Bottom 10: Minutemen fire shot heard 'round the college football world — SkimNews
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- UMass entered 2026 as the preseason No. 1 in the Bottom 10 after a 16-game losing streak, then opened the season by upsetting Rutgers on the road to land at No. 10 in the post-Week 1 poll.
- Rutgers seized the No. 1 spot in the Week 1 rankings after the home loss to UMass, with the column invoking Greg Schiano's 2017 Tennessee job-offer rescission and likening the upset to a Bruce Springsteen ballad.
- Charlotte landed at No. 2 after falling to The Citadel in triple overtime — the Bulldogs' second-ever FBS win, improving to 9-52 all-time against top-tier opponents, with Charlotte headed to Ole Miss next.
- Northern Illinois checked in at No. 3 following a 40-0 loss at Iowa, pocketing a $1.6 million guarantee as the Huskies prepare to open Mountain West play later this month.
- Kent State (No. 4) lost 57-0 at South Carolina for a $1.3 million payout, while Clemson (No. 5) absorbed a 51-10 beating from Lane Kiffin's LSU to claim the "Coveted Fifth Spot."
- UTEP (No. 8, 51-0 at Oklahoma, $1.3M), ULM (No. 7, 62-13 at Mississippi State, $1.45M) and Missouri State (No. 6, 50-0 at Texas A&M, $1.2M) all earned their ranking through lopsided road losses cushioned by seven-figure guarantee checks.
Why it matters: The UMass upset is the Bottom 10's signature chaos event: a team pegged as the nation's worst, riding a 16-game losing streak, beats an FBS opponent in Week 1 and crashes the entire preseason premise. The payouts listed for NIU, Kent State, Missouri State, ULM and UTEP — totaling roughly $6.85 million across five beatdowns — show how Group of Five programs bankroll their seasons by absorbing Power-conference route jobs, a structural reality that keeps the Bottom 10 well-fed every September.
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