College Football Bottom 25 Poll, Week 9, 2022


 I waited quite a while this year to start the College Football Bottom 25 poll. There are several reasons for the delay. First of all, I believe that I am the originator of the Bottom 25 (sadly not copyrighted) but now there are other “bottom” polls. Mine is still differentiated in that it is the only one still based almost entirely on record and head to head matchups. The other Bottom 25 I have seen is an actual pundit style examination done by ‘experts’ with insider knowledge for whom college football talent assessment is a career. That poll is probably better for bettors, but what kind of addict is pitting his paycheck against the over/under of a New Mexico/USF game in mid-November? Those people need help, period, not help with a point spread.

The other “bottom” poll is ESPN’s Bottom 10, which is largely made even less legitimate than mine because it is usually a snark showcase highlighting a good team that just suffered a bad beat or the preseason top 10 team that is now 4-3 after 7 games.

Now that my complaint/lament fest is over, the other main reason that I debated stopping altogether is because in its original incarnation, The College Football Bottom 25 poll was done in the long form, blog style ‘Notes’ format that used to be available on Facebook, where The Sports Thinkers' page has its home. I did stop the poll altogether in the COVID year and when I returned, I was dissatisfied with how it looked on Facebook as just a regular post.

So……long story short, I have decided to put long form items (see my stats based assessment of the 2021 NFL quarterbacks, for example) on a Sports Thinker Blog. So, from now on,  I will put the simple list on The Sports Thinker Facebook page with a link to the blog where you can read all of my ‘magic’ musings about the games and teams. Like you are doing right now, I hope……

 

THE POLL – Week 9, 2022 season

1) Akron (1-7) The Zips (could there be a more perfect name) are one of only two 1-7 teams. I put them at #1 based largely on the weaker conference they play in. Akron started the season with a 7 point win over an FCS opponent, then proceeded to lose 7 in a row. Two of those were ugly blowouts to national powers. Since then, the games have been much closer and considering the MAC competition, I could see more wins in the future. First chance comes this Saturday in a home Bummer Bowl against B25 #25 Miami of Ohio.

2) Charlotte (1-7) The 49ers lost their first 3, beat fellow 25ers Georgia State by one, then lost their next 4. That final loss led to the demise of Will Healy’s career as head coach, at least as far as Charlotte is concerned. Next up is a tilt this Saturday at Rice.

3) Massachusetts (1-6) Familiar territory for the Minute (as in small) – Men. A single win versus an FCS opponent is their only plus in 7 games. Now is the time to make hay while the sun shines, with a home Bummer Bowl hosting B25 #16 New Mexico State this weekend, followed by the next two games against 25ers Arkansas State and 3-5 Connecticut.

4) University Of South Florida (1-6) The Nulls have played their best against their best opponents, but they are still a one win team with that only win coming against an FCS opponent. A visit to Houston is in the offing this weekend.

5) Colorado (1-6) The Beefalos won two weeks ago against California and then immediately returned to form with a 33 point loss at Oregon State. The schedule is pretty tough, but the average losing margin is by 30 points. This week is a shot at win number 2, hosting B25 #22 Arizona State.

6) Northwestern (1-6) Started the season beating Our Lady in Ireland. Since then has been a bunch of close losses, including one against an FCS opponent. The schedule gets no easier, starting this weekend at Iowa.

7) Louisiana-Monroe (2-6) The BarHawks check in as America’s worst two win team. They beat their lone FCS opponent AND their big rivals Louisiana. The rest of the season, they have either played close against the better teams on the schedule or they get kicked aside by the dogs, including fellow 25ers Arkansas State. This weekend brings a BYE before hosting Texas State.

8) New Mexico (2-6) Los Loblos won two of their first 3, then proceeded to lose their next 5 straight, including their state rivalry game against fellow 25ers New Mexico State. Next up is a BYE before a trip to Utah State.

9) Nevada (2-6) The other Wolfie team in the Mountain West plays a similar tune, starting with 2 wins, including BEATING New Mexico State. And then, depression set in……..starting with an ugly FCS loss and two losses to other B25 squads. This weekend brings a visit to play a better than usual San Jose State Spartans squad. Ah, alliteration!

10) Hawai’i (2-6) The Rainbow Worriers are doing their part in the competition between the MWC and MAC to determine the weakest FBS conference. They started 2022 with a series of ugly blowout losses and then beat an FCS squad. They did manage to beat Nevada also, but lost to two other 25ers. Next up, Wyoming pays a visit.

11) Arkansas State (2-6) More Wolves, Red ones from the Diamond State in this case. An FCS win and a 25er win scattered among 6 losses bring us to this weekend’s home game against South Alabama.

12) Central Michigan (2-6) The Chippiblahs are another FCS/25er win team, having recently beaten B25 #1 Akron. This weekend brings no game ahead of a Wednesday night Bummer Bowl matchup at Northern Illinois.

13) Northern Illinois (2-6) The Fusskies could, and possibly should, have more wins this season. They seem to play better against tougher competition, as well. But…..they are 2-6. Next up is that Wednesday #12 vs. #13 Bummer Bowl against Central Michigan.

14) Virginia Tech (2-6) The Pokies already played this week, taking their 6th loss at North Carolina State on Thursday. After this weekend off, Georgia Tech visits Blacksburg.

