There was an emergency meeting of The Bottom 25 Playoff Committee this weekend regarding a possible postponement of the announcement of The Bottom 25 Playoff Field. I called the committee together (it's me and my dog, Frankie), and we discussed the best course of action.
Akron has a makeup game scheduled for Friday against Buffalo and is currently in The Bottom 25 Playoff Field. We had to decide whether to postpone the selection until after Akron's game, but we have decided that we don't want to. Well, I decided I didn't want to. Frankie mostly slept through the meeting. She is lazy, but she's cute, so I keep her around.
Anyway, the final judgment was that win-or-lose, Akron wasn't escaping The Bottom 12, so we're going to keep the Zips in at their current seed. So, without further ado, here is The Bottom 25 Playoff Field for 2022. The playoff will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
First round
No. 5 Northwestern at No. 12 Louisiana Tech
No. 6 Hawaii at No. 11 Charlotte
No. 7 Nevada at No. 10 FIU
No. 8 Akron at No. 9 Colorado State
First round byes
1. UMass
2. Colorado
3. South Florida
4. New Mexico
Here are the final rankings of the regular season in full. Congratulations to the 25 teams who made it and the 106 who didn't.
Team | Rank | Record | Breakdown |
---|---|---|---|
25. Central Michigan | 4-8 | What a difference a season makes, as the Chippewas finish 4-8 following a 38-19 loss to Eastern Michigan and enter The Bottom 25. (Last Week: Not Ranked) | |
24. Texas State | 4-8 | The Bobcats ended the season with a 41-13 loss to Louisiana and have fired coach Jake Spavital. It'll be up to somebody else to get them out of here next season. (NR) | |
23. Indiana | 4-8 | I became an Indiana fan for 24 hours because a win over Purdue would've put Illinois in the Big Ten Championship. Like the refs when the Illini visited Bloomington earlier this season, Indiana screwed me over. Thanks for nothing, Hoosiers. (NR) | |
22. Arizona State | 3-9 | The Sun Devils ended the season with a 38-35 loss to rival Arizona but have hired Oregon OC and Arizona State alum Kenny Dillingham to succeed Herm Edwards. (24) | |
21. Virginia Tech | 3-8 | The Hokies didn't play last week as their game against Virginia was canceled following the tragic events in Charlottesville. (21) | |
20. Old Dominion | 3-9 | I keep forgetting Old Dominion is in the Sun Belt now. You don't need to know that, I'm simply hoping typing it out will help me remember. Old Dominion is in the Sun Belt, and it went 3-9 this season, losing its final six games. (22) | |
19. Rutgers | 4-8 | I was all for Rutgers bringing Greg Schiano back, but are we sure this is working? The Knights won three Big Ten games in 2020, two in 2021, and only one this season. That's not a good trend! (23) | |
18. Stanford | 3-9 | I wondered if David Shaw's job was in jeopardy, but a 3 a.m. ET resignation following a season-ending loss to BYU was not how I saw it coming. It'll be fascinating to see where Stanford goes from here. (19) | |
17. Temple | 3-9 | The final record isn't great, but Temple improved as the year progressed. That's a good sign for Stan Drayton's program. (16) | |
16. ULM | 4-8 | A win over Southern Miss would have been a nice way to end the season, but this is still a program that's improving despite another 4-8 season. (18) | |
15. Northern Illinois | 3-9 | It's one thing to lose to Akron, but to lose at home 44-12? The Zips hadn't won a MAC game yet, and it was especially surprising since the Huskies don't get blown out. It's a concerning sign for me. (15) | |
14. Boston College | 3-9 | Congratulations, Boston College. The nightmare season that has been 2022 is finally over. (13) | |
13. Arkansas State | 3-9 | The Red Wolves got trounced 48-19 by Troy to finish the season, but it wasn't enough to earn a playoff spot. (14) | |
12. Louisiana Tech | 3-9 | The Bulldogs lost to UAB 37-27 and could not escape The Bottom 25 playoff. They are one of three Conference USA teams to qualify. (12) | |
11. Charlotte | 3-9 | Charlotte is the second C-USA team to gain eligibility. They had last week off, but last we saw the 49ers, they beat Louisiana Tech 26-21. (11) | |
10. FIU | 4-8 | The Panthers are your third C-USA squad. FIU nearly knocked off Middle Tennessee Saturday and would've likely fallen out of the field if they had. (10) | |
9. Colorado State | 3-9 | Colorado State won The Bottom 25 Game of the Century of Last Week against New Mexico 17-0, but the shutout of the Lobos wasn't nearly enough to get out of The Bottom 12. (5) | |
8. Akron | 2-9 | Give a shoutout to the Zips for getting that first MAC win, but are they peaking at the wrong time and playing too well ahead of the playoff? (3) | |
7. Nevada | 2-10 | The Wolf Pack are one of two Mountain West teams to go winless in conference play after falling to UNLV 27-22. We knew it'd be a rough season for the Pack after Jay Norvell left for Colorado State. (8) | |
6. Hawaii | 3-10 | Hawaii finished the regular season with a 27-14 loss to San Jose State. It's a team that has improved as the year has gone on but has a lot of improving left to do. (7) | |
5. Northwestern | 1-11 | Illinois beat Northwestern so soundly the Wildcats nearly got a first-round bye. The Wildcats fell 41-3 in their rivalry game, turning the ball over six times. (9) | |
4. New Mexico | 2-10 | New Mexico is the fourth team from the Mountain West to qualify for The Bottom 25 Playoff, the most of any conference in the country. It's been a special season in the Mountain West. (6) | |
3. South Florida | 1-11 | I knew the Bulls would give it everything they had against UCF and nearly pulled off the upset in a 46-39 loss. They've lost 10 straight and are a dangerous team in The Bottom 25 Playoff thanks to their bye. (4) | |
2. Colorado | 1-11 | No Power Five program has ever won The Bottom 25 Championship, but Colorado has everything it takes to be the first. (2) | |
1. UMass | 1-11 | UMass has won two of the last three Bottom 25 titles (COVID-19 won in 2020), and it could become our first true Bottom 25 Dynasty. (1) |
No Longer Ranked: No. 25 Navy, No. 20 New Mexico State, No. 17 Western Michigan