There's been a lot of media discussion about the recent decision to expand the College Football Playoff, but where was that talk last December? That's when The Bottom 25, the most innovative, forward-thinking college football ranking in existence, expanded its playoff to 12 schools. Why hasn't The Bottom 25 received the same kind of media blitz the College Football Playoff has?
Could it be that the evil forces behind the CFP are holding The Bottom 25 down? I don't know, but I can't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they aren't, and neither can you. So until that happens, we must continue asking the question!
Another question you might ask is, "what is The Bottom 25?" Well, I already told you it's the most innovative, forward-thinking college football ranking in existence, and it's true because this is the only poll in the land that ranks the 25 worst teams in college football. And, unlike those other polls with their biases towards teams with recognizable names and helmets, there is no opinion or projection evident in The Bottom 25. This is strictly results based.
The rating system I use for these rankings is strictly reactive. Each season, every team starts with the same rating, and that rating increases or decreases based on performance in games of that season. Alabama's recruiting rankings and Georgia's national title don't matter here. They start the year in the same spot as defending Bottom 25 Playoff Champion UMass.
As a result, early-season rankings can be a bit volatile. So keep that in mind before you overreact to what you see here following Week 1. Or just overreact. That's fine too. Onto this week's rankings!
| Team | Rank | Record | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 25. Colorado | 0-1 | The Buffs went 4-2 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season but are 4-9 since after losing at home to TCU 38-13. Their reward is they get to be 17-point underdogs on the road against Air Force this week. |
 | 24. San Diego State | 0-1 | Christening your brand new stadium with a 38-20 loss to a team that went 1-11 last year is not ideal. The Aztecs should bounce back with a win against Idaho State. |
 | 23. North Texas | 1-1 | The 31-13 Week 0 win over Bottom 25 Legacy UTEP was a nice start, but following it up with a 48-10 loss to another former Bottom 25 champion in SMU erased all the goodwill. |
 | 22. Miami (OH) | 0-1 | I don't think anybody expected the RedHawks to open the season with a win against Kentucky. Still, I thought they'd be a little more competitive, considering Kentucky's suspensions. |
 | 21. Kent State | 0-1 | No team in the country has a more difficult nonconference schedule. The Flashes lost at Washington 45-20 Saturday night and will play at Oklahoma this week. Then, after a game against Long Island, they're playing Georgia. So they're going to be here for a while. |
 | 20. Georgia Tech | 0-1 | Geoff Collins came into the season on the hot seat, and while you can't judge this team by how it looks in a game against Clemson, there wasn't much on display Monday night in a 41-10 loss to lead me to believe things have changed. |
 | 19. South Florida | 0-1 | The good news is the offense seems to be taking steps forward, but the bad news is the defense looks pretty terrible. BYU had a 28-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, and the final probably could've been a lot worse than 50-21. |
 | 18. Western Michigan | 0-1 | Western Michigan did an excellent job of fulfilling its duties as a MAC program to take a beating from a Big Ten team in its season-opener. We'll have a much better idea of what the Broncos are after this week's game at Ball State. |
 | 17. UConn | 1-1 | At no point will I be optimistic about UConn football, but I thought the Huskies looked feisty in their 31-20 loss to Utah State in Week 0. I didn't see any of their 28-3 win over mighty Central Connecticut, however. |
 | 16. Wyoming | 1-1 | A 40-37 win over Tulsa is a good sign for a Wyoming team dominated by Illinois 38-6 in Week 0. Maybe the Cowboys aren't as bad as they looked in that loss after all? |
 | 15. Bowling Green | 0-1 | Bowling Green had to fly all the way out to Los Angeles to play UCLA in 100-degree temperatures in an empty Rose Bowl. It lost 45-17, but at least it got a whiff of the electric UCLA home game atmosphere the Big Ten so desperately desires. |
 | 14. Temple | 0-1 | Temple has been down for a while, and losing 30-0 to Duke only proves that Stan Drayton has a lot of hard work ahead of him. |
 | 13. Utah State | 1-1 | Has there ever been a wilder swing in the quality of opponents for a team's first two games? The Aggies opened 2022 with UConn and followed it up with Alabama. Both games went about as well as you'd expect, but the Alabama domination was so thorough that Utah State's nearly in the Bottom 10 despite having a win already. |
 | 12. Oregon | 0-1 | There will be a lot of talk about how the Pac-12 stinks after Oregon got demolished 49-3 by Georgia, but I ask you to consider a few things. First, consider that Georgia won its eight SEC regular season games by an average of 32 points last season, with no game closer than 17. The other is that there are 131 FBS teams in the country, and Georgia's capable of beating at least 120 of them by 46 points. The gap at the top of this sport is that wide. |
 | 11. UMass | 0-1 | UMass is our defending champion, has won two of the last three Bottom 25 titles and looks like it's ready to make a run at a third following a 42-10 loss to Tulane. |
 | 10. Colorado State | 0-1 | Playing on the road at Michigan is a tough first game for any program, let alone one with a new head coach. The Rams got stuffed into a locker by Michigan, losing 51-7. Things should be easier this week against No. 8 Middle Tennessee. |
 | 9. Ball State | 0-1 | Throwing an interception on the season's first play probably isn't the best omen. It certainly wasn't the best play, as it immediately put the Cardinals in a hole they had no hope of climbing out of during a 59-10 loss to Tennessee. This week the Cardinals get No. 18 Western Michigan. |
 | 8. Middle Tennessee | 0-1 | "Sure, we'll go on the road to play a team in its first-ever game as an FBS school. That'll probably be an easy dub," thought Middle Tennessee before getting waxed 44-7 by James Madison. Maybe this week's road trip to No. 10 Colorado State will be easier? |
 | 7. ULM | 0-1 | Maybe the cop who gave Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers a parking ticket during the game was a Warhawks fan? ULM lost to the Longhorns 52-10 in a game it was never meant to win, and this week it gets Nicholls before hitting the road to face Alabama. |
 | 6. UTEP | 0-2 | The Miners started last season with a 6-1 record but have now lost seven of eight and are 0-2 this year following losses to North Texas and Oklahoma. They'll look to dig themselves out of the rut against No. 5 New Mexico State this weekend. |
 | 5. New Mexico State | 0-2 | The Aggies put up a fight in a 23-12 loss to Nevada in Week 0 but had no hope flying to Minnesota to face the Gophers on a short week, losing 38-0. Will they find that hope this week against No. 6 UTEP in The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week!? |
 | 4. Rice | 0-1 | There's never a good time for Rice to play USC, but playing USC in its first game under Lincoln Riley when he wants to put on a show for the fans is probably the worst time for Rice to play USC. |
 | 3. Charlotte | 0-2 | It's been a very rough start to the season for Charlotte. They were blown out by FAU 43-13 in Week 0 and followed it up with a 41-24 loss at home to William & Mary this week. Life doesn't get easier with Maryland looming. |
 | 2. Navy | 0-1 | At this point, you have to wonder if we'll see changes at Navy soon. The Mids went 11-2 in 2019 but are now 7-16 since and just lost 14-7 at home to Delaware. |
 | 1. Hawaii | 0-2 | Timmy Chang has an enormous rebuild in front of him, as was evidenced by blowout losses to Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky to start the season. One can only imagine what Michigan will do to the Warriors in Ann Arbor. |
