College football rankings: Why Virginia Tech’s return to Bottom 25 is a blessing

Virginia Tech should be happy to lose 34-14 at Florida State, even if it means it’s back in the Top 25 this week. If the Hokies had walked into Doak Campbell Stadium and beaten the Seminoles, it would have dropped FSU to 4-6 and perhaps increased Mike Norvell’s chances of being fired before the end of the season.

Had Norvell been fired on Sunday, Virginia Tech might have been dealing with another contender in the James Franklin sweepstakes. But less than 48 hours after Virginia Tech’s loss to the Seminoles, the news broke: Franklin will lead the Hokies.

You can expect to see Virginia Tech here for the rest of the season. At 3-9 (2-4 ACC) and with games against Miami and Virginia still remaining, the Hokies could be destined for their second three-win season in the last four years.

James Franklin gives Virginia Tech perfect CEO figure as Hokies invest heavily in resurrection program

Shehan Jeyarajah

But they unequivocally moved up at head coaching by landing Franklin, a proven winner at both Vanderbilt and Penn State. In this sense, the misery of the 2025 season served a purpose. The program’s early hook on Brent Pry gave the Hokies time to get their administrative ducks together to pursue and land a quality candidate. See! Being in the Botton 25 isn’t so bad after all.

The formula for this year’s Bottom 25 has been modified to ensure fair representation of the entire sport. Each of the Power Four leagues receives an automatic bid from the bottom 25 each week, and a total of 10 Power Four schools must be represented.

Last 25 rankings

^ Joins the Bottom 25 this week

Don’t be fooled by Notre-Dame

Whatever Notre Dame does in the final two weeks of the regular season, don’t let it fool you into thinking it’s a legitimate display of power. The Fighting Irish are closing in on bottom-25 teams Syracuse and Stanford and should wipe out both. In fact, they’ll probably crush the Orange and Cardinal mercilessly to impress the College Football Playoff selection committee. After an 0-2 start to the season, style points matter. Notre Dame is going to hammer these poor deadbeats in the ACC.

25. Stanford (25)
24. Virginia Tech^
23. Florida (22)
22. Syracuse (21)
21. Colorado (20)

A costly train crash

Firing a coach after just two seasons might be hasty, but it would be justified with Jonathan Smith at Michigan State. The Spartans are 3-7 (0-7 Big Ten) after falling 28-10 at home to a bad Penn State team last week. Michigan State has lost six of its seven championship games by double digits and is poised for another tough day at Iowa this week. A massive buyout of more than $30 million must be considered, but the cost of a train wreck is also expected to linger. There is no evidence that this program is going in the right direction.

20. Michigan State (24)
19.Tulsa (14)
18. South Alabama (13)
17. Purdue (23)
16. Bowling Green (16)

The level of winners

People think the Bottom 25 is all about negativity and dunking on bad teams. OK, that Above all East. But we’re here to celebrate with three teams in this subsection coming off wins in Week 12. Sam Houston won its second straight game after an 0-8 start, and Nevada beat San Jose State, 55-10, for its first win against an FBS team this year. Finally, Northern Illinois crushed UMass 45-3. Unfortunately, beating one of the worst college football teams in a generation won’t earn you much credit. But it’s still an accomplishment worth celebrating for a team like NIU.

15. Sam Houston (12)
14. Nevada (5)
13. San Jose State^
12. Northern Illinois (8)
11. Louisiana-Monroe (15)

Agony in Arkansas

Arkansas continues to invent new ways to lose. In last week’s 23-22 loss at LSU, that involved three scoreless trips inside the Tigers’ 30-yard line, including two unsuccessful trips inside the 10. Yet the Hogs led 22-16 early in the fourth quarter before the Tigers took the lead with a 92-yard touchdown run. Six of Arkansas’ eight losses came in one-possession games, and that doesn’t even include the Razorbacks’ 33-24 loss to Auburn. Arkansas led 24-16 entering the fourth quarter of this game. Any team this determined to lose deserves a top-10 ranking.

10.Arkansas (18)
9. UTEP (10)
8. Boston College (7)
7. Colorado State (9)
6. Oregon State (11)

Well done Derek Morris

Big thanks to Derek Morris for his 44-yard field goal with 6:13 left in UMass’ 45-3 home loss to Northern Illinois last week. The kick prevented the Minutemen from being shut out for the first time this season. At this point, comparing 0-10 UMass to other FBS teams makes no sense. The Minutemen weren’t even good enough to beat Bryant on September 6, and Bryant is just 3-8 at the FCS level this season. Datings.com places Bryant 104th among FCS teams, meaning UMass wouldn’t even be a top 100 team if it moved down a level. At best, we’re probably talking about an average Division II team here.

5. Middle Tennessee (6)
4. Charlotte (4)
3. State of Georgia (3)
2. Oklahoma State (2)
1. UMass (1)