College football rankings: Colorado State takes The Bottom 25 throne after blowout loss to Washington State
Tue, Sep 20, 2022
NCAAF News (AP)
Back in 2008, Washington and Washington State played what had to go down as the worst in-state rivalry game of all time. The matchup featured two teams with zero combined FBS wins, a mark so embarrassing that heady viewers took to calling the "Crapple Cup." It's a real shame Colorado and Colorado State aren't playing their semi-annual rivalry game this season because The Centennial Catastrophe could be a battle of futility for the ages.'
Things are off to a brutal start for Jay Norvell at Colorado State as the Rams lost a third straight game to open his tenure. Losing to Michigan and Washington State is fine, but dropping to Middle Tennessee by multiple scores? Yuck! That'll earn you the No. 1 spot. On the other side, perhaps in an even deeper hole, Karl Dorrell's Colorado is aimless and pointless. The Buffaloes lost by 31 points to Air Force, gave up a combined 87 to TCU and Minnesota and now have nine consecutive Pac-12 games to break out of the No. 3 slot.'
"I feel good about our attitude playing the game, we're just not very good at really playing it effectively," Dorrell said after the loss to Minnesota, one of the saddest football quotes of all time.'
The state of Colorado boasts the No. 127 and No. 129 offenses in college football. The scoring defenses aren't much better: No. 125 and 127. Colorado does not have a receiver with 10 catches. Colorado State averages 1.0 yards per carry. The best quarterback in the state -- by a mile -- plays for Air Force, an option offense. This is legendary stuff.'
As you may have noticed, Tom is out this week, but don't fret. As a fellow college football sicko, feel confident that I'm more than prepared for the challenge. Let's get started.'
The Bottom 25| Team | Rank | Record | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25. South Florida | 1-2 | South Florida was an interception and missed field goal away from beating Florida, but instead the Bulls drop into the Bottom 25. Life comes at you fast. A good showing this week against Louisville would help. (Last week: Not Ranked) | |
| 24. Louisiana Tech | 1-2 | Don't look now but journeyman quarterback Parker McNeil actually looks... kind of fun? Obviously not fun enough to keep the Bulldogs from losses to Clemson and Missouri, but don't expect Louisiana Tech to stay here long. (NR) | |
| 23. Northern Illinois | 1-2 | The Huskies rode seven one-score victories to a MAC championship last season. Three games into 2022, NIU already has two losses by 10 or fewer points. Regression to the mean remains undefeated. (NR) | |
| 22. Bowling Green | 1-2 | After losing in seven overtimes to FCS Eastern Kentucky, do you think the Falcons were going to be intimidated by a lousy single overtime? The shocking 34-31 upset over Marshall has the Falcons as the biggest riser of the week, and now means Notre Dame has a transitive loss to an FCS team. (8) | |
| 21. San Diego State | 1-2 | After losses to Arizona and Utah by a combined 46 points, the Aztecs become the second Mountain West title game participant to join the Bottom 25. SDSU's passing offense ranks behind both Army, Navy and -- most embarrassingly -- Iowa. (NR)' | |
| 20. Ohio | 1-2 | Back-to-back games against Penn State and Iowa State probably made falling into the Bottom 25 an inevitability. Thankfully, an FCS game this week means that the 187th consecutive team quarterbacked by the Rourke family should settle back in the "not bad" category. (NR) | |
| 19. Ball State | 1-2 | The Cardinals' No. 7 Bottom 25 ranking always felt unfair, and a 31-0 win over Murray State helped right the ship. A road trip against Georgia Southern next week will be a good test. (7) | |
| 18. Miami (Ohio) | 1-2 | The RedHawks were feisty in the first half of a 38-17 loss to Cincinnati, taking a 17-7 lead in the second quarter behind two touchdown passes from freshman Aveon Smith. The Bearcats pulled away, but the experience will only make Miami better. (25) | |
| 17. FIU | 1-1 | The Panthers beat a winless FCS team by one point, got blasted by four touchdowns against an otherwise winless Texas State and then had a bye. Luckily for FIU, getting some R & R was enough to push them three spots up the ranking. Hang the banner. (14) | |
