The Great Bottom 25 Migration has begun. The first month and a half of the season has seen The Bottom 25 dominated by the MAC, but as I wrote last week, it was only a matter of time before we saw more parity reach us. The MAC had so many teams ranked here because, during nonconference season, the MAC spends its time getting beaten up by Big Ten and other Power Five teams. Those beatings often take time to balance out with wins elsewhere, and it's not typically until a few weeks into conference play we begin to see things even out.
We're seeing it this week. In fact, there's a lot of change this week as we welcome eight new teams to this week's rankings. Of the eight who left, three call the MAC home. None of our newcomers do. What's happening is that a lot of Power Five teams were skirting the edge thanks to a stronger schedule (having more Power Five conference games in September has had an impact on The Bottom 25, too) and a few beatdowns of lower tier teams. The impact of those performances has begun to wear off in mid-October because your schedule strength can only do so much when you're the team that's getting beaten up by Power Five teams now.
That's why you'll see three of our new teams are from Power Five conferences. We also have a Power Five team at No. 1. So those of you who aren't familiar with the methodology of this poll might finally be able to ease up on believing I hate the Group of Five and only include them here. Remember, I have no say in the rankings. It's all in the capable hands of The Bottom 25 Gods.
The Bottom 25
| Team | Rank | Record | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 25. Boston College | 2-4 | The Eagles had been skirting the edge of the poll after a 1-3 start, but a 34-33 win over Louisville gave them breathing room. Breathing room that quickly vanished following this week's 31-3 loss to Clemson. (Last Week: Not Ranked) |
 | 24. Fresno State | 1-4 | Fresno is another newcomer to the poll, having lost four straight. In Fresno's defense, its last three games have been on the road, and two of its losses have been the one-score variety. Of course, one of those one-score losses was to UConn, so that takes some of the shine off. Anyway, life gets no easier this week against a San Jose State squad that looks like the best the Mountain West has to offer. (NR) |
 | 23. Virginia Tech | 2-4 | I've had Hokies fans asking me why they weren't ranked the last couple of weeks, and the answer was simple. They were 2-2! Well, now they're 2-4 following a 45-29 loss to Pitt, and that 27-10 win over No. 25 Boston College looks less impressive every week. (NR) |
 | 22. Arkansas State | 2-4 | The Red Wolves got out of The Bottom 25 last week after beating ULM, but our poll's tremendous gravity pulled them back this week thanks to a 42-20 loss to James Madison. (NR) |
 | 21. UTEP | 3-4 | I become genuinely annoyed at my formula when three-win teams are in the rankings this early in the season, but the Miners drop back in after a 41-31 loss at Louisiana Tech. Personally, I think the Miners are better than this, but the Bottom 25 Gods get what the Bottom 25 Gods want. (NR) |
 | 20. Nevada | 2-4 | The Wolf - SPACE - Pack got away for a week, but losing to No. 1 Colorado State 17-14 will bring you back in a hurry. The Rams got an untimed down at the end of the game and hit a 43-yard field goal to win it and knock off Nevada. The Pack gets another crack at victory this week against No. 2 Hawaii. Could they lose to No. 1 and No. 2 in consecutive weeks? (NR) |
 | 19. New Mexico | 2-4 | Since I don't have much time to watch television during the season, my wife and I always rewatch a show. We'll catch an episode or two when time allows. This year it's Breaking Bad, which takes place in New Mexico. It's a beautiful state. It doesn't have great football teams, but it's a beautiful state. Perhaps the backdrop will make this week's game against No. 6 New Mexico State worth watching. (NR) |
 | 18. UConn | 3-4 | Another three-win team in the rankings, but this one doesn't annoy me as much as UTEP does. UConn should never feel bad about winning two games in a row, but the Huskies' three wins have come against Central Connecticut, No. 24 Fresno State and No. 8 FIU. They've been outscored by 135 points in their four losses. Those wins won't erase that kind of damage. (11) |
 | 17. Utah State | 2-4 | This is a much better team with Cooper Legas at QB. You saw it in the 38-26 loss to BYU, and you really saw it in this week's 34-27 win over Air Force. I'm predicting now that the Aggies won't be here much longer. (8) |
 | 16. Central Michigan | 1-5 | The Chips are only 1-5, but they've played a difficult schedule. They lost to Oklahoma State and Penn State -- who are a combined 10-0 -- and a Toledo team that might win the MAC. They hung tough in a 17-16 loss to Ball State and could break through with their first MAC win against No. 5 Akron this week. (20) |
