Anyone can rank the 25 best teams in college football, but here we rank the 25 worst after Week 1
By Will Backus
• 7 min read
The 2024 college football season has arrived, and with it comes CBS Sports' annual ranking of the Bottom 25 teams. For those unfamiliar, think of it as the bizarro version of the AP Top 25, honoring the absolute worst teams in college football. Worst is meant as an endearing term, in this instance.
Boy, is the Bottom 25's season debut a doozy. Teams have, at most, played two games to this point, which means that there's relatively limited data with which to work -- not unlike what poll voters consider when they're constructing their own rankings.
That also means this week's edition is filled with Power Four teams that disappointed in either Week 0 or 1, or both. , Florida State, LSU, Florida and Clemson all hold a spot in the Bottom 25. Will that last? Probably not. But it's nice to appreciate a good thing before it's gone.
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. Kennesaw State | 0-1 | Oh, Kennesaw State. Still a baby FBS program, taking its first steps into the world of bowl-aligned football. Jacksonville State proved last year that it's not always so bad to leap from the FCS levels, and a 28-16 loss to UTSA in the season opener is respectable enough for the Owls. Maybe there's hope. | |
| 24. Miami (OH) | 0-1 | What's worse than coming up seven points short of upsetting Northwestern? Coming up seven points short of upsetting Northwestern on a glorified practice field. But those views aregorgeous. Chin up, RedHawks, you've only got two straight games against Power Four competition to look forward to. | |
| 23. Rice | 0-1 | The good news is that Sam Houston State earned its first season-opening win as an FBS program. The bad news is that Rice lost by 20 points to a Sam Houston State program that won three games and boasted a season score differential of -74 points last year. | |
| 22. UMass | 0-1 | It's not fun to dig on UMass anymore. The Minutemen have one multi-win season since 2018, so they're a fixture in these rankings. And they, for some reason, play three SEC teams this year, so don't expect to see them go anywhere anytime soon. | |
| 21. Jacksonville State | 0-1 | Jacksonville State just can't shake Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers got the better of the Gameco*cks amid their dream 2023 season and just stuffed JSU in a locker to open the 2024 season, scoring at least 10 points in all four quarters and taking a 48-13 lead before removing their foot from the gas over the final 10 minutes. | |
| 20. Texas A&M | 0-1 | The Midnight Yell is just a group shout-therapy session and you can't convince me otherwise. How else can Texas A&M fans cope with an eternity of being slightly not good enough? After Week 1's 10-point loss to Notre Dame, Texas A&M is 0-6 against AP-ranked opponents since the start of the 2023 season. Four of those losses have come by one possession. | |
| 19. Florida State | 0-2 | People joked after Florida State's Week 0 loss to Georgia Tech that the Seminoles were the first team to ever have outright possession of 17th place in the ACC standings. Each week brings us closer to that being a permanent reality. Turns out, you can't sue your way into having a good football team. | |
| 18. LSU | 0-1 | LSU would be a perennial national championship contender if we just skipped the first week of the season. The Tigers are now 0-5 in season openers since 2020. Sure, all of those losses have come against power-conference competition, but is that really the standard you want to set in Baton Rouge? | |
| 17. Georgia State | 0-1 | Georgia State is the latest program to fall victim to the Georgia Tech buzzsaw. The Panthers only scored one touchdown in a 35-12 loss and allowed almost 500 yards of total offense. Look out for powerhouse Vanderbilt coming to town in a couple weeks. | |
| 16. West Virginia | 0-1 | Turns out Neal Brown's goatee doesn't hold special powers. Shame. Losing to Penn State in a season opener isn't awful, but it would have been nice of the Mountaineers to show some signs of life in front of a home crowd. | |