| 16. Western Michigan | 1-2 | Western Michigan lost by three touchdowns to then-ranked Power Five teams and beat a Ball State team ranked ahead of them in the rankings. Where is justice? Of course, starting quarterback Jack Salopek throwing three interceptions against Pitt won't help. (NR) | |
| 15. Georgia Tech | 1-2 | Pack watch is officially descending upon Atlanta after the Yellow Jackets were blanked 42-0 by Ole Miss. The Rebs posted twice as many yards, first downs, yards per pass attempt and triple the yards per carry. A nonconference slate featuring Ole Miss, UCF and Georgia is certainly a decision. (NR) | |
| 14. UMass | 1-2 | The beauty of an independent schedule is that the Minutemen can schedule four of the bottom 11 teams in the country -- and three more teams that just left the Bottom 25! -- in one season. That's about the only beauty for UMass, a team that passes for 33 yards per game against FBS competition. (9) | |
| 13. UTEP | 1-2 | Any lingering good feelings from beating New Mexico State are gone after seven turnovers in a pathetic 27-10 effort against New Mexico. If it helps, Lobos quarterback Miles Kendrick played for the mighty Kansas Jayhawks, so there's no real shame in getting run out of the building. (13) | |
| 12. Charlotte | 1-3 | The 49ers looked like a real team again with the return of quarterback Chris Reynolds, who threw for 401 yards and five touchdowns in an upset of Georgia State. The only priority in a road trip to South Carolina this week should be covering Reynolds in bubble wrap. (4) | |
| 11. UConn | 1-3 | Playing Michigan doesn't look fun at all. Following it up with NC State and Fresno State will probably be equally as fun. (17) | |
| 10. ULM | 1-2 | The Warhawks picked off Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young twice! Pay no attention to anything else that happened! (24) | |
| 9. Georgia State | 0-3 | Close performances against South Carolina and North Carolina were enough to keep me intrigued. A close loss to Charlotte? Less so. Suddenly, the Sun Belt East doesn't look quite as fun. (12) | |
| 8. Akron | 1-2 | Akron has scored zero touchdowns and six total points against FBS competition so far. Running for 1.8 yards per carry might have something to do with that. A road trip to Liberty this week will probably only bring pain, but at least the MAC schedule is filled with Bottom 25 teams. (20) | |
| 7. Utah State | 1-2 | The Aggies had a week off to think about a four-touchdown loss to FCS Weber State. Unfortunately, UNLV -- Utah State's next opponent -- spent last week dropping 58 points on North Texas. That's not ideal. (10) | |
| 6. Buffalo | 0-3 | Credit to Buffalo as the Bulls did not surrender a lead to Sun Belt contender Coastal Carolina until the fourth quarter a week after losing a heartbreaker to Holy Cross on a Hail Mary. If nothing else, Maurice Linguist has some fighters. (11) | |
| 5. Navy | 0-2 | The Midshipmen lost to FCS Delaware got run out of the building against Memphis and now have a road trip to a surging East Carolina team. Air Force looking mortal for the first time against Wyoming is maybe the only good news of the season so far. (3) | |
| 4. Hawaii | 1-3 | Timmy Chang finally gets his first win on the board after a 10-point win over Duquesne. Now, Hawaii heads to play the undisputed Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week against New Mexico State. Jerry Kill vs. Timmy Chang. Beach vs. Desert. Feel the excitement! (1) | |
| 3. Colorado | 0-3 | We've officially reached ominous vote of confidence time in Boulder, Colorado, and not a second too soon. The Buffs are the worst team in the Power Five by a country mile, and probably won't win a game. (5) | |
| 2. New Mexico State | 0-4 | Nothing good can come from a road trip to Camp Randall, and nothing did in a 59-point loss. Now that the Power Five slate is done, New Mexico State gets two consecutive Bottom 25 opponents to try and grow their stock. (6)' | |
| 1. Colorado State | 0-3 | Last place in the country feels a little unfair, but numbers don't lie. The Rams have lost their three games by a combined 123-33. Up next is Sacramento State. (2) |
No longer ranked: No. 23 Boston College, No. 22 Middle Tennessee, No. 21 Central Michigan, No. 19 Eastern Michigan, No. 18 Rice, No. 16 Army, No. 15 Kent State