15) Colorado State (2-5) Four weeks ago, after an ugly loss to an FCS squad dropped them to 0-4, things looked bleak in Ft. Collins. Then came the MWC schedule. Two wins and a close loss later and the Rams are working their way down the slopes. Unfortunately, though, the Rams begin a series of games against the better half of their conference starting this weekend at Boise State.

16) New Mexico State (2-5) The (what’s an?) Aggies seem to have spent this season beating other MWC 25ers (2-1 against Colorado State, Hawai’i and Nevada) or getting clobbered by everyone else. Last week’s game against San Jose State was postponed after the death of SJSU running back Camdan McWright in a motor vehicle accident last Friday. This week brings a cross country Bummer Bowl at B25 #3 Massachusetts.

17) Navy (2-5) The Swabbies have played close games, but have only 2 wins overall and a loss against an FCS team. This week is a home Bummer Bowl against B25 #18 Temple.

18) Temple (2-5) The Fowls also have a 25er and FCS win to mate with 5 losses. Next up is the aforementioned Bummer Bowl at Navy.

19) Boston College (2-5) The Beagles beat in-state rivals Massachusetts and an FCS squad. They lost to Virginia Tech, but are ranked lower due to having played one less game. Next up is a cross border almost Bummer Bowl at UConn.

20) Louisiana Tech (2-5) The Nulldogs have the standard FCS/FBS, 2 win record. They will play next at Florida International on Friday.

21) Georgia State (2-5) The Panters gave B25 #2 Charlotte their only win this season, but beat Army and in-state rivals Georgia Southern, before getting clobbered at Appalachian State last week. Old Dominion visits Atlanta this week.

22) Arizona State (2-5) The Stunned Devils of Roger Clyne Alma Mater University have a win over nationally ranked Washington to go with the standard issue FCS win. Next up is a PAC10/12/Whatever Bummer Bowl at B25 #5 Colorado.

23) Utah State (3-5) This is such a weird team…..they have 3 FBS wins (UConn, Air Force, Colorado State) but took a 28-point loss to an FCS team, also. This weekend brings a BYE before hosting a likely Bummer Bowl against New Mexico next Saturday.

24) Kent State (3-5) The Golden Flashless hold two MAC wins and a win over an FCS opponent. No weekend game this week because they are playing a Tuesday MAC special hosting Ball State.

25) Miami of Ohio (3-5) The DedHawks beat two other 25ers and the usual FCS yeam for their 3 ‘W’s. This weekend is a BYE before hosting Ohio.

DisHonorableMention, ie The DHM:

Vanderbilt, Texas State, Western Michigan and Indiana

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Baseball Time Quandary

Image
Ken Raffensberger, member of the 1950 Cincinatti Reds pitching staff For many years, leading up to a 2023 season rule change creating a pitch clock, there was much "sturm und drang" about how Major League Baseball games just take too darn long to play. Personally, I never quite got what all of the fuss was about, and of course, it was always the outlier games that were cited as proof. Yes, when the Yankees vs. Red Sox are playing into their 5th hour, it can be a bit of a bore, but that is the exception and not the rule. MLB Games in 2022, the year before the pitch clock rule, lasted, on average, about 3:07. The "3 batter rule" of 2019, despite attempting to limit pitching changes, did not markedly affect the game time, which, I might add, is very similar in overall game time to an NFL game. And the NFL (and football in general) is a sport which is rigidly timed and is far more popular than baseball despite the length of the games. To be fair, an average MLB team pla...
Read more

Kirk Cousins vs. Michael Penix, Jr. Is it time for the Falcons to make a change?

Image
While I will be making a statistical comparison within this post, I am starting off by writing what I am "feeling" as an Atlanta Falcons fan. I am feeling two contradictory things. First, I feel that with the offensive talent Atlanta has, they should have a much better record than 3-6. Conversely, I am also feeling that outside of Bijan Robinson and Drake London, maybe Atlanta's offensive talent isn't really living up to the hype. Kyle Pitts has certainly been a disappointment since the start of his sophomore season and Michael Penix has shown flashes but maybe isn't necessarily ready to be the full-time starter.  And the Falcons still have an opportunity THIS season, even at 3-6. With a remaining game against Carolina, two against New Orleans, one at the New York Jets and one at Phoenix, that is 5 very winnable games out of the remaining 8. Flip one of the remaining three (against the Seahawks, Rams and Bucs, two of the games at home) and the Falcons could potent...
Read more

College Football's Bottom 25 Poll, Final Poll of 2024

Image
Dix Stadium, home of Kent State University football Thi s final poll brought many quandaries as to where to rank certain teams. There are two general rules I apply when ranking teams with the same record: First, teams that won and teams with a BYE the previous week are ranked closer to #25 than teams that lost the previous week and second, teams that played each other are almost always ranked on the basis of the outcome of that game. That said, there were 13 teams in this final poll with identical 3-9 records. To add to the complications, only 3 of those teams, Ball State , Georgia State and Stanford , had not played a single one of the other 3-9 teams. And complicating even further, 7 of the remaining 10 teams were in one of two conferences, 4 in the AAC and 3 in Conference USA. Those 3 Conference USA teams, UTEP , New Mexico State and Middle Tennessee State each played the other two and all three ended up with identical 1-1 records against the other two. So...what to do? Some of t...
Read more