Anybody can put together a ranking of the 25 best teams in the country, but it takes a true college football fan to compile a list of the 25 worst teams. Every Tuesday of the regular season the Eye On College Football's Tom Fornelli will do just that.
We have a lot of changes in The Bottom 25 this week, as ten new teams enter the fray and ten others say goodbye for now. That's just how volatile the world of bad football can be sometimes. Especially this early in the season when the sample size of the data I use (that's right, if this is your first time reading The Bottom 25, this isn't based on my opinion, but math) when one narrow win or a blowout loss changes things drastically.
Hell, as a couple of teams learned this week, just taking a week off this yearly in the year can impact your ranking as other teams around you jockey for position.
But before we get to the rankings, a quick reminder for you, the reader, on how all of this works.
THINGS YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOUT THE FORMULA
-- It weighs wins and losses more than anything. Not only that you win or lose, but who you won/lost against and how much you won/lost by.
-- It does not care about anything any of these teams have ever done in previous years, or where the media has them ranked to start the season. Every single team has a clean slate. At the beginning of the season Florida State is just as good as New Mexico State. Actual results on the field trump everything.
-- Things are going to be strange early due to the limited sample size. If you're 0-1 and you lost by a significant amount of points in your opener, the formula doesn't care who you are, or what conference you play in, you're probably going to be ranked here.
THINGS I NEED TO REMEMBER ABOUT THE FORMULA
-- Just about everybody has skipped past your explanation of the formula and seen that their favorite team is ranked here and is now currently unleashing a bunch of f-bombs at you in the comments below and on Twitter (last week it was Arkansas fans). Don't worry about it, though, because if they were smart enough to read the explanation above they'd be smart enough to not root for a team that's ranked in The Bottom 25.
And now, the best of the worst after two weeks of college football.
25. Georgia State 1-1 (Last week: Unranked)
Average Score: 34.5-35.5
Best Win: 38-37 vs. Abilene Christian
Worst Loss: 34-31 vs New Mexico State
This Week: vs. Air Force
A staple in last season's rankings, Georgia State managed to avoid The Bottom 25 last week thanks to a one-point win over Abilene Christian, but it makes its triumphant return after a three-point loss to a New Mexico State team that's won three games the last two seasons combined. Just trust me when I say that this should be Georgia State's lowest ranking the rest of the season.
24. Purdue 1-1 (UR)
Average Score: 30.0-36.0
Best Win: 43-34 vs. Western Michigan
Worst Loss: 38-17 vs. Central Michigan
This Week: vs. Notre Dame in Indianapolis
You scheduled the wrong directional school from Michigan, Purdue! Always go with Eastern Michigan, guys. Always. Through two games on the season the Boilermakers may be 1-1 but both their offense (No. 112) and defense (No. 101) have been terrible on a yards per play basis. Which is part of the reason it just lost at home by 21 points to a directional school from the MAC.
23. Bowling Green 1-1 (2)
Average Score: 39.5-33
Best Win: 48-7 vs. VMI
Worst Loss: 49-31 at Western Kentucky
This Week: vs. Indiana
Bowling Green beats up on an FCS opponent this week and drops all the way from No. 2 in the rankings to No. 23, barely hanging on to relevance. Normally a win over an FCS school wouldn't have this large of an impact, but again, it's early in the season and the Falcons point differential after a 41-point win helped them out a bit.
22. UNLV 1-1 (9)
Average Score: 13.0-35.0
Best Win: 13-12 vs. Northern Colorado
Worst Loss: 58-13 at Arizona
This Week: vs. Northern Illinois
Sometimes I get mad at myself for making wins and losses so important in my formula, because things like UNLV falling from No. 9 to No. 22 thanks to a one-point win over Northern Colorado happen. Stupid small sample sizes.
21. Southern Mississippi 1-1 (6)
Average Score: 13.0-34.5
Best Win: 26-20 vs. Alcorn State
Worst Loss: 49-0 at Mississippi State
This Week: at Alabama
Basically everything I just wrote about UNLV could be applied to Southern Mississippi right here. The good news for the Eagles is that Alabama will go a long way to helping make sure they creep back toward the top ten next week.
