The 2024 college football season rolls on, and so does the Bottom 25. After a fiery Week 1 debut that saw five Power Four teams rank among the nation's worst -- and worst is meant as an endearing term, in this instance -- this week's Bottom 25 is a bit lighter on college football's upper crust.
But it's not totally without. ACC competitor Clemson was able to lift itself out with a dominant 66-10 win against Appalachian State, but Florida State is still in the rankings amid its 0-2 start to what was once a promising 2024 campaign. At No. 25 in the Bottom 25, the Seminoles could escape being ranked in this space next week if they can win Saturday's game vs. Memphis, FSU coach Mike Norvell's former team.
Though we have to bid adieu to Texas A&M for now, Texas Tech is doing its part to ensure that the Lone Star State is well-represented among the Bottom 25. The Red Raiders have, somehow, steadily regressed in three years under coach Joey McGuire. Their one win thus far came by one point against an Abilene Christian team that went 5-6 at the FCS level last season.
If Texas Tech was hoping to make a statement about its ability to threaten other Big 12 schools, it has fallen hopelessly flat thus far.
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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. Florida State | 0-2 | Florida State had a bye in Week 2, so at least it couldn't lose again. After a rather disastrous start to the season, the Seminoles now have to turn their attention to a potential College Football Playoff team when they face Memphis, Mike Norvell's former team. It never gets easier. (Last week: 19) | |
| 24. Air Force | 1-1 | Remember when Air Force was an AP Top 25 team last year? Now the Falcons are headed in another direction, thanks to a 2-6 skid in their last eight games. Things hit a new low when they lost to San Jose State for the first time ever. Troy Calhoun is a great coach so it's hard to see this trend continuing. (NR) | |
| 23. Texas Tech | 1-1 | The Joey McGuire honeymoon period is 6-feet under at this point. He may recruit well, and he's a Texas football icon, but the actual on-field results aren't backing any of that up. After a thrilling overtime victory against mighty Abilene Christian in Week 1, the Red Raiders got thrashed by Washington State last week. (NR) | |
| 22. Buffalo | 1-1 | It hasn't been an awful season for Buffalo thus far. The Bulls lost to Missouri by just 38 points and then followed that with a 17-point win against Lafayette. A huge Bottom 25 matchup against UMass provides Buffalo an opportunity to keep the good vibes rolling. (NR) | |
| 21. Nevada | 1-2 | Nevada's almost-win against SMU in Week 0 and actual win against Troy in Week 1 are both looking worse as the season grinds on. Losing to Georgia Southern doesn't help optics. This weekend's game against Minnesota might go to the first team to break 17 points. (NR) | |
| 20. Appalachian State | 1-1 | Appalachian State made Clemson's offense look elite. That's perhaps the most scathing commentary I'll provide all year. Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik missed on just two of his passes and tossed five touchdowns in the 66-10 win. Maybe the 'Neers can bounce back against East Carolina (NR) | |
| 19. Old Dominion | 0-2 | If Old Dominion had any sort of offense, the Monarchs might be a playoff team. Alright, that might be a slight exaggeration, but ODU is just a couple plays away from being 2-0. It had a chance to upset South Carolina in Week 1 but had what could have been a game-winning drive cut short by an interception. Then last week against East Carolina, the Monarchs couldn't capitalize off of four (4!) Jake Garcia INTs in a 20-14 loss. (NR) | |
| 18. Georgia State | 1-1 | A 24-21 win against FCS Chattanooga was enough to slightly improve Georgia State's standing, but the Panthers are a long way away from climbing out of the Bottom 25. What looked like a favorable Week 3 game against Vanderbilt has turned into another likely setback. The Commodores are a wagon this year, folks. (17) | |
| 17. New Mexico State | 1-1 | New Mexico State may be a newcomer to this week's rankings, but the Aggies are a lot further ahead than I anticipated at this point. They led Liberty, a potential CFP team, for over three quarters before letting things slip away late in a 30-24 loss. We'll see if they can actually hold on against Fresno State (NR). | |
