Now that we're four weeks into the season, we see teams starting to settle into their places, and the Bottom 25 title race is beginning to take shape. Last week's No. 1 New Mexico State beat our No. 3 UTEP to pick up its first win of the season, and that was a theme for the week. At this time last week, we had 14 winless teams and New Mexico State was one of 10 who picked up their first victory of the season. That means there are only four winless teams left compared to 21 undefeated teams.
So you tell me, which title is more prestigious? The College Football Playoff or The Bottom 25?
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The Bottom 25
| Team | Rank | Record | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25. Kent State | 1-3 | The Flashes have proven to be rather feisty in every one of their games outside the 63-10 loss to Penn State, but being feisty will only keep you out of The Bottom 25 for so long if you aren't winning games. (Last week: Not ranked) | |
| 24. Ohio | 1-2 | The Bobcats held a 24-7 lead over undefeated Cincinnati at halftime on Saturday but couldn't hold on in the second half and it's landed them in our rankings. (NR) | |
| 23. Tulane | 1-3 | I had high hopes for Tulane coming into the 2018 season, but the Wave has crashed along some rocky shores so far. With conference play opening against Memphis this week, life won't be getting much more comfortable. (NR) | |
| 22. South Alabama | 1-3 | The Jaguars are in the midst of a tough stretch of games that sees them playing four road games against Oklahoma State, Memphis, Appalachian State and Georgia Southern in a five-week span. (NR) | |
| 21. Central Michigan | 1-3 | The Chips picked up a 17-5 win over Maine, but while the victory is great, the fact they were only 7.5-point favorites in the game says quite a bit. A road trip to Michigan State is next. (11) | |
| 20. Miami (OH) | 1-3 | The RedHawks picked up a win against Bowling Green in a Bottom 25 clash, and they also killed one of my under plays in The Six Pack with a meaningless touchdown late. A small part of me is convinced Chuck Martin did it just because he was mad at me for having his team ranked here. (5) | |
| 19. Georgia Tech | 1-3 | Having watched the Yellow Jackets play against USF and Pitt, it felt like it was only a matter of time before they showed up here, and a 49-21 loss to Clemson did the trick. Next up is a clash of the titans against No. 7 Bowling Green. (NR) | |
| 18. Oregon State | 1-3 | I felt the two-week stretch against Nevada and Arizona was essential to the Beavers because, looking at the rest of the schedule, there isn't a game on it where you can like their chances. (NR) | |
| 17. Northern Illinois | 1-3 | Northern Illinois had a one-week vacation from The Bottom 25, but it's back after a 37-19 loss to Florida State. If you can make that offense look good, you deserve to be here. (NR) | |
| 16. Tulsa | 1-3 | Tulsa turned the ball over five times against Temple on Thursday night, and the Owls scored on two of them. That's how you climb nine spots in the rankings. (25) | |
| 15. Texas State | 1-3 | I mentioned earlier that we had 10 teams pick up their first win last week, and Texas State had the honor of being UTSA's first, losing 25-21 to the Roadrunners. Louisiana-Lafayette is next. (20) | |
| 14. Rice | 1-3 | Rice's offense has shown to be decent enough thus far, but the Owls haven't allowed fewer than 40 points in any of their games against FBS competition. This week it's a road trip to Wake Forest, which just fired its defensive coordinator. (24) | |
| 13. Middle Tennessee | 1-2 | The Blue Raiders took the week off but still climbed six spots in the rankings due to all those winless teams shedding their winless tag. (19) | |
| 12. Arkansas | 1-3 | Arkansas looks poised to be the SEC team that claims the "They Don't Count" identity when SEC fans talk about how great their conference is and you bring up the Hogs. Arkansas couldn't even cover a 30-point spread against Auburn despite having more yards on offense. That's hard to do. (23) | |
| 11. Rutgers | 1-3 | Rutgers might be late to the party due to a season-opening win against No. 15 Texas State, but it sure knows how to make an entrance, doesn't it? The Knights have been out-scored 149-30 the last three weeks, and those three weeks include games against Kansas and Buffalo. (NR) | |
| 10. UConn | 1-3 | Here's everything you need to know about UConn summed up in one simple statistic: The Huskies allowed 51 points to Syracuse on Saturday, and it lowered their points per game allowed this season to 54.5. (16) | |
| 9. UTSA | 1-3 | The Roadrunners beat Texas State 25-21, but they're still ranked ahead of the Bobcats due to the totality of their impressive resume. This week there's another massive game on the horizon against defending Bottom 25 champion UTEP. (2) | |
| 8. Colorado State | 1-4 | Three weeks ago, Colorado State mounted a comeback to beat Arkansas, and it looked like the Rams might have figured things out. Last week's loss to Florida wasn't anything to be ashamed of, but then the Rams went and lost to Illinois State by 16 at home. (21) | |
| 7. Bowling Green | 1-3 | The Falcons lost to Miami OH 38-23, but that score is misleading because they got a meaningless Hail Mary on the final play of the game. Now the Falcons hit the road to take on No. 19 Georgia Tech. (18) | |
| 6. New Mexico State | 1-4 | The Aggies picked up a win, but it was only enough to drop them to No. 6 in the rankings. This means they are still in the hunt for the Bottom 25 playoff, and maybe they can get their revenge on UTEP when they get there. (1) | |
| 5. Georgia State | 1-3 | Western Michigan ran all over the Panthers on Saturday, and they now find themselves at 1-3 and in The Bottom Five. Next up on the docket is UL-Monroe. (15) | |
| 4. UCLA | 0-3 | The Bruins took the week off, and it was a productive one as they climbed into the Bottom Five as one of only four winless teams left in the country. This week they hit the road to take on Colorado. Can Chip Kelly get his first win since Christmas Eve of 2016? (8) | |
| 3. San Jose State | 0-3 | Seriously, it was a bad time to take a week off for a lot of teams with so many of our Bottom 25 teams picking up wins. Can the Spartans get one against Hawaii? (7) | |
| 2. Nebraska | 0-3 | Like death, being a fan of a Bottom 25 team has stages. When Nebraska first appeared here, the fans were furious about it, calling me all sorts of names. When the Huskers lost to Troy, the anger subsided a bit, and instead, Nebraska fans focused on what was wrong with their team. Now, after a 56-10 loss to Michigan, I've had Nebraska fans tweeting me to tell me they want UTEP. I've seen it many times before. Purdue's up next. (10) | |
| 1. UTEP | 0-4 | Our defending champions move back into the No. 1 spot after a 27-20 loss to New Mexico State, but they can't get complacent as they hit the road to take on No. 9 UTSA in our Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week. (3) |
No longer ranked: Florida State (22), UMass (17), Iowa State (14), Purdue (13), Western Kentucky (12), SMU (9), North Carolina (6), Old Dominion (4)