Now that the 2024 regular season is over, several teams are hoping that they have done enough to earn a chance at winning college football's most illustrious prize. Fates hang in the balance as a secretive selection process makes its final cuts and decides which 12 teams will battle it out with glory on the line behind closed doors
I'm speaking, of course, of the Bottom 25 championship. For a 12th year in a row, CBS Sports will crown the absolute worst (as always, worst is a sincere compliment in this case) team in college football. But before one team ascends to the porcelain throne, we have a final set of rankings.
Kent State is in prime position to repeat and become the first back-to-back Bottom 25 champion since UTEP in 2017-18. But there are a few programs primed to give the Golden Flashes a run for their money.
Arizona probably isn't a contender, though the Wildcats do deserve a special mention as a new Power Four addition in the final full set of Bottom 25 rankings. Great work, Arizona.
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Purdue is one Power Four program that could certainly make a deep run in the Bottom 25 Playoffs, a rare instance for a school that plays in a conference with the resources and visibility of the Big Ten. Southern Miss and Kennesaw State are also strong contenders to unseat the Golden Flashes.
It should be a competitive field of futile teams. Before the playoff commences, here's how the final Bottom 25 of the year stacks up.
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Bottom 25 rankings
The illustrious Tom Fornelli created the formula that we still use to generate the Bottom 25, but he has since passed on his writing duties. To be clear, the rankings are based on a series of calculations, but the quips are entirely man-made.
The Bottom 25
| Team | Rank | Record | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25. Air Force | 5-7 | Do not let this ranking distract you from the fact that Air Force has been one of the hottest teams in the nation over the past month. After a 1-7 start, the Falcons finally got their stuff together and ripped off four straight wins to end the regular season. It wasn't enough to get to a bowl, but it did salvage an otherwise disastrous season. (Last week: 20) | |
| 24. Arizona | 4-8 | Sticking by Brent Brennan after just 10 months makes sense, but that doesn't erase the fact that this was an awful year for the Wildcats. They went out sad in Week 14 with a 49-7 loss to Arizona State, which marked their sixth double-digit loss in Big 12 play. Now they're probably going to lose star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan to the NFL. Brennan needs a big offseason to get things right. (NR) | |
| 23. Central Michigan | 4-8 | Central Michigan is officially entering a new era, and bolstering the already tremendous number of Group of Five coaching vacancies. Jim McElwain's tenure ended with a 24-16 loss to Northern Illinois. With no postseason hopes, the Chippewas now turn their eyes toward the future. (25) | |
| 22. UAB | 3-9 | If you ever get impostor syndrome, just remember: Trent Dilfer is getting another year with UAB after amassing just seven wins in two seasons at a once-proud Group of Five institution. There was a time, not long ago, where the absolute lowest bar for UAB was a bowl game. You can do anything you set your mind to. (23) | |
| 21. Akron | 4-8 | Talk about showing some fight down the stretch. Akron followed its massive Kent State win with a huge upset victory over Toledo in Week 14. Coach Joe Moorhead matched his win total from each of the past two seasons in the process. That's progress. (15) | |
| 20. Nevada | 3-10 | The rare 3-10 season is officially in the books. The Wolf Pack ended the year on a six-game losing streak to ensure that they'd finish with a very unique record. Memorable, for all the wrong reasons. (22) | |
| 19. FAU | 3-9 | FAU got the patented "Fired Coach Bump," it just took a while to set in. The Owls went out on a high note by putting 63 points on Tulsa. Scoring hasn't been a problem this year, so it's good that the Golden Hurricanes were held to just 16 points of their own. (12) | |
| 18. Georgia State | 3-9 | The most impressive part about Georgia State's season is that two of its three wins came against Vanderbilt and Texas State. The Commodores beat Alabama, while Texas State was seen as a preseason dark horse to represent the Group of Five in the College Football Playoff. This also means that Georgia State has a transitive win over Alabama. I'd call that a successful year. (21) | |
| 17. Oklahoma State | 3-9 | Things have, quite literally, never been this bad for coach Mike Gundy. Oklahoma State's 52-0 loss to Colorado in Week 14 ensured that Oklahoma State finished winless in conference play under Gundy for the first time. Three wins is also its fewest in a single season under Gundy. (24) | |
| 16. Stanford | 3-9 | Not many positives to pull from Troy Taylor's second year with the Cardinal. They finished the regular season ranked 16th in total offense (323.9 yards per game) and total defense (413.5 ypg). Yet somehow Stanford still beat Syracuse and Louisville. College football. (17) | |
