and beat Clemson in the ACC title game cuz Pitt happens. (9) |
 | 8. UTEP | 1-4 | The Miners had last week off, and benefited from other teams playing poorly. This week they get an FIU team that's caught fire as of late. (6) |
 | 7. Rutgers | 1-5 | Rutgers became the first Big Ten team to be shutout by Indiana since 2017. Who was the last Big Ten team Indiana shutout before then? I don't know. College Football Reference's index only goes back to the 2000 season, and I don't think Rutgers deserves my time to look it up. Anyway, this week the Knights get Minnesota at home. (10) |
 | 6. Rice | 0-6 | Rice had last week off, and that's a good thing. After all, it gives them extra time to prepare for a road game against No. 13 UTSA in The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week (5) |
 | 5. Vanderbilt | 1-5 | I mean, after losing at home to UNLV, it's a matter of when, not if with Derek Mason at this point, right? Things don't get a whole lot easier from this point on, starting with Missouri this weekend. (8) |
 | 4. UConn | 1-5 | The Huskies got swept away by the Green Wave 49-7 on Saturday, and get Houston at home this weekend. But the question is whether or not the Huskies will get caught looking past the Cougars at their Week Nine opponent. I know I already am. (7) |
 | 3. New Mexico State | 0-7 | How did New Mexico State drop a spot after losing to Central Michigan 42-28? Well, it's a combination of things. Part of it is the Aggies played somewhat well in defeat, but it's mostly because of the team that passed them in the rankings. (2) |
 | 2. UMass | 1-6 | Were you stupid enough to write off the Minutemen after their 37-29 win over Akron? You fool! The Minutemen have answered the haters by losing to FIU and Louisiana Tech the last two weeks by a combined score 113-21. Now they get a bye week to prepare for a Week Nine showdown against UConn that there will be songs written about. Can we just skip this week and go straight to next week? (4) |
 | 1. Akron | 0-6 | Some look at the glass half-empty and say that Akron lost to its rival Kent State 26-3 on Saturday. Others look at that glass and see it's half-full. We say that Akron knocked Kent State out of The Bottom 25 with a 26-3 loss on Saturday. This week the Zips get Buffalo. (1) |
No Longer Ranked: Tennessee (17), Purdue (22), ULM (24), Kent State (25)
Week 7 Superlatives
As many of you know, I rank all 130 teams using a mathematical formula I created. That system is how I compile the Bottom 25, but for those of you interested in how the rest of the rankings look, you can see them all right here (it's updated weekly after The Bottom 25 is published). I will also be sharing some weekly superlatives from the rankings here in The Bottom 25.
Highest Climber: If you didn't watch Miami's win over Virginia, I can't blame you. The game was terrible, but it did help the Canes climb 24 spots in my rankings. They're up to No. 62 from No. 86.
Biggest Faller: Then there's Colorado, which fell 25 spots from No. 45 to No. 70 after getting trounced by Oregon on Friday night.
Most Fraudulent Team With a Winning Record: Nevada may be 4-2 on the season, but my rankings suggest it won't be for long. The Wolf Pack, at No. 82, are ranked behind a whole bunch of teams with worse records.
Best Team With a Losing Record: That would be 3-4 Ole Miss, which is one spot behind Nevada at No. 83. Why do I include these two categories each week? My rankings aren't predictive, but over time, there has been a correlation between being the lowest-ranked team with a particular record, or the highest-ranked team with a losing record, and that team changing course in the near future. For example, do you know who the best team with a losing record was in my rankings last week? South Carolina. The Gamecocks upset Georgia on Saturday.
Most Average Team: At No. 61, Western Michigan is the most average team in the country this week. It's score is 1.15 percent better than the average score of all 130 teams.
