Bottom 25 college football rankings: FSU makes it out, but ACC team takes its spot

Anybody can rank the best teams, only we rank the worst each week

By Tom Fornelli

Oct 3, 2017 at 11:47 am ET • 3 min read

There are significant changes in the Bottom 25 this week, though none of them occur in the Bottom Five, where everybody held serve. The biggest change is that Florida State won a game and is no longer ranked. We all knew it was going to happen one day and that every day we had with the Seminoles was one to be cherished. They will be missed, but remember not all hope is lost. Florida State plays Miami this weekend, and if it loses, well, it might sneak its way back here.

As for the rest of the rankings, last week we set a Bottom 25 record with seven Power Five teams ranked. Well, three of them picked up wins (Boston College and Pittsburgh being the other two besides FSU), and they're only replaced by two more Power Five squads, so this week's rankings have a respectable six.

Who are they?

You'll find out soon enough, but first a quick reminder on how all of this works (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

The Bottom 25

Rank	Record	Breakdown
25. Temple	2-3	The loss to Houston wasn't a horrible loss, but what's killing Temple right now is its point differential. (Last week: NR)
24. Georgia State	1-2	Georgia State had the weekend off but ends up here due to other teams winning. (NR)
23. North Carolina	1-4	I thought the Tar Heels would take a step back this season, but I didn't realize they had such a long stride. (NR)
22. Tulsa	1-4	When you're 1-4, you're 1-4, but Tulsa's last three losses have come by a total of 16 points. (NR)
21. Rutgers	1-4	Rutgers has now played 27 Big Ten games. It has allowed at least 40 points in 12 of them. (NR)
20. Coastal Carolina	1-3	The Chanticleers certainly performed better against Louisiana-Monroe than they did Western Illinois. I'm not sure what that says about all three teams. (22)
19. South Alabama	1-4	South Alabama will be off this week, giving them an extra week to prepare for the LSU-beating Trojans of Troy. (23)
18. Kansas	1-3	Kansas drops a spot after taking the weekend off. (17)
17. Louisiana	1-3	The Cajuns had the week off and hit the road to take on Idaho this week. (16)
16. UConn	1-3	I do not like UConn's chances against Memphis this week, but there are some winnable games on this schedule. (24)
15. Missouri	1-3	Mizzou takes a week off, and suddenly the SEC's reputation starts to rebound. Coincidence? I think not. (15)
14. BYU	1-4	How much worse is this going to get? (20)
13. Rice	1-4	Rice was kind enough to lose to Pitt 42-10 and allow the Panthers to drop out of our rankings. (19)
12. East Carolina	1-4	Maybe the Pirates should stick to playing on Sundays. That's when they have more success. (13)
11. Kent State	1-4	I don't see this team winning a game before Halloween, and they might not get one again this year. (11)
10. Oregon State	1-4	It ain't gonna get any easier, Beaver fans. (10)
9. Texas State	1-4	Our defending champions have a huge matchup with Louisiana-Monroe in The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week. (12)
8. Massachusetts	0-6	The Minutemen are the kings of losing close games. Six losses, none by more than 10 points. (8)
7. Baylor	0-5	That Oklahoma game may have been Baylor's Super Bowl because it sure didn't look nearly as good against Kansas State. (6)
6. San Jose State	1-5	San Jose State has the honor of being the highest-ranked team with a win, as its ahead of two winless teams right now. That's not easy to do. (7)
5. Nevada	0-5	I feel like Nevada's entire season is just killing time until that huge game with San Jose State on Nov. 11. (5)
4. Charlotte	0-5	Charlotte! You were in a thriller with FIU this weekend, but you came up just short. Luckily it didn't hurt your standing. (4)
3. Bowling Green	0-5	Losing to Akron was a big deal for the Falcons. That was one of their two most winnable games this year. (3)
2. UTEP	0-5	The Miners lost to Army 35-21 and became the first team to lose their coach this season as Sean Kugler stepped down afterward. (2)
1. Georgia Southern	0-3	The Eagles had last week off to prepare for a game against Arkansas State on Wednesday night. That's right, Wednesday night football is back, baby. Tuesday and Wednesday nights are the official nights of The Bottom 25. (1)