College football rankings: Purdue sets new bar for Power Four futility in Bottom 25

As the 2024 regular season nears its end almost all of the conversation surrounds the 12-team College Football Playoff. Multiple Power Four programs are making a push toward the postseason and await each precious rankings release with bated breath. 

Then there’s the opposite end of the spectrum. The teams that have already been eliminated from even bowl contention, with nothing but pride to play for and one more game to look forward to in Week 14. 

Then there’s Purdue, which is so far below every other power conference program — and a good majority of the FBS — that it deserves its own category. The Boilermakers are one of the worst teams that the Big Ten has seen this side of 2010. 

They rank near the bottom, or at the very bottom, of the Big Ten in most major statistical categories: 

• Total offense: 320.4 yards per game (16th in Big Ten)
• Scoring offense: 17.2 points per game (17th) 
• Passing yards: 195.7 ypg (15th)
• Total defense: 440.9 ypg (18th) 
• Scoring defense: 37.5 ppg (18th)
• Rushing defense: 197 ypg (18th)

Those defensive numbers are especially appalling when you remember that Purdue coach Ryan Walters was a DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR before taking his current job. The Boilermakers axed offensive coordinator Graham Harrell just four games into his second season. Somehow, that didn’t fix anything. It’s almost like Purdue’s issues are more deeply rooted than a singular scapegoated coordinator. 

There’s not a ton of hope that the Boilermakers are going to avoid their first 11-loss season since 2013. They close the year against an Indiana team that — much to Purdue’s chagrin — is enjoying arguably its best season in program history under first-year coach Curt Cignetti. 

Cignetti has the Hoosiers well-situated in most major top 10s and on the brink of the College Football Playoff. Purdue has been outscored 195-17 in its four games against top-10 teams this year. 

Purdue has been an excellent addition to the Bottom 25 this year and, without spoiling too much, the Boilermakers are setting a new bar in futility for a Power Four team. 

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Bottom 25 rankings

The illustrious Tom Fornelli created the formula that we still use to generate the Bottom 25, but he has since passed on his writing duties. To be clear, the rankings are based on a series of calculations, but the quips are entirely man-made.