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Another week gone by, and as the Group of Five rises to new heights, once again we see the worst of the Power Five falling to new lows: Never was it more fitting to scroll downward on this page, into the depths of what this past week had to offer.
Check out last week here, and scroll on down...
(Honorable Mention) Illinois Fighting Illini
We couldn’t put the Illini on this list. Could we? That would make three teams from the Big Ten, the “best” (depending on who you ask) of Power Five football.
No, there were five teams worse than Illinois this week, but we see you Illini, 2-4 with your only wins against Akron and Connecticut, plus your loss to Eastern Michigan. With the heart of their Big Ten schedule coming up, the urge to expand this space to Bottom Ten is surging.
5. Kansas Jayhawks
Perhaps an oversight on our part these past weeks, particularly after their week two loss to the Sun Belt’s Coastal Carolina.
As Group of Five experts, we know that CCU is currently in last place in the Sun Belt East (conference record: 0-2), and successive losses to West Virginia, TCU, and Oklahoma have not helped the Jayhawks’ case. Over the next two weeks, KU will play Texas followed by Texas Tech, so we think it’s safe to say the softest part of the Jayhawks’ schedule is behind them.
4. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Bouncing up and down on this list this season, the Yellow Jackets out-passed Duke last week, 206 yards to 176 yards, but still managed to lose by 18 points.
Through six games, Georgia Tech has the lowest total points scored in the ACC, at only 99, and will battle 3-3 (1-2) Miami next week, where a loss could mean even more distance between this last place team and the next nearest competitor. Maybe one of Tech’s alums can engineer this squad a better game plan.
3. Northwestern Wildcats
On the one hand, the Wildcats didn’t play this past week, which meant they couldn’t fall any farther, but on the other than they didn’t win either, and remain in the bottom five, despite a vocal defense of the Wildcats on Twitter this week.
Yes, Northwestern has had some great seasons recently. And yes, they’ve had to deal with injuries this year. And that’s why their 2019 iteration is right here, banged up and looking down the barrel of a long season at this point, starting with Ohio State next week. But the news isn’t entirely bad, in this case: The Wildcats play UMass on Nov. 16.
2. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
What’s this? Did the Scarlet Knights improve this week?
Sadly, they did not, falling 35-0 on Saturday to Indiana (4-2 (1-2)). Things are not looking up for this Rutgers team, and even if they were still in the old Big East, things probably wouldn’t be much better at this point. Hey, we hear our friends over at the American are looking for a new football member?
1. Vanderbilt Commodores
For all intents and purposes, it looked like Rutgers had a lock on this spot for the season, especially rocking an interim coach for the next six weeks. But then Saturday happened.
One of the worst teams the Group of Five has to offer this year— The Mountain West’s UNLV— beat Vandy in their own house, 35-10. Considering UNLV is also on Rutgers schedule (Rutgers’ lone 2019 win), the choice was clear. It’s going to be a long season, but not for any FBS team moreso than the Commodores of the SEC.