College football rankings: Florida State still wallowing in Bottom 25 as lone Power Four representative

25. Southern Miss 1-2 Welcome, Southern Miss. Scoring just 24 points in two games against FBS opponents (all of which came against South Florida) will do this to you. But the defense has been so, so much worse. The Bulls put 49 on the board against the Golden Eagles, and in Southern Miss’ season opener, Kentucky scored 31 in two and a half quarters. (Last week: NR) 24. Arkansas State 2-1 Arkansas State beat FCS Central Arkansas by only three and a probably-not-great Tulsa team by four. But the Red Wolves also went on the road and lost to Michigan by only 10! If Butch Jones could make a career on close, heart-breaking losses, he’d be the highest-paid coach in college football. (NR)  23. San Diego State 1-2 San Diego State has taken a journey through the Pac-12’s past, present and future over the last couple weeks. It started with a 21-0 loss to Oregon State, which was followed by a 31-10 loss to Cal (now in the ACC). All this amid the news that SDSU will be joining the Pac-12 in 2026. If these early results are any indication, good luck Aztecs. (NR)  22. Florida Atlantic 1-2 Florida Atlantic is close to clawing its way out of the rankings altogether after a 39-20 win against Florida International in Week 3. And, hey, UConn is next up on the docket Saturday. A huge game for Tom Herman’s Owls and these Bottom 25 rankings. (15) 21. Florida State 0-3 Not sure if a team completely quitting on a season has ever been more apparent than it is with the 2024 Florida State Seminoles. Mike Norvell’s crew isn’t even trying to do it quietly. It’s hard to find any positives after the latest loss to Memphis. Credit to FSU for pushing the envelope weekly on how low things can really go. (25) 20. Miami (OH) 0-2 Maybe frontloading the schedule with three straight Power Four teams isn’t the way to go. Miami battled Northwestern in a 7-point loss, but it’s the 11-point loss to a bad Cincinnati team that’s hurting the RedHawks here. Miami could follow in Mid-American Conference mate Northern Illinois‘ footsteps and bounce back against Notre Dame. (NR)  19. Hawaii 1-2 Hawaii was an under-the-radar team entering the 2024 season. Looks like the Rainbow Warriors are content to stay there. Even their competitive loss to UCLA in Week 2 looks worse with each passing week. (NR)  18. Charlotte 1-2 Charlotte moves up (or down, depending on your perspective) in this week’s rankings, but it’s hard to feel good about the 49ers after a 27-26 win against Gardner-Webb. A Week 4 date against Indiana isn’t going to offer any reprieve. (12) 17. Nevada 1-3 At least Nevada left its fourth game without as much heartbreak. After two losses of less than a touchdown, the Wolf Pack went on the road and got ran off the field in a 27-0 rout against Minnesota. Coach Jeff Choate certainly has his work cut out for him in reviving this program. (21)  16. Old Dominion 0-3 It’s cool that Old Dominion played its Week 3 game against Virginia Tech in front of the Monarchs’ largest home crowd ever. Unfortunately, those paying fans had to watch their team crumble in the second half of an eventual 37-17 defeat. Old Dominion has kept things respectable this year but going winless thus far has the program stuck in muck. (19)  15. Colorado State 1-2 One would think that Colorado State would be able to get up for a game against its biggest rival, in front of an energized Fort Collins crowd that hadn’t seen the Rocky Mountain Showdown at home since 1996, in a primetime television slot. But, uh, definitely not. The Rams looked thoroughly overwhelmed in every phase of the game while letting Colorado stomp all over them. (15) 14. UTSA 1-2 It’s looking like a hard reset year for Jeff Traylor’s Roadrunners. A 56-7 loss to Texas is bad, but not many teams can beat the Longhorns. However, that 49-10 defeat at the hands of Texas State certainly raised some red flags. UTSA does have a chance to right the ship over the next month or so with a manageable schedule. (NR)  13. Akron 1-2 Akron was able to get its first win of the season Saturday by downing Colgate 31-20, but that was after falling behind 17-7 in the first quarter… against an FCS team that went 6-5 last year. The Zips now look forward to their third Power Four team in four weeks as they travel to South Carolina in Week 4. (1)  12. Air Force 1-2 Air Force has scored a combined 10 points in its two games against FBS competition. Predictably, those were the Falcons’ two losses. It’s been a precipitous fall for Troy Calhoun’s team since it started the 2023 season 8-0. (24)  11. Temple 0-3 At least Temple kept it close in a 28-20 loss to Coastal Carolina. Prior to that, the Owls fell in their first two games by a combined score of 89-14. That’s about the only reason for optimism with this team thus far. (6) 10. Troy 0-3 Troy had four total losses from 2022-23 under coach Jon Sumrall. The 2024 Trojans probably won’t (or at least really shouldn’t) match that with Week 4’s game against Florida A&M, but smart money says that they will far exceed four losses at some point this year. (11)  9. Jacksonville State 0-3 We’ve got a huge Bottom 25 matchup this Saturday, as Jacksonville State is set to host Southern Miss. Something has to give, as these two teams are a combined 0-5 against FBS competition in 2024. (9) 8. Middle Tennessee 1-2 Poor MTSU’s schedule is an absolute bear. The Blue Raiders played Ole Miss in Week 2, to predictable results. They host Duke in Week 4 and then have to travel to Memphis on Sept. 28. Not a lot of opportunity to improve their stock. (9) 7. UMass 0-3 It would be easy to say that a 34-3 loss to Buffalo is rock-bottom for Don Brown’s tenure with the Minutemen, but they have every opportunity to go even lower with upcoming games against Central Connecticut and Miami (OH). It’s not really Brown’s fault, though; UMass hasn’t posted a winning season since making the leap to the FBS level. (13)  6. UTEP 0-3 Finding wins on UTEP’s schedule would be a fun thought exercise, if it didn’t feel impossible. MTSU and Kennesaw State come to town in November. That’s about it. Even then it’s hard to feel good about those potential victories when the Miners are losing to teams like Southern Utah. (10)  5. New Mexico 0-3 Bronco Mendenhall certainly got thrown into the fire in his first few games with the Lobos. They had to travel to both Arizona and Auburn and suffered a season-opening loss against a really good Montana State team. There have been some indications that New Mexico isn’t as bad as its record may suggest, but that will be tested as MWC play begins. (7)  4. New Mexico State 1-2 New Mexico State put up 138 total yards of offense against Fresno State. The Aggies got close to the red zone once, and that drive ended with an interception near Fresno’s 22-yard line. It was truly a performance befitting a bottom-5 team. (17)  3. Kennesaw State 0-3 Maybe it’s not about whether Kennesaw State can win a game this year. We need to start paying attention to if the Owls can keep a game within one possession. They’re losing by an average of 19 points so far. (8) 2. Wyoming 0-3 Insert sad cowboy emoji. Wyoming might need to pop on some Hank Williams and do some serious soul searching amid a disastrous start. The loss to Idaho was one thing, but the Cowboys haven’t even been competitive against the likes of BYU and Arizona State. (2)  1. Kent State 0-3 I’m surprised it took this long for Kent State to surge into the top spot. The Golden Flashes should have an iron grip on No. 1 for the entire year. We’re seeing generational dominance akin to Georgia’s 2021-22 run, but instead of winning a bunch of games in a row, Kent State hasn’t beaten an FBS team since Nov. 26, 2022. You go Flashes, give us nothing. (4)