College football rankings: Thanks to Cal, Colorado and Arizona, The Bottom 25 has a Pac-12 flavor

There are only five Power Five schools in The Bottom 25, and three of them are from the Pac-12

By Tom Fornelli

Oct 12, 2021 at 1:22 pm ET • 7 min read

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The Pac-12 does not receive a lot of respect from the college football nation. In this week's AP Top 25 Poll and Coaches Poll, you'll find only two Pac-12 teams. There's Oregon up there in the top 10, hanging on with one hand while trying not to drop the league's College Football Playoff hopes with the other. As you get further down, you'll find a 5-1 Arizona State team closer to No. 20 than you'd typically find a Power Five team with such a record at this point in the season. It's usually an area reserved for the Group of Five.

These polls do not respect our nation's western residents. The Bottom 25 does, though. Yes, there are only five Power Five schools ranked in our poll this week, and three Pac-12 teams call The Bottom 25 home. And The Bottom 25 is proud to have them. We hold no judgment here. The Bottom 25 understands that every game must have a winner and a loser, and The Bottom 25 does not shun the loser for fulfilling a role.

So, welcome, Pac-12. Take off your Birkenstocks and stay awhile.

The Bottom 25

Rank	Record	Breakdown
25. Bowling Green	2-4	I had thought we might lose Bowling Green for the season after they'd won two straight and had Akron and an entire MAC schedule awaiting, but the Falcons couldn't stand the thought of being without us. They lost to No. 9 Akron 35-20 this week and returned to our happy family. This week they'll be on the road to take on one of the MAC's pleasant surprises, Northern Illinois. (Last Week: Not Ranked)
24. Tulsa	2-4	I don't normally gloat publicly, but I received a rather lengthy and angry email from a Memphis fan a few weeks ago. They were angry with me because I had said on the Cover 3 Podcast that even though they were 3-0 at the time, Memphis was the fifth-best team in the AAC at best. Well, following its 35-29 loss to Tulsa this week, the Tigers have lost three straight and are 0-2 in the conference. Fifth-best might have been too optimistic. Anyway, nice job making me look smart, Tulsa. Good luck this weekend against No. 21 South Florida. (12)
23. Cal	1-4	Cal had the weekend off but will return to action on Friday night against one of the Pac-12 ranked teams in Oregon. If Cal wins, it's proof that The Bottom 25 is the only true poll we need. (24)
22. Georgia Southern	2-4	The Eagles continue to struggle against any FBS team that isn't ranked in The Bottom 25, falling to Troy 27-24 this weekend. This week, there's a quick turnaround as they'll be on the road to face South Alabama on Thursday night. (25)
21. South Florida	1-4	South Florida is one of those sneaky not-terrible teams, which is a thing I just invented. What I mean is that the Bulls certainly aren't good, but their four losses have come to NC State, Florida, BYU and SMU. While they're not about to run roughshod through the rest of the schedule, there could be a few more wins in here than you realize because my rankings don't hate them as much as you'd think. Maybe the Bulls can get a win this week at home against No. 24 Tulsa? (15)
20. Colorado	1-4	Colorado took the weekend off to give itself extra time to prepare for its showdown with No. 8 Arizona. (14)
19. Navy	1-4	Navy has turned a corner. It's still only 1-4 after losing to SMU, but after a terrible start to the season, the Midshipmen hung tough with a Houston team that seems pretty good, beat UCF, and then put a real scare into SMU over the weekend. This Thursday, they have a date with that Memphis team I was just telling you about. (17)
18. Old Dominion	1-5	I haven't seen Old Dominion play a snap this season, so it's hard for me to offer a reliable opinion. That said, my numbers are not high on the Monarchs, and I wouldn't be shocked to see a potential Bottom 25 playoff push. This week the Monarchs host Western Kentucky. (20)
17. New Mexico	2-4	Conference play isn't treating the Lobos well. After a 31-7 loss to San Diego State on Saturday, New Mexico has been outscored 69-17 in two conference games. Their third is this weekend against Colorado State. (23)
