Powerless Five: The Final Five

The regular season has ended, and the cream has risen to the top. This article is not about those teams.

The debate continues on which Group of Five team should make a New Years Six bowl this year, and so we ask, which of these teams at the bottom could hang with the worst of the G5? Sadly, most signs point to “none.”

Northwestern beat a respectable Illinois team this past Saturday, opening the slot for a new profile in futility. Who will hold the crown, until next season rolls around?

As always, you can compare this week to last weeks list, here.

5. Maryland Terrapins

Ranked sixth out of seven teams in the Big Ten East, Maryland beat a ranked Syracuse back in week two, and it’s been all downhill from there. As mentioned, they did have that mid-season win over Rutgers, but then lost their next seven games in a row.

Their last game over the weekend was a 19-16 loss to Michigan State, perfectly respectable to a team of the Spartans caliber. That’s why the Terrapins are number five.

4. Kansas Jayhawks

It’s a bit easy to get distracted during any season where Baylor is doing well. Typically the punching bag of the Big 12, we’ve all been looking the other way while Kansas quietly, dedicatedly, ambitiously strove to steal that title for themselves. We are proud to announce they have succeeded.

Kansas has finished their regular season at 3-9 (1-8), after a 61-6 blowout, at home, against Baylor. Kansas’ three wins this season were over FCS Indiana State in week one, at Boston College in week three, and a high-scoring affair over Texas Tech on Oct. 26, the Jayhawks’ homecoming. The Red Raiders finished 4-8. Get it together, Jayhawks.

3. Vanderbilt Commodores

We knew Vandy had it in them to finish the season on this list, and they did not disappoint. After shutting out an FCS team two weeks ago, the Commodores traveled to Tennesee over the weekend and lost to the Volunteers 28-10.

While hardly a surprise, we do wish Vanderbilt good luck in the offseason, as their only power five win this year— Missouri— fired their coach at season’s end. Looks like the new decade will have this squad back in the basement yet again.

2. Arkansas Razorbacks

What else can you say about this team that hasn’t already been written this season? The Razorbacks, at 2-10 (0-8) had one of the worst SEC seasons of all time, finishing with a 24-14 loss to Missouri, making this squad officially the worst in the conference this year.

New coach, new attitude? Or same old sad story? Arkansas now has nine quick months to figure it out, as they play Notre Dame in week two next year. No matter what happens, there is nowhere to go but up, for this team.

1. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Hands down, unanimous, no holding back, the Scarlet Knights were flat-out the worst team in all of FBS this year. We say this as a site that covers UTEP, Rice, New Mexico State, and UMass, this was a team without a direction, or hope, this season. Those teams even showed improvement this year, while Rutgers... is Rutgers.

With the coach fired weeks ago, this squad decided to double-dip in the only area they’ve ever had success, and re-hire Greg Schiano to an 8-year contract worth $32 million. We’d be just as happy as anyone to see Rutgers rise up in the Big Ten standings, but for this season, they sank about as low as anyone could go.

2019 Runners-up: Georgia Tech, NC State, Ole Miss, Northwestern