This is my favorite time of year for the Bottom 25.

For the most part, while some nonconference games still remain scattered about the college football schedule, league play has begun in force, and this always has a major impact on The Bottom 25. You see, early in the year, these rankings consist mostly of schools from the Group of Five because September is a month filled with Power Five teams playing nonconference games against smaller schools.

Most of the time these game result in losses for the G5 schools, and because of that, we see things like seven or eight Conference USA schools ranked in The Bottom 25.

Once conference play begins, however, that allows those G5 schools the chance to rack up some wins and get out, while other Power Five schools may begin accruing losses, which increases their chances of showing up here.

And that's reflected in this week's rankings, as The Bottom 25 welcomes four new teams to the fray, and three of them come from Power Five conferences. Who are they? You'll find out soon enough, but before we get to the rankings themselves, here's a recap on how this beautiful symphony of failure works.

1. My opinion has absolutely nothing to do with the rankings. They are based on a mathematical formula of my creation. Keep this in mind before you call me an idiot, which I know you will.

2. There is true equality to start. Math doesn't play favorites. Before the season begins, defending national champion Alabama is just as good as our defending Bottom 25 champion UCF. The only factor that matters in the rankings is how you've performed on the field in 2016.

3. Wins and losses mean more than anything. I have a lot of different statistics involved, and I factor in strength of schedule (remember, everybody begins the season with the same SOS), but at the end of the day whether you won or lost is going to mean more than anything else. Also, my formula doesn't have much respect for FCS teams.

4. I won't share the formula. I just don't want to. I'm not a mathematician. I know my formula isn't perfect. I don't think a perfect formula can exist, so I don't share it because I don't care what anybody thinks about it. So don't ask.

To the rankings!

25. UTSA, 1-3 (Last week: Not ranked): The Roadrunners didn't even play last week, and they're falling into The Bottom 25! This is like Craig getting fired on his day off in "Friday."

Last week: No game | Next week: vs. Southern Miss

24. Texas State, 2-2 (15): Beating Incarnate Word is worth about as much as beating Microsoft Word would be, Texas State.

Last week: 48-17 win vs. Incarnate Word | Next week: at Georgia State

23. Iowa State, 1-4 (24): Oh you came so close, Iowa State. So, so very close. There was truly a time there on Saturday afternoon when I thought you were going to beat Baylor, but at the same time, I think I always knew you wouldn't.

Last week: 45-42 loss vs. Baylor | Next week: at Oklahoma State

22. Northern Illinois, 1-4 (10): I guess all it took for Northern Illinois to look like Northern Illinois again was a MAC opponent.

Last week: 31-24 win at Ball State | Next week: at Western Michigan

21. Syracuse, 2-3 (NR): Syracuse has played four games against FBS opponents this season. It has allowed 45.3 points per game in those contests. It is very hard to win games that way.

Last week: 50-33 vs. Notre Dame | Next week: at Wake Forest

20. Rutgers, 2-3 (NR): I thought Ohio State would take it easy on Rutgers given Chris Ash's history with the Buckeyes. Even after a 58-0 win, I can't be 100 percent sure it wasn't.

Last week: 58-0 loss at Ohio State | Next week: vs. Michigan

19. Florida International, 1-4 (5): Will FIU look back on this week with regret later this season? The Panthers were a Bottom Five team but beat FAU in our Game of the Century of the Week, and now they've fallen all the way to 19.

Last week: 33-31 vs. FAU | Next week: at UTEP

18. Oregon State, 1-3 (NR): The Beavers were buried by a stampede of Buffaloes last week, and by the time the dust cleared, they were here in The Bottom 25.

Last week: 47-6 loss at Colorado | Next week: vs. Cal

17. Idaho, 2-3 (18): The good news for Idaho is that last week they became the first 2-2 team to ever be ranked in The Bottom 25, but they're no longer alone as Texas State managed to do it this week. The bad news is Idaho is no longer 2-2.

Last week: 34-13 loss vs. Troy | Next week: at Louisiana-Monroe

16. Buffalo, 1-3 (23): I'm an idiot. I took Buffalo (+17) as my Underdog of the Week in Pick Six because it was playing Boston College, and Boston College couldn't cover a three-score spread against anybody, right? Wrong.