20. Eastern Michigan 1-1 (UR)
Average Score: 15.5-46.5
Best Win: 31-28 vs. Morgan State
Worst Loss: 65-0 at Florida
This Week: at Old Dominion
Welcome back to the rankings, Eastern Michigan. Your narrow win over Morgan State to open the season delayed our reunion, but Florida was kind enough to bring us back together. Considering you don't have another home game until Oct. 11, and that you're Eastern Michigan, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to catch up these next 14 weeks or so.
19. Hawaii 0-2 (UR)
Average Score: 23.0-27.5
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 38-30 vs. Oregon State
This Week: vs. Northern Iowa
This feels a lot like last season for Hawaii in these rankings. If you weren't around, the Warriors were winless until the final game of the season, and were a regular in my rankings. It's just it didn't feel like they belonged there because they were playing so much better than their record. This year they've played both Washington and Oregon State and have lost by a combined nine points, but they're 0-2, so here we are.
18. UCF 0-1 (UR)
Average Score: 24.0-26.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 26-24 vs. Penn State
This Week: at Missouri
UCF is one of those teams I mentioned that suffered simply for taking the week off. The Knights sat winless while other teams beat FCS teams to improve their standing in the rankings, and UCF paid the price for it. The Knights may still be ranked next week after playing Missouri, but don't expect them to hang around for long.
17. UConn 1-1 (4)
Average Score: 14.5-25.5
Best Win: 19-16 vs. Stony Brook
Worst Loss: 35-10 vs. BYU
This Week: vs. Boise State
Unlike UCF, you can expect UConn to stick around. There's a reason that the Huskies are the highest-ranked team with a win, and it's because that win was a 19-16 struggle against Stony Brook.
16. Western Michigan 0-1 (UR)
Average Score: 34.0-43.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 43-34 at Purdue
This Week: at Idaho
Western Michigan jumps into the rankings even though it didn't play this week, but unlike UCF, it probably deserves to be here. After all, it only has one loss, but that loss is to Purdue. By double-digits.
15. Northwestern 0-2 (UR)
Average Score: 19.5-27.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 31-24 vs. Cal
This Week: vs. Western Illinois
There's nothing in the union handbook for this, is there? Neither of Northwestern's losses were terrible, but it's 0-2, and if you're 0-2 this early in the season you're going to be ranked highly here. But it's not just sample size that has Northwestern here, as the Wildcats really have looked bad for the majority of the first 120 minutes of football they've played so far.
14. Tulane 0-2 (UR)
Average Score: 26.0-38.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 38-31 at Tulsa (2OT)
This Week: vs. SE Louisiana
Tulane is not following its 2013 season the way it had hoped to, is it? The loss to Georgia Tech isn't a horrible thing, but that double-overtime loss to Tulsa looks a bit worse after seeing what the Sooners did to the Golden Hurricanes, doesn't it?
13. Iowa State 0-2 (12)
Average Score: 21.0-33.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 34-14 vs. North Dakota State
This Week: at Iowa
Iowa State is the most stable team in the rankings this week, as it dropped only a spot. And I have to give the Cyclones credit, because I thought that this was a truly terrible team that had absolutely no shot in hell against Kansas State last week, and it played well in a four-point loss. Maybe, just maybe, Paul Rhoads will get this team out of these rankings. I know he'd be so proud if he did.
12. Washington State 0-2 (UR)
Average Score: 25.5-32.5
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 24-13 at Nevada
This Week: vs. Portland State
Hey, uh, Mike Leach? Yeah, your third season at a school is supposed to be the season when you take that step forward, not lose your first two games of the season to Rutgers and Nevada. I've now watched this team play twice, and while it should win this week, I have a very hard time seeing the Cougars managing to make it to a bowl game this year.
11. Idaho 0-1 (UR)
Average Score: 31.0-38.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 38-31 at Louisiana-Monroe
This Week: vs. Western Michigan
Idaho wasn't ranked last week, but in Idaho's defense, it hadn't played a game yet. That changed this week, and now it's here after a narrow loss to Louisiana-Monroe. I don't think that loss deserves to be so close to the top ten, but again, sample size.
