We've reached the final week of the regular season, which means it's the final games that will impact The Bottom 25 Playoff. While Army and Navy will still have a game to play after this week, and both are hanging around The Bottom 25 universe, barring some spectacularly bad performances to finish the season, there's little chance either can qualify for one of The Bottom 12 spots available.
As I look at the numbers heading into the final week, I feel comfortable saying nine of our 12 spots are comfortably secure. The teams ranked No. 1 through No. 9 this week don't seem capable of falling outside The Bottom 12, though I suppose Northwestern could drop with a win over Illinois.
That means there are still three spots up for grabs and at least 10 teams in contention for them. Make no mistake about it, ladies and gentlemen. There are no meaningless games this week. So eat up on Thursday and save yourself leftovers to get through the weekend. We're going to need all the calories we can get.
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The Bottom 25
| Team | Rank | Record | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25. Navy | 4-7 | I'm not sure how my bosses at CBS would feel about me making The Army-Navy Game The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week. Nor, for that matter, do I know how the Pentagon would feel about it. I don't desire to find out, so I'd appreciate it if Army could beat No. 1 UMass this week and if Navy could practice well enough during its bye to fall out of the rankings. (Last Week: 18) | |
| 24. Arizona State | 3-8 | Arizona State makes its triumphant return to the rankings after escaping thanks to a shocking upset win over Washington and a win over Colorado over a three-week span last month. Three losses since bring them back. Can they get out with a win over Arizona in the Territorial Cup? (Not Ranked) | |
| 23. Rutgers | 4-7 | Rutgers nearly made it the entire season without reaching The Bottom 25. The Scarlet Knights opened the year with three wins but have lost seven of eight since, including four straight. More importantly, the last four losses have come by a combined score of 165-48. The Knights will look to rebound from their 55-10 loss to Penn State against Maryland this weekend. (NR) | |
| 22. Old Dominion | 3-8 | Last month Old Dominion surprised many people with a 49-21 upset win over Coastal Carolina. The win improved the Monarchs to 3-3. They've lost five straight since and return to The Bottom 25. They'll try to avoid a sixth straight loss against South Alabama. (NR) | |
| 21. Virginia Tech | 3-8 | The Hokies picked up an upset win over Liberty Saturday, beating the Flames 23-22. Saturday's scheduled game against Virginia has been canceled following the tragic events in Charlottesville. (14) | |
| 20. New Mexico State | 4-6 | The Aggies won three straight games to get out of The Bottom 25, but one 45-14 loss at Missouri brings them back to us. Can they escape again with a win over Liberty? We'll find out Saturday. (NR) | |
| 19. Stanford | 3-8 | I'm not sure many teams in the country want to get the season over with more than Stanford. The Cardinal fell to rival Cal 27-20 in The Big Game and finish against BYU in The Last Game of the Season. (24) | |
| 18. ULM | 4-7 | I didn't like the Warhawks' chances of picking up a third straight win against Troy, and it turns out I'm a genius. ULM fell 34-16 to the Trojans but finish up the season this weekend against Southern Miss. (22) | |
| 17. Western Michigan | 4-7 | The Broncos got a big win over Central Michigan, beating the Chippewas 12-10 in whiteout conditions, and I'm not talking about the crowd. They played this game in like 15 feet of snow, give or take 14.5 feet. It wasn't enough to escape The Bottom 25, but a win over Toledo to finish the year might be. (12) | |
| 16. Temple | 3-8 | While Temple has shown an ability to hang with the American's second and third-tier teams, it's pretty clear they can't deal with the top-tier. Cincinnati didn't have much trouble in a 23-3 win. Perhaps the Owls can cause some problems for East Carolina this week. (19) | |
| 15. Northern Illinois | 3-8 | Why is the MAC great? Because only two teams in the conference haven't won at least three MAC games. Northern Illinois is one at 2-5. The other? It's 0-6 Akron. Guess who Northern Illinois plays this weekend? (15) | |
| 14. Arkansas State | 3-8 | The Red Wolves fell to Texas State 16-13. It knocked the Bobcats out of the rankings but wasn't quite enough to put the Wolves back into playoff position. Will a loss to Troy this Saturday be enough? (17) | |
