Bottom 25 college football rankings: Florida State, Mizzou may be here for a while

The Bottom 25 ranks the 25 worst teams in college football every week

By Tom Fornelli

Sep 26, 2017 at 9:04 am ET • 4 min read

Florida State has been ranked in the Bottom 25 each of the last two weeks, and every week I've told you how the Seminoles are a victim of circumstance. "They aren't really a bad team," I'd say. "They're just here because they haven't won yet and that's what happens this early in the season. They'll be out of the Bottom 25 soon enough!"

And then the Noles go and lose to NC State to make me look stupid. Thanks, guys, I appreciate it. I just don't do a good enough job of making myself look dumb, so you want to drive the point home for me. I'm touched, truly.

Anyway, if you haven't figured it out yet, the Seminoles are still ranked this week. In fact, they're not just ranked; they're in the Bottom 10. If there's any good news for the Seminoles, it's that they are not alone. There are seven Power Five teams included in the rankings this week, which is a Bottom 25 record. We're making history here, people.

As always, before we get to this week's rankings, here's a quick reminder on how all of this works (read the full explanation here).

My opinion plays no factor in the rankings
There is true equality to start the season as math doesn't play favorites
Wins and losses mean more than anything
The formula is in no way predictive; it's a meritocracy
I won't share the formula

And away we go.

The Bottom 25

Rank	Last	Breakdown
25	NR	Florida Atlantic (1-3): The Owls return to The Bottom 25 this week after a 34-31 loss to Buffalo.
24	NR	UConn (1-2): It isn't a scientific law, but if you lose to the No. 1 team in The Bottom 25 as UConn did, you're going to be ranked.
23	24	South Alabama (1-3): The Jaguars lost a one-score game for the first time this season. The problem is it doesn't mean a lot when it's against Idaho.
22	NR	Coastal Carolina (1-2): I would be harsher about the Chanticleers losing by 42 against an FCS team like Western Illinois, but Coastal was an FCS team itself last year.
21	NR	Akron (1-3): Hey, Troy is a good team, and Akron hung tough in a 22-17 loss. That's some consolation.
20	17	BYU (1-3): I bet you were hoping The Bottom 25 would forget about you when you took the week off, weren't you?
19	NR	Rice (1-3): FIU went from The Bottom 25 team to first place in the C-USA East thanks to a 13-7 win over Rice.
18	25	Boston College (1-3): BC went from tied 7-7 with the defending champs after three quarters to losing by 27 in the blink of an eye.
17	NR	Kansas (1-3): KU makes it's 2017 Bottom 25 debut. This is familiar territory for the Jayhawks.
16	14	Louisiana (1-3): The Cajuns lost to UL-Monroe 56-50 in an exciting overtime game that nobody watched.
15	21	Missouri (1-3): Is it a good sign when your coach goes off on a rant about turning things around after you just gave up 51 points to a team that had been scoring 24 points per game?
14	18	Pittsburgh (1-3): Pitt was my Underdog of the Week in Pick Six last week. Pitt will not be my Underdog of the Week again this season.
13	1	East Carolina (1-3): The Pirates threw away a possible Bottom 25 title on Sunday morning while you were going over your fantasy lineups.
12	16	Texas State (1-3): Our defending champs continue to hang around, refusing to give up the fight for a repeat title.
11	15	Kent State (1-3): Kent State was outscored by a squirrel this week. What else do I need to tell you?
10	11	Oregon State (1-3): The Beavers next four games are against Washington, USC, Colorado, and Stanford. Fun.
9	12	Florida State (0-2): I already wrote 1,000 words about Florida State this week. Read them here.
8	10	UMass (0-5): You know you're a Bottom 25 contender when a team beats you, and then that team's fans want to fire their coach more than ever before.
7	13	San Jose State (1-4): The Spartans have been outscored 171-26 the last three weeks. They are allowing 53.25 points per game against FBS teams.
6	8	Baylor (0-4): If I learned anything about Baylor this week it's that it's not going winless.
5	7	Nevada (0-4): They haven't won, obviously, but the 45-7 loss against Wazzu was the first time this year I felt like they never had a chance.
4	5	Charlotte (0-4): Charlotte was shutout 28-0 by Georgia State. The same Georgia State that was ranked No. 4 in The Bottom 25 last week.
3	2	Bowling Green (0-4): This week the Falcons take on Akron in The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week.
2	3	UTEP (0-4): I don't know if I see a win on the schedule. The best bets are North Texas and UAB, but both of those games are on the road.
1	6	Georgia Southern (0-3): The Eagles jump from No. 6 to No. 1 this week following a 52-17 loss to Indiana, but how long will they remain here? The Miners are nipping at their heels. Or is it talons?