Bottom 25 college football rankings: It's time to welcome back the Razorbacks

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

By Tom Fornelli

Oct 25, 2017 at 9:31 am ET • 3 min read

Welcome back, Arkansas, it has been awhile.

The first year of the Bottom 25 here at CBSSports.com was just the Bottom 10, but in that second season, I expanded the rankings to 25 teams. It was in that first week of the Bottom 25's existence in 2014 that Arkansas lost its season opener to Auburn 45-21.

With it being the first week of the season, a 24-point loss to anybody, even an Auburn team that was ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll at the time was enough to get you in the Bottom 25. It was new, though, and people didn't understand how it all worked yet, so as you can imagine, there were a lot of Arkansas fans upset with me at the time.

I mean, a lot.

They called the Hogs of Hell down upon me for a week until the Razorbacks won their next game -- a 73-7 pasting of Nicholls -- and escaped the Bottom 25, and I never had to deal with them again.

Until now.

Of course, I think this time around Arkansas fans will be a bit more accepting of their spot in the ranking.

Since it's been a while for you Arkansas fans, here's a quick reminder on how it all works. You can read a 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. Arkansas	2-5	The Hogs dropped to 0-4 in the SEC, and they've lost their conference games by an average of 24.25 points. (Last week: Not ranked)
24. Tulsa	2-6	Tulsa is just a strange team. One week it loses to Tulane by 34, the next it beats Houston by 28, and then it loses to UConn. (NR)
23. Missouri	2-5	The SEC's other Bottom 25 team is in danger of falling out after a big win over Idaho and a game coming against UConn. (15)
22. Illinois	2-5	Welcome, Illini. I've been expecting you for a while now. (NR)
21. Cincinnati	2-6	The good news for the Bearcats is that their loss to SMU was much more competitive than previous ones. The bad news is it's still a loss. (22)
20. Idaho	2-5	Losing by 47 points against the No. 15 team in the Bottom 25 is one way to make sure you stick around. (24)
19. UMass	1-6	UMass wins one game against Georgia Southern and drops 13 spots because you know what? UMass is secretly kind of an OK team. (6)
18. Old Dominion	2-5	The Monarchs have dropped five straight after a 2-0 start. (19)
17. Ball State	2-5	Ball State's three MAC losses have been by an average of 42.3 points per game. (21)
16. East Carolina	2-6	The Pirates have gone from a team I thought might go winless to one that might win three, or possibly even four games. (9)
15. North Carolina	1-7	While you were reading this, the Tar Heels probably lost another player for the season. (18)
14. Kent State	2-6	Kent State has been outscored 113-36 in conference play. (17)
13. Nevada	1-7	Nevada's dropped two straight, and those losses have come by five points combined. (16)
12. Coastal Carolina	1-6	The Chanticleers hung tough with Appalachian State on the road. (14)
11. BYU	1-7	BYU lost a winnable game against ECU, but now it gets another winnable game against San Jose State. This time at home. (13)
10. Rice	1-6	It's tough to find a win left on this schedule. (12)
9. Charlotte	1-7	Charlotte is on the board with a win! Now they get a week off to celebrate it. (3)
8. Oregon State	1-6	Oregon State looked like a team that might win another game during its 36-33 loss to Colorado. (10)
7. Bowling Green	1-7	The Falcons are off Saturday, but return on Halloween night for a massive game against Kent State. (11)
6. San Jose State	1-7	The Spartans have been out-scored 331-131 this season. Now they hit the road to take on BYU. (7)
5. Baylor	0-7	Baylor is going to win a game this season. I just know it. (4)
4. Texas State	1-6	The Bobcats had the week off, giving them time to prepare for The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week against Coastal Carolina. (5)
3. Kansas	1-6	The Big 12 has two Bottom Five teams, becoming the first Power Five conference to accomplish the feat. They did so thanks to Kansas losing two straight by a combined score of 88-0. (8)
2. UTEP	0-7	UTEP's hold on the No. 1 slot was a short one. So it was a productive bye week. (1)
1. Georgia Southern	0-6	The Eagles moved back into the No. 1 spot and celebrated by firing Tyson Summers. (2)