For the first time in these rankings, there are no teams with losing records. Some made a late push, while others went out with a thud heading into the 2023 season. No matter how they got here, no one can take away the bowl revenue they generated and the eyeballs they got from their midweek, midday TV time. Here are those that just made it to greener pastures.
70. Memphis (7-6, 102.1 WP, 50 LP)
PR: 8-4 (74)
LYR: 69
Recap: The Tigers jumped out to a 4-1 start with their lone loss coming against Mississippi State to open the season. Then a bumpy road that saw four losses by 10 points or less to bowl-bound squads put Memphis in a must-win situation. They got their two wins against Tulsa and North Alabama (FCS) but lost a shot at three wins when SMU held on 34-31. It was a mismatch in the First Responder Bowl as the Tigers were superior to Utah State and routed them 38-10. The win made sure that Memphis would not have its first losing season since 2013.
69. New Mexico State (7-6, 100.7, 90.3)
PR: 2-10 (131)
LYR: 126
Recap: The Aggies came in ranked as the worst team in the nation and didn't do anything to prove me wrong early in the season. They got off to a dismal 1-5 start before knocking off New Mexico. That started a three-game win streak heading into San Jose State. That game was canceled due to a tragic car accident that claimed the life of a Spartans player. Unable to reschedule, the Aggies' bowl hopes shrank when they were beaten by Missouri with only one game remaining. A shocking win over Liberty put them in a precarious situation and they asked the NCAA for a waiver because of their circumstances. They found an FCS opponent in Valpo, but they needed a waiver because that would have been two wins over FCS schools to reach six wins, a rule that kept Army and App State out of bowls. The NCAA granted their request and New Mexico State was going bowling in Detroit. The Aggies kept their bowl record perfect as they won 24-19 over Bowling Green. Jerry Kill's first year in Las Cruces could not have gone better and now NMST joins its first conference since the WAC was dissolved as a football conference. They will be participating in Conference USA, joining newcomers Liberty, Jacksonville State, and Sam Houston State.
68. Wyoming (7-6, 100, 53.3)
PR: 3-9 (82)
LYR: 55
Recap: The Cowboys lost all their quarterbacks to the transfer portal at the end of last season, but somehow, they were able to get off to a 7-3 start. Then towards the end of the season things began to fall apart. It started with a loss to Boise State and then a shut out by Fresno State ended the regular season. In arguably the worst announced bowl game of 2022, Wyoming met Ohio in the Barstool Arizona Bowl. Wyoming rallied late to take a lead, but the Bobcats hit a field goal near the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. The Cowboys got a field goal in their half, but OU tossed a game-winning touchdown to win 30-27.
67. San Diego State (7-6, 97.4, 78.3)
PR: 9-3 (37)
LYR: 8
Recap: The Aztecs were bound to fall from last season's performance, but this was a littler farther than expected. San Diego State started 4-4, but got three straight wins over a couple MWC bottom feeders and San Jose State. They were stiffled in the final game by Air Force, but got a nice consollation prize for their season with a trip to the Hawaii Bowl. The Aztecs held Middle Tennessee State to -66 yards rushing thanks to a flurry of sacks, but they also committed 5 turnovers. Those proved costly as they suffered death by field goal and the Blue Raiders won 25-23.
66. SMU (7-6, 93.3, 40)
PR: 9-3 (40)
LYR: 40
Recap: The Mustangs struggled right out of the gate going 3-4. Then offense began clicking with three straight wins where they averaged 54.3 points per game. The big moment came in the highest scoring regulation FBS game when they beat Houston 77-63 with Tanner Mordecai (who announced they were transfering to Wisconsin) throwing 9 touchdowns in the win. They split their final two games and earned a trip to the New Mexico Bowl against BYU. Trailing by 14 in the fourth quarter, the Mustangs went and scored twice, and with 8 seconds left, they elected to go for two. Unfortunately, they were just short and lost 24-23 to the Cougars.