16. North Texas	1-4	I have multiple friends in this industry who went to North Texas, and none have ever commented on me constantly referring to the team as the Not-So-Mean Green. Should I be hurt they aren't reading? They don't have to read every week; they just have to read once! The Not-So-Mean Green are always here! (22)
15. Rice	2-3	The Owls had the weekend off, and let's hope it didn't slow their momentum. They look to keep their winning streak alive this weekend against UTSA. (13)
14. Tulane	1-5	The best logo in sports continues to struggle. Last week, Tulane fell to Houston 40-22 and will have this weekend off before returning to action on the road against SMU. (18)
13. ULM	2-3	How is a 2-3 team ranked this low in The Bottom 25? Well, the Warhawks two wins against Jackson State and Troy came by 18 points combined. Their three losses have come by 122 points. That's the long and short of it! What will the final score of this week's game against Liberty look like? (NR)
12. Vanderbilt	2-4	The Commodores are 0-2 in SEC play so far, and they've been outscored 104-0. Granted, the two games were against Georgia and Florida, but still, that's not a great start. Here's hoping the Commies can get on the scoreboard against South Carolina this week. (21)
11. FIU	1-5	The Panthers extended their losing streak to five games with a 45-33 loss to Charlotte. They'll spend the weekend licking their wounds before returning to action against Western Kentucky next week. (10)
10. Southern Miss	1-5	Southern Miss has perfected the art of being bad but not looking terrible in the process. A 12-point loss here, a five-point loss there, with the occasional destruction by Alabama mixed in. This week the Golden Eagles square off against UAB. (9)
9. Akron	2-4	Raise your hand if you thought Ohio would be the only MAC team with fewer than two wins by mid-October. The Zips picked up a big win over Bowling Green to rise from No. 3 and look to start a winning streak against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday. (3)
8. Arizona	0-5	The world is just piling on Arizona now. The Wildcats were feisty in a 34-16 loss to UCLA, but it's a loss all the same. It also cost them their starting quarterback, as Arizona announced Jordan McCloud will miss the rest of the season. Not the news you want to hear just before a road trip to face No. 20 Colorado in THE BOTTOM 25 GAME OF THE CENTURY OF THE WEEK. (11)
7. Ohio	1-5	Listen, I understand that the MAC is a random number generator night lighting as a football conference, but Ohio has always been the one program with some stability! I have not had an easy time wrapping my head around the Bobcats playing as poorly as they have. Maybe they can snap out of it at Buffalo this weekend. (8)
6. Arkansas State	1-5	All right, time for a confession. I had completely forgotten that Butch Jones was coaching at Arkansas State until its third game of the season against Washington. I tuned in to see if the Huskies would finally look competent for the first time this season that night and was shocked to see Jones on the Arkansas State sideline. There, my greatest shame is out there for the world to see. As for the Red Wolves, they're off this weekend. (7)
5. New Mexico State	1-6	As I wrote last week, this is an Aggies team that can score points, and it did so again against Nevada. The problem is that the Aggies stopped at 28 and let Nevada get to 55. Still, this team is feisty, and it'll have this weekend off before a rematch against Hawaii. (6)
4. UNLV	0-5	The Rebels had the week off and will face Utah State this week. (5)
3. UMass	1-5	The Minuteboys became Minutemen over the weekend, beating UConn 27-13. Their reward for winning The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Millennium is a weekend off before returning to action against Florida State. (1)
2. Kansas	1-4	The Jayhawks had the week off and moved from No. 4 to No. 2. That's just how powerful their Bottom 25 brand is. Kansas is the SEC of The Bottom 25. It just sits there and gets respect. We'll see how much more respect it'll command after facing Texas Tech Saturday afternoon. (4)
1. UConn	0-7	Last week, UMass became the latest No. 1 team in The Bottom 25 to win and fall out of first. This week UConn looks to do the same. It might be UConn's last best chance at a win when they host Yale in the greatest rivalry the state of Connecticut has ever known. (2)