Last week: 35-3 loss at Boston College | Next week: vs. Kent State

15. UTEP, 1-4 (14): The Miners have managed only 35 points in their last four games, and they've lost their last four games. I feel like these two things are related somehow.

Last week: 28-7 at Louisiana Tech | Next week: vs. FIU

14. Illinois, 1-3 (11): Illinois played well on the road against Nebraska for three quarters last week, but things fell apart in the fourth. Still, even in defeat, the Illini drop in the standings because they weren't awful.

Last week: 31-16 loss at Nebraska | Next week: vs. Purdue

13. Florida Atlantic, 1-4 (8): The Owls fell to their in-state commonly-monogrammed brethren in a close one this week.

Last week: 33-31 loss at FIU | Next week: vs. Charlotte

12. Miami (OH), 0-5 (17): I've been saying it all year, but Miami once again played close in a loss. They've got to get a win at some point. It's going to happen.

Last week: 17-7 loss vs. Ohio | Next week: at Akron

11. Marshall, 1-3 (13): I'm so used to the idea of Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich, and Rakeem Cato's Marshall teams, that seeing them here every week just confuses me.

Last week: 43-27 loss at Pitt | Next week: at North Texas

10. Georgia State, 0-4 (16): Is Georgia State on the precipice of a title run? Probably not! It's played too well to really think it's going to stay ranked this highly forever, but it's in The Bottom 10 for now.

Last week: 17-3 at Appalachian State | Next week: vs. Texas State

9. Louisiana-Monroe, 1-3 (21): Maybe Louisiana-Monroe can take solace in the fact they might be the team that helped Auburn figure things out?

Last week: 58-7 loss at Auburn | Next week: vs. Idaho

8. San Jose State, 1-4 (4): Been a roller coaster couple of weeks for the Spartans. Not because they've won -- they haven't -- but we've seen them go from No. 20 to No. 4 and now to No. 8 in three weeks. Pick a damn lane already.

Last week: 48-41 loss at New Mexico | Next week:vs. Hawaii

7. Kent State, 1-4 (9): Kent State had a respectable loss to Akron, which helps them move up to No. 7, but if it becomes a habit, the Flashes can kiss their Bottom 25 title hopes goodbye.

Last week: 31-27 loss vs. Akron | Next week: at Buffalo

6. Kansas, 1-3 (19): Scoring 19 points against Texas Tech is basically the equivalent of scoring -10 points against anybody else.

Last week: 55-19 loss at Texas Tech | Next week: vs. TCU

5. Fresno State, 1-4 (12): Listen, if Fresno State doesn't beat Nevada this weekend, it's going to make a very strong run at The Bottom 25 title.

Last week: 45-20 loss at UNLV | Next week: at Nevada

4. Rice, 0-5 (6): Another strong Bottom 25 title contender. I'm telling you, folks, this could be the greatest Bottom 25 title chase of all time.

Last week: 44-28 loss at Southern Miss | Next week: No game

3. Bowling Green, 1-4 (2): Bowling Green played a lot better this week in a close loss to Eastern Michigan, which is fine, but can I just mention that former Bottom 25 regular Eastern Michigan is now 4-1. It's incredible.

Last week: 28-25 loss vs. E. Michigan | Next week: at Ohio

2. Charlotte, 1-4 (3): Listen, I've talked about other title contenders already, but as I've maintained over the last few weeks, if Vegas actually accepted odds on The Bottom 25 (I'm working on it), I'd be putting money down on the 49ers. Find out why when they play Florida Atlantic in The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week.

Last week: 52-17 loss vs. Old Dominion | Next week: at FAU

1. Arkansas State, 0-4 (1): The Red Wolves took the week off, and we've always believed that you shouldn't lose the top spot in a bye week. Of course, we don't have any say in this, but thankfully the math agreed with us.

Last week: No game | Next week: vs. Georgia Southern

No Longer Ranked: Hawaii, New Mexico State, UNLV, Massachusetts