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Penn State has some company in a miserable category this week, as the Nittany Lions are no longer the only former top-10 team ranked in the Bottom 25. Florida State is in the same boat after a 20-13 loss at Stanford marked its fourth straight defeat. The similarities between the programs are striking. Both were largely built by legendary multi-decade coaches in Joe Paterno at Penn State and Bobby Bowden at Florida State. Both schools were independent until finally joining conferences in the early 1990s, and both have gone through their ups and downs since those legendary coaches exited. But as the final college football Saturday of October approaches, the Nittany Lions and Seminoles vary in one particularly striking way. Penn State has fired its coach, and Florida State hasn't. When you consider that FSU is two seasons removed from its peak under Mike Norvell and that Penn State was one season removed from a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance under James Franklin, that stands out. Franklin's 12-year winning percentage at Penn State was 69.8% and he was just a few months out from a 13-3 season when he received a pink slip following a third straight loss this month. Norvell's six-year winning percentage at FSU is 53.7%, he's coming off a 2-10 season and the Seminoles just lost their fourth straight. CBS Sports 136: Texas A&M, Alabama rise into top five amid shakeup in college football rankings Chip Patterson Penn State could take on Franklin's buyout, so why can't FSU take on Norvell's reported figure of $55 million? Instead, the Seminoles are waiting until season's end to conduct a "comprehensive assessment" of the program. Perhaps the administration wanted to see the Seminoles in the Bottom 25 before ripping the cord. Well, here ya go! 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 Country roads take me where? West Virginia was so bad in its 45-13 loss at UCF on Saturday that the Mountaineers are moving below a Purdue team that got shut out 19-0 at Northwestern. While you could attempt to explain WVU's ineptitude by pointing out that the Mountaineers were starting their fourth different quarterback of the season, that doesn't necessarily account for why the defense was so bad. The Mountaineers gave up a pair of 30+ yard passing touchdowns in the first quarter and an 83-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter. By game's end, a very mediocre UCF team had amassed a season-high 578 yards. 25. Arkansas (25) 24. Virginia Tech (24) 23. West Virginia (23) 22. Purdue (21) 21. Louisiana^ Florida State's fall Florida State is 1-11 in the ACC over the past two seasons after dropping its fourth straight game in embarrassing fashion at Stanford. The Cardinal were No. 22 in the Bottom 25, but they escaped with their 20-13 win over the hapless Seminoles. This is one of the most violent downward spirals in college football history. FSU beat Alabama to open the season, rose into the top 10 and was still ranked in the AP poll just 10 days ago. Now? The Seminoles could be in the market for a new coach at season's end. 20. Florida State^ 19. Tulsa^ 18. South Alabama (17) 17. Eastern Michigan (20) 16. Kent State^ Penn State's pain Penn State's four consecutive losses are by a combined 13 points, but that doesn't make the Nittany Lions any less deserving of another drop in the Bottom 25. That's especially true when you consider who their victories are against: Nevada, FIU and Villanova. This team has beaten no one with a pulse and has become masterfully skilled in the art of losing. Oh, and don't worry: blowout losses are coming. After the most desperately needed bye week in program history, Penn State travels to No. 1 Ohio State and then hosts No. 2 Indiana. 15. North Carolina (19) 14. UTEP (9) 13. Penn State (15) 12. Nevada (12) 11. Northern Illinois (11) Wayward Wisconsin Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh issued a statement Monday that basically deflected blame for the Badgers' failures from third-year coach Luke Fickell and onto the school's lacking investment in football. Hopefully whatever new funds the Badgers are going to put into the program have already been generated, because it's going to be awfully tough to drum up donations to this train wreck. Wisconsin was just shut out in consecutive weeks for the first time since 1977 and could very realistically finish 2-10. North Carolina is the only Power Four program averaging fewer yards per game than the Badgers, who have produced 6.8 points per game against Power Four opponents. 10. Wisconsin (18) 9. Oregon State (3) 8. Akron (10) 7. Boston College (8) 6. Middle Tennessee (6) Winless crowd And then there were two. Following Oregon State's inspiring victory over FCS opponent Lafayette, there are just a pair of winless teams at the FBS level, and both of them squandered great opportunities in Week 8. Sam Houston faced Bottom 25 colleague UTEP and trailed just 14-10 at halftime before getting dominated in the second half. It was even more painful for UMass, which actually had a lead on Buffalo in the final minute before the Bulls scored a go-ahead touchdown with 19 seconds left.
