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Clemson began the season at No. 4 in the AP poll, and Florida State rose all the way to No. 7 amid a 3-0 start. At one point or another, both were expected to be among the top teams in the ACC and potentially even national championship contenders. But as they prepare to meet on Saturday, the outlook is bleak for both in an upside-down ACC. The Seminoles (4-4, 1-4) finally snapped a four-game losing streak last week against Wake Forest, putting at least a temporary bandage on what has become a second straight season of pain. The 'Noles still need to win at least two of their last four games to avoid missing a bowl for the fifth time in the past eight seasons. College Football Playoff Rankings projection: Alabama ahead of Big Ten, SEC unbeatens as initial top 25 looms Brad Crawford For Clemson, the misery is marinating once again. Last week's gutting 46-45 loss to Duke dropped the Tigers to 3-5 (2-4) and placed them squarely at risk of missing a bowl for the first time since 2004. Unless Clemson finishes 3-1 or better, it will finish with a losing record for the first time since 1998. The smart money was on Clemson vs. Florida State being a battle of top-15 teams -- or maybe even top-10 teams -- that would have serious conference title and College Football Playoff implications. Instead, it's a battle of battered blue bloods. 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 Stampede for the exit Two weeks ago, Colorado appeared to be in decent shape. The Buffaloes were just 3-4, but they were coming off a win over then-No. 22 Iowa State and subsequent bye week. A second consecutive bowl appearance still seemed feasible. Things sure did change in a hurry. Following Saturday's 52-17 loss to Arizona, Colorado has been outscored 105-24 in its past two games. It has been a fun ride for the Buffaloes under Deion Sanders, but the only stampede at Folsom Field on Saturday was toward the exits. Coach Prime appears to be running out of Louis. 25. Clemson^ 24. Purdue (24) 23. North Carolina (13) 22. Syracuse^ 21. Colorado^ Worse than a motorcycle crash Living in a world where Bobby Petrino got a second crack at the Arkansas head coaching job would have been too dystopian. Thankfully, it doesn't look like we'll have to worry about that. The Razorbacks fell to 0-4 under Petrino's interim leadership with another excruciating loss, this time against a Mississippi State team that had won one SEC game since 2022. The Hogs were penalized a whopping 18 times for 193 yards in the loss. 20. Oregon State (8) 19. Arkansas (23) 18. Bowling Green^ 17. Louisiana-Monroe (22) 16. Colorado State (17) Heading in the right direction! Penn State moved one spot in the right direction for keeping it close with No. 1 Ohio State for a half. Now comes the fun of facing No. 2 Indiana. Sadly, not enough basketball season can bring much of a reprieve for the Nittany Lions. Wrestling, anyone? Top-ranked Penn State is scheduled to hit the mats in a season-opening match with Oklahoma on Nov. 14. 15. Northern Illinois (16) 14. Tulsa (15) 13. Eastern Michigan (14) 12. Penn State (11) 11. South Alabama (19) Goodbye to midweek Conference USA If you didn't watch weeknight Conference USA football in October, you missed out. For one thing, Middle Tennessee figured out new ways to lose close games virtually every week. There were also plays like this one, which at least provided some entertainment for the brave souls in attendance. Imagine trying to explain this sequence to an international visitor who has never watched football before. It's too bad Conference USA's midweek rodeo isn't continuing into November. 10. Nevada (10) 9. Wisconsin (9) 8. UTEP (12) 7. Boston College (7) 6. Middle Tennessee (6) Asking for a friend Has a program ever gone from winning 10 games to winning none the following season? Asking for a friend named Sam Houston. The Bearkats are 0-8 following a 55-14 beatdown from Louisiana Tech on Halloween night, and seven of those losses have come by 17+ points. Even this week's game at Oregon State now looks challenging. The Beavers have gone from keeping Sam Houston and UMass company in the winless category to catching fire with two straight wins.
