UMass was running for its life all season in 2025.
Thirteen straight losses is what the UMass Minutemen will carry going into 2026, but they can now claim the top...err...bottom spot in this year's Pool Poll. The return to the MAC was not kind for the men from Amherst, who bumbled their way to the bottom. While first year coach Joe Harasymiak wasn't going to get fired, 11 teams on this list will be welcoming a new face on the sidelines when next season rolls around. Thanks to several recent personal issues among coaches in the Great Lakes region, the number of coaching new hires will be at 33 overall. Those two recent vacancies, Ohio and Michigan, are the only two that have not been filled.
Here's a look at how these lovable losers made it to the bottom.
UMass was this close to winning its only game of the season.
136. UMass (0-12, 0 WA, 108 LA)
Preseason Rank: 135
Prediction: 2-10
Season Recap: It was a rough season for the Minutemen to say the least. Seven games were decided by 30 points or more and ten by at least 18 or more. Two brutal games stuck out the most. Bryant (FCS) kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired to win 27-26 in Week 2. Then, pictured above was a game against Buffalo in which the Minutemen picked off the Bulls with a minute left. They received a celebration penalty for assuming they were going to win, but Buffalo had all three time outs and forced a punt, that did not go well. Buffalo ended up getting the ball back and scored with under 30 seconds to play to stun UMass, 28-21. That was the last time anything was close as they finished the season getting kicked around by Pudge and BGSU, 45-14. Only Akron was a worse LA than UMass, but even they beat the Minutemen by 34 points.
135. Georgia State (1-11, 256, 62.4)
Preseason Rank: 122
Prediction: 3-9
Season Recap: The Panthers lone win came against hapless Murray State (FCS) who also finished 1-11 on the season. Georgia State only played in two games decided by one score and surprisingly one of those was a 14-7 loss to James Madison.
134. Charlotte (1-11, 190, 51.6)
Preseason Rank: 114
Prediction: 3-9
Season Recap: Tim Albin left after winning a MAC Championship at Ohio (or maybe it was because Brian Smith kept asking if he wanted to have a drink in his office) and somehow Charlotte felt like a step down. It certainly was this year as the 49ers defeated Monmouth (FCS) 42-35 for their only victory. All 11 losses were by at least 11 points, and their final three games saw them outscored 90-10 although two of those games were against playoff teams (Tulane and Georgia).
133. Oklahoma State (1-11, 162, 57.6)
Preseason Rank: 104
Prediction: 5-7
Season Recap: Perhaps the biggest shock of the season was just how bad the Cowboys were this season. Mike Gundy was fired after 21 seasons and was the second longest tenured coach only behind Kirk Ferentz (Iowa) and was tied with Utah's Kyle Whittingham (he announced his retirement this season). Fun fact, EMU's Chris Creighton is now the 7th longest tenured coach after Mark Stoops (UK-13) and James Franklin (Penn State-12) were fired. Anyway, the season was so bad that the students decided to start a trend of gathering mobs of shirtless young men and having them wave said shirts above their heads. After their win over Tennessee-Martin (FCS), the Pokes had four chances at wins, but fell in one score games to Iowa State, Kansas State, UCF, and worst of all, Tulsa. Eric Morris was nabbed from North Texas after leading the Mean Green to the AAC Championship this season.
132. Boston College (2-10, 187, 58.1)
Preseason Rank: 52
Prediction: 6-6
Season Recap: The Eagles bookended their season with wins as they opened with a beatdown of Fordham (FCS) and then took it to Syracuse, 34-12, to end the season. In between they just had three other losses that were by one score. They came up just short in double overtime against Michigan State, lost by two to Georgia Tech, and then by four to Cal.
131. Purdue (2-10, 178, 44.9)
Preseason Rank: 123
Prediction: 3-9
Season Recap: The Boilermakers began the Barry Odom era with wins over Ball State and Southern Illinois (FCS), but then came an onslaught of brutality known as the Big Ten. Their schedule included seven teams that were ranked in the Top 25 throughout the season, including two playoff teams, and one that should've been in the playoffs. That had a brief run of close losses to Minnesota (7), Michigan (5), and Rutgers (3), but ended the season with Ohio State (24), Washington (36), and most embarrassingly, Indiana (53).