| 15. Charlotte | 0-1 | It was sad to see coach Biff Poggi wearing sleeves in Charlotte's season opener. Maybe that's why the 49ers faltered against James Madison. Very scientific analysis here, folks. | |
| 14. New Mexico | 0-2 | Yes, New Mexico lost to Montana State. But the 13.5-point underdog Lobos made it a respectable game! They also traded blows with Arizona for two and a half quarters before Tetairoa McMillan decided he was tired of playing with his food. Bronco Mendenhall's a smart bet to get New Mexico right. | |
| 13. FIU | 0-1 | It's not really FIU's season-opening loss to Indiana that put it here. It's the fact that the Panthers have only had two winning seasons since 2012, and that doesn't look like it will change anytime soon now that they're 8-17 under Mike MacIntyre. | |
| 12. UConn | 0-1 | UConn is the Oregon of the Bottom 25: an almost constant presence near the top of the rankings, but nary a national title to show for it. The Huskies could change that this year, and they got things started off well (or horribly, depending on your perspective) with a 50-7 loss to Maryland. | |
| 11. Georgia Southern | 0-1 | There's some reason for optimism after Georgia Southern's opener. The Eagles took Boise State, a College Football Playoff contender, to the brink and may have won if it wasn't for the existence of Ashton Jeanty. Maybe they can make some noise in the Sun Belt. | |
| 10. Temple | 0-1 | Temple was not going to beat Oklahoma in Week 1, but the Owls' defensive line at least had a respectable showing in the 51-3 loss, sacking new Sooners starter Jackson Arnold three times. | |
| 9. Kent State | 0-1 | Kent State's precipitous fall, which coincided with the departure of coach Sean Lewis, has been tough to see. The Golden Flashes weren't expected to beat Pittsburgh in Week 1, but they're now 1-12 in their last 13 games. A good start to their Bottom 25 championship defense, though. | |
| 8. Florida | 0-1 | Billy Napier is on a mission to find out how hot a seat can truly get before one is forcibly dethroned. We're reaching volcanic-level temperatures after a 41-17 loss to Miami. Hey, at least there are some nice basem*nts in central Florida that he could lay low in if the pressure becomes too much to handle. | |
| 7. Clemson | 0-1 | A surprise inclusion, to be sure, but a welcome one. A 34-3 loss to Georgia is further proof that the Tigers are falling woefully behind the upper crust of college football. Turns out you can't sue your way into ... wait, I've already made that joke. | |
| 6. Southern Miss | 0-1 | Southern Miss couldn't even take advantage of the strange weather delay magic to spur its offense to life against Kentucky. New quarterback Tate Rodemaker threw two interceptions and the Golden Eagles rushed for a net gain of 5 yards before the game was called off in the third quarter. Theyshouldbe able to bounce back against Southeastern Louisiana. | |
| 5. Akron | 0-1 | Do not let a final score of 52-6 distract you from the fact that Akron was only down 17-3 at halftime against Ohio State. Once the Buckeyes' offense found their footing, they were off to the races, but that Zips defense played its heart out. Rutgers beware. | |
| 4. Wyoming | 0-1 | One of the biggest disappointments of Week 1, Wyoming was a trendy pick to beat Arizona State outright ... and then lost 48-7. Is it a bad omen predicting a huge step back for the program, or will the Cowboys be alright once Mountain West play rolls around? Time will tell. | |
| 3. UTEP | 0-1 | UTEP's going to take its lumps under 34-year-old coach Scotty Walden. The Miners lost their opener 40-7 against Nebraska. Walden was an upside swing, so it may take a while for the results to really come through. | |
| 2. Colorado State | 0-1 | Colorado State was one of just three FBS teams to not score a single point in Week 1. The other two are also on this list. Of course, the Rams aren't going to see many teams like Texas on a weekly basis. | |
| 1. Western Kentucky | 0-1 | Western Kentucky isn't going to play Alabama every week of the season, so it's probably not going to lose a whole lot of games 63-0. It would be surprising to see the Hilltoppers hang around the Bottom 25 for too long. They've won at least eight games in four out of five seasons under Tyson Helton. |
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