10. UMass 0-2 (14)
Average Score: 22.5-35.5
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 30-7 vs. Boston College
This Week: at Vanderbilt
Hey, all credit to the Minutemen. After getting beat up by Boston College to open the season, they actually had an 11-point lead against Colorado in the third quarter. And then they gave up 21 unanswered points, truly showing their Bottom 25 top 10 prowess.
9. New Mexico 0-2 (23)
Average Score: 23.5-44.5
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 58-23 vs. Arizona State
This Week: No game
New Mexico jumps into the top 10 thanks to a 35-point loss against Arizona State. The Lobos hung tough for as long as they could, and actually closed the gap to 29-21 late in the first half, but things quickly fell apart after that.
8. Kent State 0-2 (22)
Average Score: 13.5-20.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 23-13 vs. South Alabama
This Week: at Ohio State
I'm of the opinion that Kent State is ranked a bit too high. I'm just not sure that a team that's lost two games by a combined 13 points truly deserves the honor of being a top 10 team. The Flashes just haven't earned it. Prove it to me against Ohio State, fellas. Prove to me you deserve this. That you want this.
7. Rice 0-1 (18)
Average Score: 17.0-48.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 48-17 at Notre Dame
This Week: at Texas A&M
When you lose your opener by 31 points and then take the week off you're basically guaranteed to fly up the rankings quite a bit, so that's a pretty smooth scheduling trick, Rice. I respect it. And scheduling Texas A&M next? This is a team that knows where it wants to be and is doing everything it can to get there.
6. FAU 0-2 (13)
Average Score: 3.5-48.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 55-7 at Nebraska
This Week: vs. Tulsa
Would you look at that average score? The only thing keeping FAU from rocketing to the top three, and maybe even the top spot, is that both of their opponents (Nebraska, Alabama) are 2-0 on the season, helping FAU's SOS. A loss to Tulsa this week, though? Well that will make a statement the entire world will hear.
5. Fresno State 0-2 (20)
Average Score: 20.0-55.5
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 59-27 at Utah
This Week: vs. Nebraska
Where have you gone, Derek Carr? Seriously, Oakland isn't that long of a drive from Fresno. Fresno is a top five team, and it's a top five team largely thanks to its scheduling practices. Starting your season against USC, Utah and Nebraska is a great way to ensure a good start to your Bottom 25 season.
4. Troy 0-2 (3)
Average Score: 13.5-41.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 48-10 at UAB
This Week: vs. Abilene Christian
Troy drops a spot in the rankings this week even though it lost last week, but it just played a little too well in that 34-17 loss to Duke. That's the kind of game you need to make sure you get blown out in if you want to climb higher. You can't hang around and kind of make a game of it.
3. Miami (OH) 0-2 (19)
Average Score: 18.5-29.5
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 17-10 vs. Eastern Kentucky
This Week: at Michigan
Miami finished last season as my top-ranked team, and it made a statement on Saturday. The RedHawks said that "if you want our title, you're going to have to come and take it from us." And then it laid out an intimidating loss to Eastern Kentucky to prove it.
2. Vanderbilt 0-2 (5)
Average Score: 5.0-39.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 37-7 vs. Temple
This Week: vs. UMass
"Oh man, that's a bad loss to Temple, but Vanderbilt can't really be that bad again this quickly, can it?" wondered the author to himself last week before Vandy went out and got killed 41-3 by Ole Miss at home. "Oh, maybe it can be," he said to himself then. And this week Vandy will square off against UMass in our BOTTOM 25 GAME OF THE WEEK. A top 10 matchup, baby!
1. SMU 0-2 (15)
Average Score: 3.0-44.0
Best Win: None
Worst Loss: 43-6 at North Texas
This Week: No game
The Mustangs just lost to North Texas 43-6, a week after North Texas lost to Texas 38-7 and a week before Texas lost to BYU 41-7. So while SMU doesn't play BYU this season, using the power of math we know that if it did it would lose by 102 points. So let's say 105-3. That would be awesome. Too bad June Jones wouldn't be around to see it. Seriously, Mustangs, getting outscored 88-6 in your first two games of the season and then going straight to the interim coach is a power move. Your intentions are clear. You're going for it all this year.
No Longer Ranked: South Carolina, Arkansas, Colorado, Wake Forest, Louisiana Tech, Houston, Utah State, North Texas, Appalachian State, FIU