The Trent Bray era did not survive to see the rebirth of the Pac 12.
130. Oregon State (2-10, 169.5, 77.8)
Preseason Rank: 90
Prediction: 7-5
Season Recap: I sure was high on the Beavers in 2025, but that unraveled quickly after seven straight losses to open the season. Two of those were close as they dropped an overtime contest to Houston and then lost by four to Appalachian State. That was enough to get Bray fired. With an interim coach, the Beavs rattled off back-to-back wins over Lafayette (FCS) and Washington State. Then winless Sam Houston State knocked them off their high horse and the Cougars exacted revenge to split the Pac 2 title. Bray's replacement was found in the assistant coaching tree from Alabama as JaMarcus Shephard goes from Co-Offensive Coordinator to head coach of Oregon State.
129. UTEP (2-10, 148.5, 78.9)
Preseason Rank: 130
Prediction: 4-8
Season Recap: The Miners earned their two measly wins over UTM (FCS) and Sam Houston State, but were all over the place the rest of the season. On one hand they played Jacksonville State, New Mexico State, and Louisiana Monroe to close finishes and even made Arch Manning look like a chump for taunting a UTEP player in a 27-10 win for the Longhorns. Texas' slight struggle was not the same experience for Delaware, who dropped 61 on the Miners in the final game of the season.
128. Arkansas (2-10, 136, 49.1)
Preseason Rank: 63
Prediction: 5-7
Season Recap: Arkansas was the Purdue of the SEC facing a brutal schedule that had 8 teams who spent time in the Top 25, also including Notre Dame (these two teams likely didn't help the Irish in their toughness of schedule). Thank goodness Alabama A&M (FCS) and Arkansas State were on the schedule to open the season for the Razorbacks as those would be the last two wins in the Sam Pittman era. He would get fired after the blowout loss by Notre Dame and a one-point loss to Memphis. Former head coach Bobby Petrino, thrust back in the saddle, saw Mississippi State get its first SEC win since 2023, but that was during a run of four SEC games decided by three points or less. Ryan Silverfield was so impressive in his upset of Arkansas that they offered him the job to leave Memphis and come to Fayetteville.
127. Colorado State (2-10, 135, 68.8)
Preseason Rank: 67
Prediction: 8-4
Season Recap: I honestly thought Jay Norvell leaving Nevada for Colorado State was a lateral move, but now it's a move that cost him his job. The Rams fired him midway through the season after the Rams lost to Hawaii in Week 8. Prior to that, his wins were against Northern Colorado (FCS) and Fresno State, but they also lost by one to UTSA and were blown out by Washington, Washington State, and San Diego State. In his absence, the Rams were outscored 191-59 in their final five games, although they nearly stunned New Mexico. Jim Mora Jr. leaves UConn to become the new head coach in Fort Collins.
126. Sam Houston State (2-10, 96.5, 84.5)
Preseason Rank: 47
Prediction: 6-6
Season Recap: The Bearkats can claim to be the only two-win team with wins over two FBS opponents. That's because they chose not to punch down but take shots at teams like Texas and take a trip to Hawaii. That was not a recipe for success as they were only close in one game (Jacksonville State) of their first eight losses. Then came a much needed reset with a win over Oregon State and then they followed that up with a win over upstart Delaware. Then they were outscored 87-33 in their final two games to close out the season.
ULM once beat Alabama in 2007, but 2025 was 73-0 beatdown.
125. Louisiana Monroe (3-9, 152.3, 75.6)
Preseason Rank: 119
Prediction: 4-8
Season Recap: The Warhawks opened the season with three wins in four games. First it was St. Francis (PA), the only winless team in the FCS, then wins over Arkansas State and UTEP followed their slaughter at the hands of Alabama. Then the Northwestern game sparked seven-straight games of double-digit losses for ULM. They snapped that streak by forcing overtime with their rivals from Lafayette, but the Ragin' Cajuns snuck away with a victory.
124. Northern Illinois (3-9, 142, 82.6)
Preseason Rank: 89
Prediction: 7-5
Season Recap: Well, the Huskies final year in the MAC was a rough one. They could only secure two wins in conference (Ball State and UMass), while also picking up a win over Holy Cross (FCS). They will now transition to the all-new Mountain West, that will see 5 Mountain West teams head to the Pac 12, while NIU joins UTEP as the newest members of the conference.
