Last week was an excellent week for The Bottom 25. I told you how 15 winless teams were remaining, which was a significant increase over what we'd typically see this late in the season. Well, we were able to get rid of a few of those teams still searching for their first victory.
We are down to 10 winless teams, and one of them is an 0-2 Arizona State. Congratulations to Eastern Michigan, Utah, Cal, Akron and New Mexico for all getting on the board last week. For some of you, it was enough to get out of The Bottom 25 altogether. For others, not so much, but that's OK! You have a win, and that's better than none!
As for the departures, they left vacancies for new teams, and our newbies this week have a Power Five flavor to them. We welcome the previously mentioned Arizona State, Duke, Navy, Tennessee and Mississippi State. Something tells me that, given it's the first year of his tenure, Mississippi State fans won't be too upset with Mike Leach for showing up here.
Tennessee fans? Yeah, the patience is running thin in that fanbase (out of character, I know) with Jeremy Pruitt, and I can't help but believe an appearance in The Bottom 25 following six straight losses won't improve the relationship.
The full rankings are below.
The Bottom 25
| Team | Rank | Record | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 25. Mississippi State | 2-6 | Does an Egg Bowl loss even count if it's not on Thanksgiving? Honestly, I think my least favorite part of this dysfunctional season is how many rivalry games I love are getting lost in the crowd due to scheduling. Like, having the Egg Bowl as one of the numerous games to watch at the time isn't even the worst example of this. (Last Week: Not Ranked) |
 | 24. Navy | 3-6 | The worst example is the Army-Navy Game! Which will be played this Saturday afternoon amid every single other game going on. I shouldn't have to choose between watching Ohio State-Michigan and The Army-Navy Game. May this never happen to us again. (NR) |
 | 23. Tennessee | 2-6 | I'm on the record numerous times with my opinion that I don't think any coach should be fired for on-field performance issues this season given the circumstances. That said, I fully understand that my opinion is a minority one. I also fully understand that if Tennessee loses to a Vanderbilt team that fired its coach already, there could be a second SEC job opening in The Volunteer State. Should there be a law in Tennessee that if Vanderbilt wins the annual rivalry game, the state has to adopt The Commodore State as its nickname until Tennessee beats Vandy again? Let's play for some real stakes! (NR) |
 | 22. Duke | 2-8 | The Blue Devils have been outscored 160-57 in their last three games after being shutout by Miami 48-0. Things are so bad for the Blue Devils at the moment that they're 4.5-point underdogs to a Florida State team that hasn't played in weeks because it's been ravaged by COVID-19. (NR) |
 | 21. South Carolina | 2-8 | South Carolina's season is over, and it has a new coach in Shane Beamer. And the good news for Beamer is that there's nowhere to go but up! (23) |
 | 20. Arizona State | 0-2 | The Sun Devils are 0-2 after finally getting to play another game, but their two losses have come by eight points combined. I would expect them to pick up a win over No. 8 Arizona this week, but it's 2020, so I'm not assuming anything. (NR) |
 | 19. Texas State | 2-10 | The Bobcats finally had a week off! (21) |
 | 18. Colorado State | 1-3 | The Rams were able to get back on the field after having to cancel two games and lost to San Diego State 29-17. They're scheduled to finish their regular season this weekend against No. 10 Utah State. (25) |
 | 17. Southern Miss | 2-7 | It doesn't show in the record so much, but this is an improving team. They're only 1-2 in their last three games, but the Eagles' last two losses have each been by a field goal. They'll finish up their season Thursday night against FAU. (20) |
 | 16. Florida State | 2-6 | The Seminoles have not played since Nov. 14. They are currently scheduled to play Duke on Saturday, with one more game against Wake Forest the week after. Whether or not either game gets played remains to be seen. (19) |
 | 15. New Mexico | 1-5 | The Lobos are on the board! They finally lived up to the promise they'd shown earlier in the season during a 17-16 win over Wyoming. They finish the season Saturday night against Fresno State. (10) |
 | 14. Syracuse | 1-10 | Syracuse's season came to an end with a 45-21 loss to Notre Dame over the weekend, and I'm sure everybody in the program is fine with just closing the book and moving on. (18) |
 | 13. Akron | 1-4 | The Zips crushed Bowling Green in The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of Last Week, beating the Falcons 31-3. Honestly, it was almost unbecoming of a Bottom 25 team to treat another Bottom 25 team in such a way. This week the Zips get to finish their season with Jaret Patterson and the Buffalo Bulls. (3) |
 | 12. South Florida | 1-8 | Barring any late additions to the schedule, South Florida's season is over. (15) |
 | 11. Temple | 1-6 | Maybe Temple and South Florida can play one another? Just an idea, because like USF, the Owls' season is over unless a new game is added to the schedule. (14) |
 | 10. Utah State | 1-4 | Option teams aren't fun to play! Air Force ran over Utah State 35-7 last week, and now the Aggies will finish their season with No. 18 Colorado State in The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week. (13) |
 | 9. Northern Illinois | 0-5 | The Huskies hung around with Toledo for a while but fell short 41-24. This week they finish the season with Eastern Michigan in a game that likely would have been our game of the week had the Eagles not won last week. Oh well, no regrets. (11) |
 | 8. Arizona | 0-4 | Arizona took a 13-0 lead on Colorado before giving up 24 straight to lose 24-13. The Wildcats have one final shot at victory this weekend against rival Arizona State. (9) |
 | 7. Vanderbilt | 0-8 | Vanderbilt's game against Georgia was postponed last week and is tentatively scheduled to be made up on Dec. 19. Before that game, the Commies will face Tennessee on Saturday. Full disclosure: I was going to make it The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week, but I worry about its possible cancellation. Still, I want you to know it could have been. (8) |
 | 6. FIU | 0-5 | If the Panthers season is over -- and there are no games on the schedule right now -- then they'll have finished the year with more canceled games than games played. I feel like there's got to be a reward for that. Like, is there a bowl game out there willing to extend an invite? (7) |
 | 5. ULM | 0-10 | The Warhawks fired coach Matt Viator this weekend after a 48-15 loss to Arkansas State. They're off this weekend but have one more chance to pick up a win against Troy on Dec. 17. (6) |
 | 4. Kansas | 0-9 | The Jayhawks came so close against Texas Tech, losing 16-13. This week they finish the regular season with Texas. How perfectly Texas would it be to be rebuffed by Urban Meyer and then immediately lose to Kansas a week after putting up 69 points against Kansas State? (4) |
 | 3. UNLV | 0-5 | UNLV QB Max Gilliam publicly apologized for eating sushi off a nude model while on a yacht on a reality show. And that's the most exciting thing to happen to UNLV football this season. Unless they beat Hawaii this weekend. If that happens, well, then the sushi's on me. Well, not on me on me. I wouldn't want to get anybody in trouble. (5) |
 | 2. Bowling Green | 0-5 | OK, so that wasn't great, Falcons. Losing to Akron is one thing; getting blitzed 31-3 is another. You have one last chance this weekend against Miami (Ohio), or it's The Bottom 25 Playoff for you. (2) |
 | 1. UMass | 0-4 | Is UMass at an advantage getting to sit at home and prepare for The Bottom 25 Playoff while other suitors are still playing? Possibly! (1) |
No Longer Ranked: Nebraska (24), Penn State (22), Eastern Michigan (17), Utah (16), Cal (12)
