College Football's Bottom 25 Poll, Week 9 2023




So many teams ended up at 2-5 after last week that it made it somewhat difficult to parse out who should be in the poll and who should be in the DHM. By virtue of a win, two teams that were 1-5 last week, Virginia and Charlotte, are now entirely out of the poll and in the DHM list.

And not for nothing, they were joined there by Louisiana Tech, who are 3-6 and that begs the question of how in the world they could have already played 9 games with a weekend of games still left in October?

As always, have fun and enjoy the games!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) Sam Houston (0-7) The Beerkats lost 33–27 in 2 OTs at home against FIU on Wednesday. Close, but no maiden FBS win for the program. Next is a home Wednesday Bummer Bowl showdown hosting fellow 25ers UTEP.

2) Akron (1-7) The Zips got crushed 41-14 at Bowling Green. Barring a 3-point win over an FCS squad, they would be Number 1 at 0-8. Next up is a BYE weekend before a midweek MAC special hosting fellow 25ers Kent State on 11/1.

3) Kent State (1-7) The Golden Flashless also hit bottom in the MAC East along with Akron, losing a Bummer Bowl at B25 #18 Buffalo, 24–6. Next is the aforementioned Bummer Bowl to determine who really is the MAC’s worst team.

4) Massachusetts (1-7) The Minute-men had a BYE week. Next up is a Bummer Bowl at Army.

5) East Carolina (1-6) The Pyrites lost the AAC Bummer Bowl of the week at home to B25 #8 Charlotte, 10-7, propelling the 49ers out of the poll and into the DHM list. Next up is a trip to San Antonio to take on UTSA.

6) Southern Mississippi (1-6) The Golden Favres got blasted 55-3 on Tuesday at South Alabama. Next, another likely loss at Appalachian State.

7) Connecticut (1-6) The Fusskies had a BYE after their fist win. It didn't help, as they followed that up with a 24-21 home loss to South Florida last weekend. This week they will be visiting Boston College..

8) Arizona State (1-6) Considering the quality of their opponent, the Stunned Devils held up pretty well against nationally-ranked Washington, eventually falling 15-7. Next, Washington State visits the Valley O’ The Sun.

9) Nevada (1-6) The Wolfpack shocked on the road in winning 6-0 at former 25ers San Diego State. It was their first win in 17 games. Next up, New Mexico visits.

10) Hawai'i (2-6) The Rainbow Worriers lost a road Bummer Bowl at B25 #25 New Mexico, 42-21. That’s 2 Bummer Bowls lost in a row. Next, San Jose State visits the island.

11) Western Michigan (2-6) The Cloncos lost 20-17 at plain old Ohio. Next up is the Michigan MAC rivalry games, starting first this week at Eastern Michigan.

12) UAB (2-6) The Cavers lost 45-21 at home against Memphis. Next, FAU comes to town. You can pretty much write the script…UAB loses 4(pick a number) – 2(pick a number).

13) Arkansas (2-6) It wasn’t that long ago that the Boars put together a few pretty good seasons in a row. Not this year. Their 7-3 home loss to Mississippi State was number 6 in a row. Next up is a visit to the Swamp to take on Florida.

14) Middle Tennessee State (2-6) The Blue Faiders lost 42-35 at Liberty on Tuesday. Next up is a BYE week and then back to Saturday football at New Mexico State on 11/4.

15) UTEP (2-6) The Minors lost at home 28-7 to New Mexico State on Wednesday. Next is a road Bummer Bowl at new B25 #1 Sam Houston, also on Wednesday.

16) Vanderbilt (2-6) The Commode–doors had a BYE week. Their six straight losses will probably become 7 this week at Ole Miss, but there is hope with following games against 3-4 Auburn and 2-5 South Carolina.

17) Temple (2-6) The Fowls got stampeded in their own corral by SMU, 55-0. Next, they have a BYE before hosting Navy on 11/4.

18) Ball State (2-6) The Cardinals beat Central Michigan 24-17. Next up is a BYE weekend before a Wednesday showdown at former 25ers Bowling Green.

19) Cincinnati (2-5) The Scarecats lost a home almost Bummer Bowl against DHMers Baylor, 32-29. Next, Oklahoma State comes to town for the first time since 1983.

20) Indiana (2-5) The Loosiers were pasted at home by Rutgers, 31-14. Things get no easier next week with a visit to Penn State, with the Nittany Lions coming off their first loss.

21) Army (2-5) The Black and Blue Knights took a payday beating, 62-0 at LSU. Next, a home Bummer Bowl game against #4 Massachusetts.

22) UL Monroe (2-5) The Marhawks lost their 5th straight game, 38-28 at Georgia Southern to join the poll. Arkansas State visits Monroe this coming weekend.

23) Michigan State (2-5) The Fartans (I know, cheap joke!) have also lost 5 straight to join the fray, most recently 49-0 at home to their biggest rivals, Michigan. Next up is a visit to Minnesota.

24) South Carolina (2-5) The Lamecocks have played okay against the mighty competition of the SEC, but three straight losses and a 2-5 record are what they are. Last week was a 34-12 beatdown at nationally ranked Missouri. Next up is a trip to College Station to take on Texas A & M.

25) Purdue (2-5) The ShotandaBeers had a BYE before this week’s imminently winnable game at Nebraska. They are close to victories and have already beaten two decent FBS teams. They could potentially win as many as 3 of their final 5 games and possibly 4. We shall see.

DISHONORABLE MENTION

Stanford (2-5), Pittsburgh (2-5), Charlotte (2-5), Virginia (2-5) and Louisiana Tech (3-6)

Dropped Out

New Mexico, San Jose State, Buffalo, Charlotte and Virginia

CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION

AAC – 3 (+1 DHM)

ACC – 1 DHM

Big12 – 1

BIG 10 (12, 14, whatever) – 3

CUSA – 3 (+1 DHM)

Ind. – 3 (out of 4!)

MAC – 4

Mountain West – 2

PAC 12 (soon to be none) – 1

SEC – 3

Sun Belt - 2

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