With that, preseason rankings are all the rage and here at the lonely island known as the Pool Party Headquarters, it's like Christmas come early. So without further ado, here's the first installment, and it features the expected bottom feeders of the college football world.
130.)
2018 Finish: 128 (1-11, 128 WP, 80.1 LP)
Head Coach: Dana Dimel (2nd season, 1-11 overall)
Last Bowl: 2014 New Mexico Bowl
Breakdown: The Miners snapped a 20-game losing streak with a win over Rice, but followed it up with another three game skid. Kai Locksley returns under center, but ran for more touchdowns (6) than he threw (3), but also had nine interceptions. Leading rusher Quardraiz Wadley is back as well as he averaged 5.1 yards per carry on 123 attempts.
The defense returns five starters, but it probably would be better to start fresh as the Miners allowed nearly 33 points per game (99th overall) while scoring just 17.7 points (126th).
*Edit* Locksley has been kicked off the team after an arrest.
2019 Prediction: 1-11
129.)
UCONN2018 Finish: 129 (1-11,131 WP, 57.5 LP)
Head Coach: Randy Edsall (74-83 overall in 13 seasons, 1999-2010, 2017-Present)
Last Bowl: 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl
Breakdown: To say the Huskies were bad in 2018 would be an understatement. There lone win came in a 56-49 shootout against FCS opponent Rhode Island. Their last win against an FBS opponent came back in late October of 2017. The defense surrendered 50 points per contest (129th) and scored just 22 (111th) and wrapped up the 2018 season with a 57-7 thumping by Temple.
One bright spot is the return of Kevin Mensah would ran for over 1,000 yards last season, which is impressive considering how often the Huskies needed to throw the ball. Who's handing him the ball will likely be an experiment for the beginning of the season before the Huskies settle on a full-time starter.
2019 Prediction: 2-10
128.)
Rice2018 Finish: 125 (2-11, 114.5 WP, 57.6 LP)
Head Coach: Mike Bloomgren (1-11 overall, 2nd Season)
Last Bowl: 2014 Hawai'i Bowl
Breakdown: Rice lost the Pillow Fight of the Year to UTEP, but were able to snap an 11-game skid to bookend their season with wins. Aside from the receiving corp the offense is pretty much brand new. The defense looks to improve on being in the bottom 20 in nearly every category except rushing yards allowed (69th), but that's only because it was so easy to throw on them.
Their non-conference schedule does lend any favors as Army, Wake Forest, Texas, and Baylor were all bowl teams last season.
2019 Prediction: 1-11
127.)
New Mexico State2018 Finish: 111 (3-9, 111.3 WP, 80.2 LP)
Head Coach: Doug Martin (20-53 overall, 7th season)
Last Bowl: 2017 Arizona Bowl
Breakdown: It's hard not to believe that Doug Martin is not feeling a little uncomfortable in his chair as the Aggies regressed in 2018 after going to their first bowl game in over 50 years. Josh Adkins returns as the gunslinger in Las Cruces, as New Mexico State ranked 30th in the FBS in passing yards.
As an independent, the Aggies schedule is chalked full of money games like Washington State and Alabama, rivalries against UTEP and New Mexico, and for the second straight season, a home-and-home with Liberty, which the two schools split last year.
2019 Prediction: 3-9
126.)
San Jose State2018 Finish: 126 (1-11, 111 WP, 52.7 LP)
Head Coach: Brett Brennan (3-22 overall, 3rd Season)
Last Bowl: 2015 Cure Bowl
Breakdown: This team was a lot of fun to watch at points throughout the season. However, they were also maddeningly inconsistent which led them to lose a home opener against FCS UC Davis, a five overtime loss to Hawai'i, and a loss to Colorado State where they scored 30 points in the third and still managed to lose 42-30.
Josh Love can sling the pigskin, but the Spartans need to find the endzone more in 2019. San Jose State averaged just 21 points per game while allowing 36.