123. Syracuse (3-9, 130, 58.8)
Preseason Rank: 28
Prediction: 7-5
Season Recap: The Orange had the biggest drop from the preseason to the end of the season. They started off great with a 3-1 start that included wins over UConn and Clemson, as well as Colgate (FCS). Then the wheels fell completely off. Syracuse was outscored 309-89 in its final eight games, including a 70-7 dismantling by Notre Dame.
122. Nevada (3-9, 121.3, 54.7)
Preseason Rank: 117
Prediction: 3-9
Season Recap: The Wolfpack were dangerously close to a bowl season but were 2-3 in one score games. They narrowly escaped an upset by Sacramento State (FCS) and snuck past Wyoming, but were unable to get past Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico, and Fresno State. Everything else was pretty lopsided, but they did randomly throttle San Jose State 55-10. Outside of that game the Wolfpack only scored 22 or fewer in their other 11 contests.
121. Virginia Tech (3-9, 107, 44.3)
Preseason Rank: 56
Prediction: 6-6
Season Recap: The Hokies losing to South Carolina and Vanderbilt in the opening weeks is acceptable. Getting lambasted by Old Dominion at home was certainly not and Brent Pry was fired right after the game. Va Tech managed wins over Wofford (FCS) and NCST after his firing and even a double-overtime thriller against Cal, but they finished the season on a four-game losing skid, culminating in a 27-7 loss to Virginia. James Franklin moves on from his firing by Penn State to try to bring some sustainability back to a once proud program.
The Blue Raiders are actually on a two-game winning streak to end the season.
120. Middle Tennessee State (3-9, 105.7, 96.7)
Preseason Rank: 125
Prediction: 5-7
Season Recap: The Blue Raiders were absolutely smashed by Austin Peay (FCS) to open the season, and it looked dire from there. They did eke out a one-point win over Nevada but lost their next four one score games to fall to a 1-9 record. Luckily, they found their stride in the last two weeks to earn wins over Sam Houston State and New Mexico State. The last one came in a double-overtime thriller. Maybe it was enough to save his job this season, but Derek Mason might be sweating in his hot seat.
119. San Jose State (3-9, 81.7, 82.3)
Preseason Rank: 66
Prediction: 8-4
Season Recap: The Spartans were a few bounces away from a bowl season but were 3-4 in one score games. It started with a 2-point loss to Central Michigan, then a 3-point win over Idaho (FCS), a 1-point loss to Stanford, a 7-point win over New Mexico, 7-point loss to Wyoming, 5-point loss to Utah State, and finally a 7-point win over Hawaii. That win was the last highlight and the offense completely disappeared from then on scoring just 43 points in the final four games.
118. Colorado (3-9, 80.3, 52.4)
Preseason Rank: 38
Prediction: 5-7
Season Recap: Deion Sanders celebrated the post-Shedeur era with wins over Delaware, Wyoming, and Iowa State, but that's it. They played Georgia Tech and BYU close early on, but then they allowed 50 points in back-to-back losses to finish the season with 5-straight losses. Needless to say, the Deion era in Colorado is a very underwhelming.
117. UCLA (3-9, 52, 46)
Preseason Rank: 73
Prediction: 5-7
Season Recap: It was clear Deshaun Foster may have been over his head during the Big Ten media day last season. His tenure didn't make it a full two years as the Bruins lost four games to open the season, including two losses to two (albeit good) Mountain West teams. Without Foster the Bruins seemed like easy pickings for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions must've missed their flight out west because UCLA pulled off a stunning 42-37 win. They followed that with a win over Michigan State, a game that likely cost Jonathan Smith his job like Foster and Franklin. Maryland was the next victim, and it looked like UCLA had turned things around. Unfortunately, the football gods unveiled a nightmare finish of Indiana, Ohio State, Washington, USC, and Nebraska to make it five straight losses to end the season. James Madison's Bob Chesney hopes to find the same success in the Big Ten as his predecessor, Curt Cignetti, as the new coach of UCLA.