| 16. Colorado State | 1-1 | Colorado State rebounded big time last week with a 38-17 win against Northern Colorado. Next on the docket is non-directional Colorado, with superiority of the state on the line. The Buffaloes are reeling after getting run out of the stadium against Nebraska and still don't have an offensive line, so this is a Prime opportunity for the Rams to continue their ascent. (2) | |
| 15. Florida Atlantic | 0-2 | The Tom Herman experiment isn't working out. He's now 4-10 through his first 14 games with the Owls. His offense -- and remember, Herman came up through the coaching ranks as an offensive coordinator -- has scored a whopping 17 points through the first two games in 2024. (NR) | |
| 14. Western Kentucky | 1-1 | See what happens when you don't play Alabama? The Hilltoppers blanked Eastern Kentucky 31-0 to earn their first win of 2024. Next up is the Bottom 25 Game of the Week against Middle Tennessee, with a potential ticket out of the rankings on the line. (1) | |
| 13. UMass | 0-2 | UMass has lost its first two games by an average of 14.5 points. Since wins may be hard to come by for the Minutemen this year, I've decided to track how many times UMass is able to cut a final deficit to one score. (22) | |
| 12. Charlotte | 0-2 | Charlotte actually put up a decent fight against North Carolina and had the game within one possession early in the third quarter before the Tar Heels pulled away. Gardner-Webb in Week 3 should be a get-right game for the 49ers. (12) | |
| 11. Troy | 0-2 | Turns out it's pretty devastating to lose a coach like Jon Sumrall. The Trojans have already matched their loss total from each of the past two years, and that's before this Saturday's game against Iowa! (NR) | |
| 10. UTEP | 0-2 | Last week I wrote that Scotty Walden was an upside swing for UTEP, and that it may take some time for the program to see any meaningful results. Well, there wasn't much upside to be found in a 27-24 loss to Southern Utah. Especially since the Miners blew a 17-6 halftime lead and bungled a chance to win in overtime. (3) | |
| 9. Middle Tennessee | 1-1 | Derek Mason has his hands full with this rebuild. The Blue Raiders weren't going to be competitive against No. 5 Ole Miss, but the fact that they only beat Tennessee Tech by a touchdown in their season opener is concerning. (NR) | |
| 8. Kennesaw State | 0-2 | No first-year FBS bump for the Owls, it seems. They've lost their first two games since making the jump from the FCS by a combined score of 62-26. It looks like the real measuring stick will be when they host UT Martin on Sept. 28. (25) | |
| 7. New Mexico | 0-2 | New Mexico plummeted on its bye week for reasons that are known only to arithmetic. The Lobos haven't looked bad through their 0-2 start, even if that includes a loss to FCS Montana State. Bronco Mendenhall could get a signature win Saturday against Auburn. Teams from New Mexico are Hugh Freeze's Achilles' heel after all. (14) | |
| 6. Temple | 0-2 | Temple has more turnovers (9) than offensive touchdowns (1) through two games. At the rate things are going, that might remain a constant throughout the season. We will certainly keep you updated on any progress (10) | |
| 5. Jacksonville State | 0-2 | Jacksonville State is currently having the season most people thought it would last year as it adjusted to the FBS level. Any leftover magic from those nine wins in 2023 is completely exhausted. Saturday's game at Eastern Michigan probably won't provide much reprieve. (21) | |
| 4. Kent State | 0-2 | Kent State is gunning for that top spot. After winning the Bottom 25 championship a year ago, the Golden Flashes are in great shape for a two-peat, an inglorious feat that hasn't been achieved since UTEP went back-to-back in 2017-18. (9) | |
| 3. Western Michigan | 0-2 | If Western Michigan was auditioning for the Big Ten ahead of the seemingly inevitable next wave of conference realignment, things really could have gone better. The Broncos lost to Wisconsin and Ohio State by a combined score of 84-14. An upcoming game against Bethune-Cookman should go better. (NR) | |
| 2. Wyoming | 0-2 | It's frankly shocking to see the Cowboys fall this low. Turns out that 48-7 loss to Arizona State may have been a bad omen. Wyoming followed that up by falling 17-13 to FCS Idaho. Idaho is a great team, and the Vandals pushed Oregon in Week 1, but it's hard to justify that result. (4) | |
| 1. Akron | 0-2 | In a similar fashion to Western Michigan, Akron scheduled a couple Big Ten teams to start the year and had rather predictable results. At least the Zips were able to put six points on the board against Ohio State. The bad news for Akron is that it has to play its third Power Four team in four weeks when it travels to South Carolina on Sept. 21. (5) |