 | 15. ULM | 2-4 | The Warhawks have played a pretty tough schedule themselves, and they looked formidable in their 28-21 loss to Coastal Carolina. They'll get another difficult test this week against a 4-1 South Alabama team currently sitting atop the Sun Belt West. (17) |
 | 14. Northwestern | 1-5 | I have not been asked about any team more in the last few weeks than Northwestern. "How isn't Northwestern ranked?" Well, in short, they played too well against Nebraska to open the year and followed it with a bunch of close losses. Wisconsin finally handed them a beatdown this week, and the floor fell out from under the Cats. (NR) |
 | 13. Bowling Green | 2-4 | The only thing you need to know about Bowling Green's 38-7 loss to Buffalo you can learn by watching this video. (21) |
 | 12. Western Michigan | 2-4 | The Broncos lost the battle with their directional Michigan counterparts, losing to Eastern 45-23. The Broncos only wins to this point are against Ball State and New Hampshire. None of their losses have come by fewer than 22 points. They'll try to hang around this week against Ohio. (19) |
 | 11. Northern Illinois | 1-5 | We might've lost some MAC teams this week, but the ones who remain are still hanging around in packs. The Huskies were outclassed by Toledo, losing 52-32. That's five straight losses since the season-opening win over Eastern Illinois. They get the Eastern Michigan team that beat Western Michigan this week. (14) |
 | 10. Army | 1-4 | You know how Jeff Monken had his name pop up in a few openings the last couple of years, and you got the sense he was pushing for the chance to move on behind the scenes? Well, watching Army this year might give you a clue why. The good news is that plenty of winnable games are left on the schedule, but this looks like the worst Army team we've seen in a while. (22) |
 | 9. South Florida | 1-5 | Want an idea of how poll-voter mentality works? Look no further than South Florida's 28-24 loss to Cincinnati. The Bulls -- The Bottom 10 Bulls -- led Cincinnati 24-21 in the fourth quarter before the Bearcats scored with 9:24 left to take the lead for good. And then Cincinnati moved up three spots in the AP Top 25 for narrowly beating a very bad South Florida team. (9) |
 | 8. FIU | 2-3 | The Panthers lost our Bottom 25 Game of the Century of Last Week against UConn 33-12, but color me impressed. It is not easy to lose to UConn by three scores. You rarely see it. (10) |
 | 7. Charlotte | 1-5 | The 49ers were off last week but will return to action Saturday at UAB. (7) |
 | 6. New Mexico State | 1-5 | The Aggies were off last week but return to action Saturday against No. 19 New Mexico in The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week presented by Tom's Breaking Bad Rewatch! Jesse! We're going to cook in The Bottom 25! (5) |
 | 5. Akron | 1-5 | Akron had done a much better job hanging around and staying in games following blowout losses to Michigan State and Tennessee, but it reverted to form against Ohio. A Bobcats team that hadn't looked all that impressive this season beat the Zips 55-34. Maybe Akron can find a groove against No. 16 Central Michigan. (6) |
 | 4. Colorado State | 1-4 | And then there was one. With Colorado State's 17-14 win over Nevada, only one winless team remains in the country. Also, in a crazy twist of fate, the Rams go from No. 1 in The Bottom 25 to second place in their division because they're 1-0 in conference play (Boise State is 3-0). Greatness is molded in the fires of The Bottom 25. The Rams can prove it against No. 17 Utah State this weekend. (1) |
 | 3. UMass | 1-5 | The Minutemen were competitive against Eastern Michigan two weeks ago and hung with Liberty for the first half of this game. Unfortunately, Liberty scored with 42 seconds left in the first half to make it a 21-10 game and took off in the second half, taking a 35-10 lead by the end of the third. The Minutemen added a few more touchdowns to make it look closer than it was. Let's see how they do against Buffalo this week. (4) |
 | 2. Hawaii | 1-5 | A sportsbook gave me a free $10 bet this week, so I took that baby and put it on Hawaii (+1400) to beat San Diego State. They almost did it! In their most encouraging performance of the season, the Warriors hung tough in a 16-14 loss to the Aztecs. Let's see if they can keep it going against No. 20 Nevada on Saturday. (3) |
 | 1. Colorado | 0-5 | Colorado had the week off and had to sit at home and watch Colorado State win a game, pushing the Buffaloes to No. 1 in the rankings. If that doesn't sum up the Buffs' season so far, I don't know what will. The only thing we can do is root for them to get their first win of the season too. The next chance is this week at home against Cal. (2) |
No Longer Ranked: No. 25 Ball State, No. 24 Georgia Tech, No. 23 Miami OH, No. 18 San Diego State, No. 16 Georgia State, No. 15 Ohio, No. 13 Louisiana Tech, No. 12 Navy