| 13. Boston College | 3-8 | Boston College was already battered when it pulled the upset of NC State two weeks ago, and it had nothing left by the time it took the field to face Notre Dame. The Irish cruised to a 44-0 win, and now the Eagles return home to finish the season against a Syracuse squad that's lost five straight after starting 6-0. It's a sad last game of the season. (20) | |
| 12. Louisiana Tech | 3-8 | Controversy in The Bottom 25! Louisiana Tech lost The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of Last Week to Charlotte 26-21, yet it's ranked above the 49ers this week. Is The Bottom 25 crooked? Many are asking! I'll remind them that both remain in playoff spots. Whether or not the Bulldogs remain in one depends on what happens against Saturday vs. UAB. (13) | |
| 11. Charlotte | 3-9 | Charlotte wrapped its season with a win vs. Louisiana Tech, and now it must spend the weekend letting others decide its fate. Will results elsewhere knock the Niners out of the playoff? (7) | |
| 10. FIU | 4-7 | Oh wow, the Panthers were blown out. We haven't seen that like 50 times already this season. To update the tracker, following the 40-6 loss to UTEP, FIU's seven losses have come by an average of 37.1 points each. The closest loss was a 30-10 loss to UTSA. Its last three losses have come by an average of 39 points per game. This team is the lower-seeded dark horse of The Bottom 25 Playoff, assuming it doesn't beat Middle Tennessee on Saturday. (11) | |
| 9. Northwestern | 1-10 | Northwestern had one of its best games in a while against Purdue. Unfortunately for Northwestern, it still lost 17-9. They finish the regular season with a rivalry game against the Illinois team that nearly knocked off Michigan last week but has lost three straight. (9) | |
| 8. Nevada | 2-9 | Nevada fell to 0-7 in the Mountain West with a 41-14 loss to Fresno State. The Wolf Pack have been smacked around in conference play, losing by an average of 19.1 points per game. They get one more crack at it this week against a UNLV team hovering just outside our rankings. (10) | |
| 7. Hawaii | 3-9 | Speaking of UNLV, guess who Hawaii beat Saturday? Yep, the Rebels! Hawaii picked up a 31-25 win to end its four-game losing streak, and it probably cost itself a Bottom 25 Playoff bye in the process. On the other hand, another win this weekend against San Jose State could get the Warriors out of the playoff entirely. (4) | |
| 6. New Mexico | 2-9 | Like Nevada, New Mexico remained winless in the Mountain West following its 34-10 loss to San Diego State. Also, like Nevada, the Lobos have been getting smacked around for the most part, losing their conference games by 20.86 points. Surely there isn't a team remaining on the schedule it can beat... (8) | |
| 5. Colorado State | 2-9 | ...OR IS THERE? Unlike Nevada and New Mexico, Colorado State has two MWC wins (one was against Nevada), but can it pick up a third this week against No. 6 New Mexico? We'll find out in The Bottom 25 Game of the Week of the Century! While the winner will probably still make the playoff, the loser could get a bye. There's a lot on the line! (6) | |
| 4. South Florida | 1-10 | The Bulls fought hard but ultimately lost to Tulsa 48-42. They'll finish the regular season against UCF and likely lose that one too. If I could offer unsolicited advice, I don't know if he'd take the job, but Deion Sanders feels like the kind of name that could revitalize a program that seems in serious need of some revitalizing. (5) | |
| 3. Akron | 1-9 | Akron's game against Buffalo was postponed because of a snowstorm in Buffalo. I don't know the plan to make it up; it probably depends on what happens in Ohio's game against Bowling Green and MAC tiebreakers. Whatever the case, the Zips play Saturday against No. 15 Northern Illinois. (3) | |
| 2. Colorado | 1-10 | Colorado's November From Hell stays on script. The Buffaloes lost to Oregon 49-10, USC 55-17, and finally to Washington 54-7. Maybe they'll catch a deflated Utah this weekend as the Utes come off their own loss to Oregon? (2) | |
| 1. UMass | 1-10 | Listen, people may want to mock Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M for scoring only 20 points against UMass, but this defense has been stingy all season! It's the offense that's mostly hopeless. Now the Minutemen get ready for Army in a game that isn't a rivalry but should be considering the Minutemen were the original Army. (1) |
No Longer Ranked: No. 25 Texas State, No. 23 Army, No. 21 UTEP, No. 16 Indiana