College football rankings: Stanford, Indiana make Bottom 25 debuts as Power Five presence increases

25. Texas State 3-7 The Bobcats also make their Bottom 25 debut. They’ve lost four straight after starting the season 3-3. The latest loss was a 38-21 defeat to South Alabama over the weekend, and now they’ve got a big game against No. 17 Arkansas State looming. (Last Week: Not Ranked) 24. Stanford 3-7 This is what you get for suspending The Tree, Stanford. Did you think you could get away with it? Here I thought you Stanford types were into trees, but I guess I confused you with Cal. Speaking of Cal, that’s who Stanford gets this week. (NR) 23. Army 3-6 Army escaped The Bottom 25 for a while after a two-game win streak in October, but losses to Air Force and Troy bring them back. The good news is the losses came by a combined seven points, but Army needs to win out to reach a bowl. It’s not impossible, but the UConn team it faces this week is much better than your typical UConn team. (NR) 22. ULM 4-6 Don’t let the Warhawks get hot! I told you they would win another game, and then they beat Texas State. Then I told you not to be surprised if they won again, and they beat Georgia State 31-28! Unfortunately, that’s not enough to escape the rankings, but a win this week at Troy would be. (16) 21. UTEP 4-6 The Miners had the weekend off and return to action this week against No. 11 FIU. (21) 20. Boston College 3-7 Boston College has been so bad this season that I didn’t think there was a chance it would be able to beat NC State, even if the Wolfpack were technically down to their third-string QB. Well, guess what? They did! The Eagles SHOCKED THE WORLD in a 21-20 win over NC State. This week, they’re on the road to face Notre Dame. (13) 19. Temple 3-7 Temple came so painfully close to pulling off the upset against Houston but allowed a 44-yard touchdown in the final minute to lose 43-36. It was an incredible catch by Houston’s Matthew Golden, but it still hurt. Now the Owls have to face Cincinnati. (23) 18. Navy 3-7 It’s not shocking considering Navy is an option team, but only three of the Mids’ 10 games this season have been settled by more than one score. Their 35-32 loss to Notre Dame was not one of them. They’ve hung tough with Cincinnati and the Irish since beating Temple, and get another tough test this week at UCF. (20) 17. Arkansas State 3-7 The Red Wolves made a late stop on a 2-point conversion to beat No. 1 UMass 35-33 in The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of Last Week, and this week they get another Bottom 25 showdown against No. 25 Texas State. (11) 16. Indiana 3-7 The Hoosiers had been hovering for a while, but losing to Penn State and Ohio State by a combined score of 101-28 the last two weeks, combined with their win over Illinois losing value, sent them flying to No. 16 in their Bottom 25 debut. They’ve lost seven straight after starting 3-0, and get a road game against Michigan State this week. (NR) 15. Northern Illinois 3-7 The Huskies picked up a nice 24-21 win over Western Michigan, but it didn’t do much for them here. They return to action Wednesday against Miami, OH. (12) 14. Virginia Tech 2-8 The Hokies jumped out to a 7-0 lead over Duke, and before you could finish saying “maybe?” to yourself, they gave up 24 points and lost 24-7. Now they’ll be on the road against a Liberty team that’s already beaten Arkansas and will surely be on high alert after losing to UConn. (18) 13. Louisiana Tech 3-7 There was no momentum from the 40-24 win over Middle Tennessee. The Bulldogs were crushed 51-7 by UTSA and will have to recover quickly to prepare for this week’s game against No. 7 Charlotte. (19) 12. Western Michigan 3-7 Much like Northern Illinois didn’t climb far after beating Western Michigan, the Broncos didn’t fall far after losing to Northern Illinois. Nobody outplayed the other in the game; one team just scored a few more points. Maybe it’ll be Western scoring a few more against Central Michigan Wednesday. (14) 11. FIU 4-6 They did it again! Every time the Panthers lose, they lose big. This time it was a 52-7 loss in a rivalry game against Florida Atlantic. Their six losses have now come by an average of 37.7 points. That means you bet both FIU on the moneyline against No. 21 UTEP this week or an alternate spread for the Miners with plus odds. You’ll make money either way. (15) 10. Nevada 2-8 The Wolf Pack hung with San Jose State last week but had no shot against Boise on Saturday, losing 41-3. This week they get their final home game of the season against Fresno State. (10) 9. Northwestern 1-9 Northwestern has not won a football game on American soil since Oct. 16, 2021. It’s been 15 straight losses in the United States since with a 31-3 stomping by Minnesota being the latest. This week, the Wildcats travel to Purdue, which is in America. Not great. (9) 8. New Mexico 2-8 Air Force ran for 428 yards against New Mexico in a 35-3 win over the Lobos. It felt like the Falcons were trying to get the game over, and the Lobos still couldn’t stop them. This week, New Mexico faces another run-heavy team in San Diego State. (8) 7. Charlotte 2-9 The 49ers were much friskier against Middle Tennessee than they were in their 59-7 loss to Western Kentucky, but it didn’t stop them from losing 24-14. This week, they finish their season with No. 13 Louisiana Tech in The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of the Week! What a way to finish the season! (7) 6. Colorado State 2-8 The Rams nearly knocked off Wyoming but came up short in a 14-13 loss. This week, they have to deal with the option attack of Air Force that just ran for 428 yards against New Mexico. (5) 5. South Florida 1-9 There was no fired coach bump for the Bulls; they lost to SMU 41-23 in their first game since firing Jeff Scott. It’s the eighth straight loss for South Florida ahead of this week’s game against Tulsa. (6) 4. Hawaii 2-9 The Warriors have lost four straight after falling to Utah State 41-34. While the loss stinks, it was nice to see a more competitive performance from Hawaii after their 42-point loss to Fresno State. They’d been playing better of late, and I was worried they’d let the Bulldogs beat them twice. (4) 3. Akron 1-9 Akron continues to make incremental improvements week by week in conference play, but the Zips have yet to break through. They lost to Eastern Michigan 34-28 in their final home game of the season, and will be on the road against Buffalo on Saturday. (3) 2. Colorado 1-9 Colorado’s November From Hell Tour continued with a 55-17 loss to USC Friday night. This week, they’ll be facing Washington in Seattle. Maybe they’ll catch the Huskies suffering from an emotional letdown following the win over Oregon? But are we sure that will matter? (2) 1. UMass 1-9 You have no idea how badly I wish Texas A&M was in The Bottom 25 so I could’ve made this week’s game between the Aggies and Minutemen The Game of the Century of the Week. Unfortunately, Texas A&M isn’t near bad enough (seriously, in the Bottom 25 rankings, they’re No. 50). Jimbo Fisher can’t even do losing right. Anyway, how hilarious would it be if UMass keeps the streak of A&M not scoring 30 points in a game against an FBS team alive? (1)