2019 Prediction: 4-8
125.)
South Alabama2018 Finish: (3-9, 107.3 WP, 62 LP)
Head Coach: Steve Campbell (3-9 overall, 2nd Season)
Last Bowl: 2016 Arizona Bowl
Breakdown: The Jaguars ended the 2018 season on a high note with a victory over Coastal Carolina. In all likelihood that will come crashing down hard in a road opener against Nebraska, but should spike back up when they open at home against FCS Jackson State.
Tra Minter is one of the few skill players returning for USA, but he'll have four of the five same hogs blocking for him. They'll have to be more physical as the Jaguars averaged just 152 yards on the ground (T-92nd). The defense that gave up nearly 39 points per game gets a complete face lift with just three returning starters.
2019 Prediction: 2-10
124.)
UMass2018 Finish: 102 (4-8, 99.8 WP, 59.5 LP)
Head Coach: Walt Bell (1st Season)
Last Bowl: None
Breakdown: The time had come for Mark Whipple to go in Amherst, and the Minutemen brought in Walt Bell, who had spent 2018 as the Florida State offensive coordinator. At just 34, Bell represents the young offensive-minded coach that seem to be all the rage.
UMass didn't have much trouble on the offensive side of the ball as they averaged 32.8 points per game (35th) and 298 yards passing (14th), but Andy Isabella and his nearly 1,700 yards receiving are now playing for the Arizona Cardinals. Michael Curtis was one of three quarterbacks used in 2018, but he'll look to take over the starting gig in 2019.
The defense needs to improve on a dismal 43 points allowed (126th) and almost 500 yards allowed per game.
2019 Prediction: 5-7
123.)
Georgia State2018 Finish: 121 (2-10, 103 WP, 69.4 LP)
Head Coach: Shawn Elliott (9-15 overall, 3rd Season)
Last Bowl: 2017 Cure Bowl
Breakdown: The Panthers finished the year on a seven game skid and ended up allowing over 37 points per game (121st) to just 24 points scored (T-103rd). The good news is that this group of guys returns with another year under their belt as 14 starters return including All-Sun Belt punter Brandon Wright, who also doubles as the kicker.
Senior Dan Ellington who amassed nearly 3,000 total yards and 17 total touchdowns and has some help from Tra Barnett, who ran for seven touchdowns despite starting just five games last season.
2019 Prediction: 3-9
122.)
UTSA2018 Finish: 115 (3-9, 116.3 WP, 55.8 LP)
Head Coach: Frank Wilson (15-21 overall, 4th season)
Last Bowl: 2016 New Mexico Bowl
Breakdown: The Roadrunners were looking good at the beginning of conference play as they were sitting at 3-3. Then offense simply couldn't score. UTSA posted a dismal 14.2 points per game (128th) and were held to seven points or less in five contests.
The defense lost a lot of players on a team that was drastically better against the run than the pass. One of the few bright spots on the pass defense is Cassius Grady who led the team with four interceptions last year.
2019 Prediction: 3-9
121.)
2018 Finish: 125 (2-10, 128 WP, 72.1 LP)
Head Coach: Sean Lewis (2-10 overall, 2nd Season)
Last Bowl: 2012 Godaddy.com Bowl
Breakdown: It's been a while since the Golden Flashes played for a bowl game, but with a lot of offense weapons coming back and coach Sean Lewis getting some first year bugs fixed, it might be the year. The offense weren't terrible at moving the ball, but turnovers and low scoring outputs proved costly.
The year nearly started with an upset of Illinois, but that was most of the highlights as Kent State lost nine of their final ten games including a devastating overtime loss to rival Akron. Junior quarterback Woody Barrett returns to showcase his arm (2,339 yards, 11 TD) and legs (503 yards, 7 TD). The defense returns most of the linebacking corp that needs to improve their ability to stop the run as opponents ran for 220 yards per game (114th).
2019 Prediction: 4-8
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