Last week, I wrote about why I preferred the early season Bottom 25 to the later season version because the results are more volatile. Well, if that's true, then I guess I love the early results for this season's rankings more than I've ever loved them before because things are wild this year.

I'm seeing results on both ends of my rankings that I don't typically see, and I've been doing these rankings for a decade. Sure, there have been some tweaks here and there, but never anything drastic enough to cause huge waves from season to season. This offseason, I didn't make any changes, so why the strange results? I could be wrong, but my theory is we're seeing far more teams take early season byes this year. I don't recall seeing so many having played only two games following Week 3 in past seasons, and it's producing drastic results.

When you've only played two games and most everybody else has played three, one game can skew your results quite a bit. One game impacts 50 percent of your score, while it only accounts for 33 percent of a team that's played three's score. This works in either direction. Some 2-0 teams are ranked higher than they probably should or will continue to be right now. There are also 1-1 teams ranked far lower than they should be, and you'll see what I mean in this week's Bottom 25 rankings.

No Longer Ranked: South Florida (3), Liberty (4), Florida Atlantic (8), West Virginia (10), Tennessee (14), Oregon State (15), Northwestern (16), Toledo (17), Arkansas (19), Louisiana Tech (24), Miami (25)

Week 3 Superlatives

As many of you know, I rank all 130 teams using a mathematical formula I created. That system is how I compile the Bottom 25, but for those of you interested in how the rest of the rankings look, you can see them all right here (it's updated weekly after The Bottom 25 is published). I will also be sharing some weekly superlatives from the rankings here in The Bottom 25.

Highest Climber: TCU climbed 48 spots this week, all the way from No. 74 to No. 26 after beating Purdue 34-13. Yet another example of how only having played two games to this point can skew your result in either direction.

Biggest Faller: That win over Tennessee only carries so much weight, and the Panthers fell 45 spots from No. 16 to No. 61 after losing to Western Michigan 57-10. It's hard to be 2-1 and have a point differential of -33, but that's where the Panthers are.

Most Fraudulent Undefeated Team: This award goes to the worst 3-0 team in the country this week, and in my ratings, the honor goes to Minnesota. The Gophers are 3-0 but have won their three games by a total of 13 points, and they're currently ranked No. 65 in my ratings. That ranking will have a lot more meaning when you read our next superlative.

Most Average Team: This award goes to the team whose score in my ratings is closest to the average score of all 130 teams. This week, it is No. 66 Marshall. Yes, that's right, the most average team is ranked one spot below a 3-0 Minnesota team.

Best 1-Loss Team: Maryland's loss to Temple was somewhat predictable, but my ratings still like them. The Terps fell 25 spots, yes, but they were at No. 2 last week. Now they're at No. 27, ahead of eight 3-0 teams and one 2-0 team.