College football rankings: Clemson debuts, Oklahoma State sinks further into Bottom 25

Clemson’s descent into the Bottom 25 began on its first offensive series of the season, as the Tigers went backwards on a three-and-out that ended with a sack. There’s been no stabilization since. A team ranked No. 4 in the AP preseason poll has floundered aimlessly to a 1-2 start.

The Tigers’ lone victory came in uninspiring fashion during Week 2 against a Troy team jumped out to a 16-0 lead. It would be one thing if Troy was one of the Sun Belt’s premier squads. But the Trojans turned around and produced just 112 yards of total offense during a 28-7 Week 3 home loss to Memphis.

Meanwhile, Clemson dropped its ACC opener at Georgia Tech. The Tigers will now be forced to run the table in order to reach the College Football Playoff. A Week 4 home game against a mediocre Syracuse team should help the Tigers emerge from their funk, but Clemson proved itself more than worthy of Bottom 25 designation during the season’s opening three games.

An offense that ranked No. 11 nationally at 451.9 yards per game last season now ranks at 109th at 319.3 yards per contest. A vaunted defense is also struggling to meet preseason expectations. The good news for Clemson is that the Tigers have plenty of company from the ACC this week.

This year’s Bottom 25 formula has been tweaked to ensure fair representation from across the sport. Each of the Power Four leagues gets an automatic bid to the Bottom 25 each week, and a total of 10 Power Four schools must be represented.

Bottom 25 Rankings

^ Joined Bottom 25 this week

The ACC tier

Boston College’s game with Stanford was a Bottom 25 play-in game. The Eagles couldn’t hang onto a 17-6 lead and fell 30-20. But can you really blame them for faltering in the second half? The game started at 10:30 p.m. Eastern. How many BC fans stayed up until 2 a.m. local time to see the conclusion?

25. Clemson^
24. Duke^
23. Colorado^
22. Northwestern (22)
21. Boston College^

Rapid descent

Florida began the season ranked No. 15 in the AP poll, while Kansas State came in at No. 17. They are a combined 2-7, and the two victories are against FCS competition. The five teams in this tier have a combined zero victories over FBS competition, and Oregon State is winless as it heads for a drubbing at No. 6 Oregon.

20. Florida (24)
19. Kansas State^
18. Oregon State^
17. Coastal Carolina^
16. Georgia State (4)

Firing on no cylinders

You know things are going poorly when the coach gets fired in mid-September. Such is the case for UCLA, which is 0-3 with two losses against Mountain West teams led by first-year coaches. If the Bruins don’t win at Northwestern next week, 0-12 is on the table.

15. Central Michigan^
14. Arkansas State^
13. UCLA (19)
12. Middle Tennessee (6)
11. Ball State (3)

Predictably poor

Things are looking up for at least one team in this group. Georgia Southern picked up its first in Week 3 by outlasting Jacksonville State 41-34 with a 10-0 fourth quarter. The Eagles were picked to finish second in the Sun Belt East and could still competitive in their league after surrendering 101 points in season-opening losses to Fresno State and USC.

10. Kent State (9)
9. Western Michigan (16)
8. Louisiana-Monroe (13)
7. Georgia Southern (2)
6. San Jose State (14)

Unusual suspects

It’s not unprecedented for a Power Four team to occasionally slip this far. But Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State aren’t the programs you expect to see here. The historically proud Hokies and Cowboys are a combined 1-5, with Oklahoma State’s 27-7 Week 1 victory over FCS foe Tennessee-Martin standing as the lone win. Oklahoma State was off in Week 3 but fell anyway as the four teams below it either won or had respectable showings. The aftertaste of a 69-3 Week 2 loss at Oregon is still lingering on the Cowboys’ breath.

5. Virginia Tech (7)
4. Eastern Michigan (11)
3. UMass (8)
2. Akron (1)
1. Oklahoma State (5)