116. New Mexico State (4-8, 160.5, 73.5)
Preseason Rank: 126
Prediction: 3-9
Season Recap: The Aggies were just 2-4 in one score games and lost some brutal contests after a quick 2-0 start. Those wins came against Bryant (FCS) and Tulsa (they beat UMass and OKST respectively) and earned another win over Sam Houston State to move to 3-2 on the season. Then came four straight losses, including a three-point loss to Liberty and an overtime loss to Missouri State. The finally snapped the losing streak with a win over UTEP, but lost in overtime to Middle Tennessee State to end their season.
It was hard to watch the Cowboys this season.
115. Wyoming (4-8, 141.5, 68.3)
Preseason Rank: 116
Prediction: 2-10
Season Recap: Wyoming played in just three contests that were one score games, winning just one. They began the year with double-digit wins over Akron and Northern Iowa (FCS). Then came three-straight losses before they surprised San Jose State and nearly earned a fourth win in a 3-point loss to Air Force. A blowout of Colorado State was their final bright spot before mustering just 24 points in their final four games.
114. Air Force (4-8, 127, 55)
Preseason Rank: 88
Prediction: 8-4
Season Recap: The season began as it should with a 49-13 win over Bucknell, but the defense from that point allowed 227 points over its next five games (45.4 ppg). They corrected that in their win over Wyoming and picked up wins over San Jose State and Colorado State along the way to finish with four wins. They lost to their service academy rivals by a total of six points. After all the recent hirings and firings, Troy Calhoun now finds himself alone as the second longest tenured coach in college football.
113. North Carolina (4-8, 121, 58)
Preseason Rank: 61
Prediction: 8-4
Season Recap: The Tar Heels thought their big hire of Bill Belichick was going to get them back on track, but year one was not ideal. It started with a blowout at the hands of TCU, then two easy landing wins against Charlotte and Richmond (FCS). Next came four-straight losses, two blowouts and two brutal one-score losses to Cal and Virginia. Things were briefly back on track with wins over Syracuse and Stanford but then came a Carolina gut punch of losses to rivals Wake Forest, Duke, and worst of all, a 23-point loss to NCST to end the season.
112. South Alabama (4-8, 119.5, 72)
Preseason Rank: 84
Prediction: 8-4
Season Recap: The Jaguars had an interesting season. They only had four blowout losses, they nearly beat Tulane, hung around with Auburn, and nearly knocked off Troy. They were able to earn wins over Morgan State (FCS), Georgia State, Louisiana Monroe, and most impressively, Southern Miss.
111. Michigan State (4-8, 117, 53.9)
Preseason Rank: 80
Prediction: 6-6
Season Recap: The Jonathan Smith era was a disaster for MSU, but the season started with three-straight wins. Granted they were against Western Michigan, Boston College (2OT), and Youngstown State (FCS). Big Ten play rolled around, and they were crushed week after week until they lost in overtime against Minnesota, lost to Penn State post James Franklin, and nearly upset Iowa. They finally snapped their losing streak with a 38-28 win over Maryland, but by then it was too late for Smith. He was let go and replaced by Pat Fitzgerald, who showed an ability to have success with fewer resources while at Northwestern.
At least the Owls won their homecoming game.
110. Florida Atlantic (4-8, 117, 43.8)
Preseason Rank: 115
Prediction: 3-9
Season Recap: The Owls found themselves at even strength at the midway point after wins over FAMU (FCS), Rice, and UAB. The second half of the season was much more difficult to find wins as they could only defeat Tulsa and allowed a staggering 236 points (39.3 ppg) in the second half.
109. Liberty (4-8, 116, 74.5)
Preseason Rank: 44
Prediction: 10-2
Season Recap: The Flames drop off was significant in 2025. That didn't mean they weren't competitive, but a slow start after their win against Maine (FCS) in the opener put them in a 1-4 hole. They brought it back to 4-4 with wins over UTEP, New Mexico State, and Delaware, but then went on a series of heartbreaking losses. First was a four-point loss to Missouri State and then three-straight overtime losses to FIU, La Tech, and Kennesaw State.
108. Ball State (4-8, 112.3, 94)
Preseason Rank: 128
Prediction: 3-9
Season Recap: The Cardinals had the unfortunate ask of trying to win six games after two blowout Power 4 losses and the hardest MAC schedule this season. They managed to beat Ohio, Kent State, and Akron, but failed to knock off lesser foes Eastern Michigan, NIU to pick up the sixth win. That put them in a difficult position to win their final two games against Toledo and Miami (OH), which they lost by a combined score of 83-33.