65. Washington State (7-6, 93.3, 27.7)
PR: 6-6 (68)
LYR: 58
Recap: The Cougars jumped out to a 4-1 start and looked like the surprise team in the PAC-12, but then they ran into a tough stretch that dropped them back to .500. A softer patch allowed a three-game win streak to manifest before they were dismantled in the Apple Cup by their instate rival. They still earned a trip to the L.A. Bowl in Jake Dickert's first full season. There they met Fresno State who took the challenge a little more seriously, popping the Cougars in the mouth early and often to upend Wazzu 29-6.
64. UAB (7-6, 86.4, 52.2)
PR: 9-3 (64)
LYR: 35
Recap: When I made the prediction I was expecting Bill Clark to be the head coach, but then right before the season started, he announced that he was retiring. Bryant Vincent took over for the season. He was up and down, leading the team to a 4-5 start and desperately in need of two wins in their final three games. They did so with ease knocking over North Texas and Louisiana Tech to earn their way to the Bahamas Bowl. Before the bowl game, it was announced that former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer would be the new head coach. Players had petititoned for Vincent to remain the head coach, but their requests fell on deaf ears. Still, Vincent got a strong performance from his team in his final game as the defense kept Miami (OH) out of the end zone on the final play to win 24-20.
63. Southern Miss (7-6, 86.1, 51.5)
PR: 5-7 (119)
LYR: 117
Recap: Despite a very sweaty start for Will Hall and Southern Miss, they were able to get off to a 5-3 record that included a win over Tulane. Then came three-straight losses and the Golden Eagles were in desperation mode if they wanted to go bowling. Luckily, they had Louisiana Monroe in their final game and clinched a spot in the LendingTree Bowl against a 5-7 Rice team. Frank Gore Jr. looked more and more like his father as they game went on, but did something not even his pops did in a bowl game. Gore set the all-time rushing record at the FBS level with 329 yards on just 21 carries and added three touchdowns as Southern Miss rolled 38-24.
62. Buffalo (7-6, 86, 85)
PR: 4-8 (106)
LYR: 105
Recap: The Bulls went full MACtion early on in the season. They got blown out by a Big Ten team, lost to an FCS team, and then nearly beat a Group of 5 powerhouse. So of course when conference play came about and Eastern Michigan, who beat a Pac-12 school, was on the dockett, they would blow out their fellow MAC opponent. That led to five straight victories and all of the sudden, the Bulls were primed for a MAC Championship run. Except Ohio wasn't impressed by their new success and dehorned the Bulls, which they followed with a loss to Central Michigan and an overtime loss to Kent State. Suddenly, Buffalo needed a win in a make-up game (unsafe blizzard conditions) with Akron to just make a bowl game. Down late, Buffalo got very lucky to hold off a Zips win and earned a trip to the Camellia Bowl. A late surge once again came the Bulls way and they knocked off former quarterback Kyle Vantrease and Georgia Southern, 23-21.
61. Wisconsin (7-6, 84.6, 52.5)
PR: 10-2 (19)
LYR: 31
Recap: There was nothing that indicated that Wisconsin would completly fall off the map in the Big Ten West, but that's exactly what happened. The Badgers opened to a 2-3 start with losses to Washington State, Ohio State, and Illinois. Apparently, administration couldn't see how good Illinois was going to be and assumed that this loss was unacceptable and fired Paul Chryst in a shocking move. Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard took over and righted the ship with a blowout win against Northwestern, but followed that with a loss to struggling Michigan State team in overtime. To prove no one actually wanted to win the Big Ten West, the Badgers beat Purdue, Maryland, and Nebraska to get back into the race. However, they dropped two of their final three games to Iowa and Minnesota. That last game especially hurt since the Gophers retained Paul Bunyan's Axe, something they hadn't done since the mid-90s. Wisconsin made a splash in the hiring process, luring Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell back to the Big Ten. Leonhard coached the Badgers in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl and got the Badgers to play to their strengths. Wisconsin ran for over 250 yards, forced two key turnovers, and held the ball for nearly 40 minutes in their 24-17 win over a slumping Oklahoma State. Fickell will get a pass happy quarterback when SMU's Tanner Mordecai comes to Madison this spring.
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