| 15. Mississippi State | 2-10 | Mississippi State had its chances to absolutely tank Ole Miss' season in the Egg Bowl, but the Bulldogs ultimately fell short. It was a respectable first year for coach Jeff Lebby, in spite of what the final record may indicate. The Bulldogs battled the likes of Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee and the Rebels through a very difficult schedule. A good offseason could get them to a bowl next year. (16) | |
| 14. San Diego State | 3-9 | You wouldn't know it by watching San Diego State this year, but new coach Sean Lewis was a highly regarded offensive mind before taking his new job. So it's concerning that the Aztecs failed to score more than 20 points in seven of their games this year. Don't worry, though, because the defense was equally ineffective; San Diego State allowed a whopping 421.3 yards and 29.6 points per game. (18) | |
| 13. Wyoming | 3-9 | Wyoming quietly had a nice close to the 2024 season. After coming just five points short of a monumental upset against Boise State in Week 13, the Cowboys downed formerly ranked Washington State in their finale. Two of their three wins on the year came in the month of November. (7) | |
| 12. UTEP | 3-9 | UTEP can build on its first year under young coach Scotty Walden, especially since the Miners have some momentum after a 42-35 win against New Mexico State. All three of UTEP's victories came against Bottom 25 opponents, but it's still something for a school that was projected to finish ninth in the preseason Conference USA media poll. (6) | |
| 11. Temple | 3-9 | I would just like to take this opportunity to say that Temple hit an absolute home run by hiring K.C. Keeler to be its next coach. This seems like the absolute best-case scenario for the Owls. No matter what this season looked like, there's plenty of optimism for the future. (13) | |
| 10. Florida State | 2-10 | Florida State fumbled the ball eight times and lost five of those fumbles in its Week 14 loss to Florida. If that isn't a perfect metaphor for the Seminoles in 2024, I really don't know what is. FSU is now just the third FBS team since 1998 to win its conference and then finish last in the conference the following season. (14) | |
| 9. New Mexico State | 3-9 | Jerry Kill had a 17-11 record in his two years with the Aggies. Not counting Kill's 2022-23 seasons, New Mexico State had 11 total wins from 2018-24. Kill is a very underrated head coach. (11) | |
| 8. Middle Tennessee | 3-9 | Middle Tennessee capped a three-game losing streak to end the 2024 season with a 35-24 loss to FIU. FIU then fired coach Mike MacIntyre. Seems a little disrespectful to the Blue Raiders. (9) | |
| 7. Ball State | 3-9 | Ball State finished ahead of just Kent State in the final MAC standings. That really isn't company you want to be keeping, Cardinals. Whoever succeeds Mike Neu will have their work cut out for them in an increasingly competitive conference. (8) | |
| 6. Tulsa | 3-9 | The month of November was not kind to Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane lost each of their last four games by an average of 31.3 points per contest. They surrendered 126 total points in games against South Florida and fellow Bottom 25 resident FAU. Not an inspiring way to send things out. (10) | |
| 5. UMass | 2-10 | UMass didn't beat a single FBS opponent this season, but it did show some fight down the stretch. The Minutemen lost by just one point after taking Liberty to overtime on Nov. 16., hung strong for a half against Georgia a week later and then came six points short of upsetting a very good UConn team in the regular season finale. (5) | |
| 4. Kennesaw State | 2-10 | Kennesaw State's first FBS season went about how everyone expected. The Owls finished last in the Conference USA standings with a 2-6 record, but they did show the ability to compete in wins against FIU and -- especially -- Liberty. (4) | |
| 3. Purdue | 1-11 | Ryan Walters' tenure ended with a 66-0 loss to top rival Indiana in a game that was perfectly symbolic of the Walters era. The Boilermakers did play a really tough schedule, but they showed absolutely no interest in trying to make a splash. Purdue got outscored 261-17 in its five games against top-10 opponents. At least fans have the excitement of a coaching search to hold on to now. (3) | |
| 2. Southern Miss | 1-11 | Just how bad was Southern Miss this year? The Golden Eagles finished last in the Sun Belt in total offense (283.8 ypg), scoring offense (15.3 ppg) and scoring defense (37.8 ppg). Oh, and they were also second-to-last in total defense (449.2 ypg). (2) | |
| 1. Kent State | 0-12 | Kent State achieved perfection. We were all rooting for you, Golden Flashes, and you really didn't let us down. Granted, there was never really a doubt: Kent State lost by an average of 30.2 points this season. An extremely memorable campaign, for all the wrong reasons. We will always hold you near and dear to our hearts, 2024 Kent State. (1) |