107. Maryland (4-8, 110, 56.6)
Preseason Rank: 94
Prediction: 6-6
Season Recap: The Terrapins started off 4-0 and won their Big Ten opener over Wisconsin. Then they proceeded to lose their next eight games. First it was single score losses to Washington, Nebraska, and UCLA, but then it was blowouts by Indiana, Rutgers, Illinois, Michigan, and Michigan State.
106. Eastern Michigan (4-8, 109.5, 95.3)
Preseason Rank: 112
Prediction: 3-9
Season Recap: This was one of the worst defenses that EMU has rolled out since I had to suffer through the 2009 season. This porous defense blew leads or missed key stops at any given moment. The offense boasted the MAC's leading passer in Noah Kim, who imploded against Western in the finale, and the third leading rusher (1,000 rusher Dontae McMillan). They lost to an FCS team (LIU) somehow beat Louisiana, went for two and missed in overtime against Buffalo, blew a lead against Ohio, and gave it to NIU one last time before they left for the Mountain West. They put together back-to-back wins over Ball State and Bowling Green but couldn't make it three in a row to end the season. The Eagles obviously changed defensive coordinators, and Chris Creighton will head into his 12th season in Ypsilanti the same way he has, trying to find transfers willing to play for the chance to win the first MAC Championship since 1987.
Tulsa beat OKST for the first time since 1998.
105. Tulsa (4-8, 107.3, 77.3)
Preseason Rank: 131
Prediction: 4-8
Season Recap: Were the Golden Hurricane good or bad? It depended on what week you saw them play. They beat an FCS playoff team (Abilene Christian), knocked off a Power 4 school (OKST), and earned back-to-back wins over Oregon State and Army. However, they also lost to four teams with losing records and allowed at least 30 points in seven of their eight losses.
104. UAB (4-8, 105.5, 85.5)
Preseason Rank: 113
Prediction: 3-9
Season Recap: The Trent Dilfer era was another failed experiment that didn't even last two full seasons. The Blazers fell to 2-4 early with wins over Alabama State (FCS) and Akron, but an 18-point loss to Army and a 30-point loss to Florida Atlantic cost Dilfer his job. To make matters worse, they won the next game over a ranked Memphis in his absence. It went back to rough sailing, but the reason they are at 104 and Tulsa is at 105 is because UAB knocked off the Hurricane 31-24 to end the year. Alex Mortensen shed the interim tag and will become the full-time head coach for UAB in 2026.
103. Bowling Green (4-8, 103.3, 86)
Preseason Rank: 103
Prediction: 7-5
Season Recap: Eddie George and Pudge the cat had Bowling Green riding high early in the season. Wins over Liberty and Lafayette (FCS) paired with a win over rival Toledo put them at 3-3 and with an easy schedule in the MAC, a bowl bid looked like a lock. The MAC always has other plans. CMU, Kent State, Buffalo, Akron, and EMU were all losses eliminating the Falcons from bowl contention. They took their frustrations out on UMass and dropped 45 on the Minutemen to end the season on a high note.
102. Florida (4-8, 100, 29.3)
Preseason Rank: 27
Prediction: 6-6
Season Recap: Billy Napier needed a good season to save his job and a win over LIU (FCS) was not going to be the victory that held it. Losses to USF, LSU, and Miami (FL) turned the heat all the way up and even though the Gators shocked Texas, they followed that with another blowout loss to Texas A&M. He won his final game, a close call against Mississippi State, but that was enough to get the axe. They dropped their first four after his firing but cleansed the palette with a dominating win over Florida State to end the season. Jon Sumrall heads over from Tulane to try and revive the Gators program.
101. Stanford (4-8, 87.5, 51.5)
Preseason Rank: 105
Prediction: 4-8
Season Recap: The Cardinal had a rough beginning of the season when they fired Troy Taylor, who was let go for bullying and inappropriate behavior towards female staff members. Frank Reich did his buddy Andrew Luck a favor and took the reins for the 2025 season. The wins were few and far between, but he did secure victories over Boston College and San Jose State. They kicked Florida State while they were down with a 20-13 win and most importantly, they beat Cal. Former Stanford QB and Washington Commanders QB coach, Tavita Pritchard, takes over as the new head coach.
