ESPN's Shocking Prediction: 2025's Underdog Major Team to Hit Rock Bottom!

In the kaleidoscopic whirlwind of college football, where legends are born in sixty minutes on a field, I often wonder. Did Kirk Herbstreit call the right shot? Not about the football, but about his partner in life—did she ever imagine she’d be linked to predictions about, of all things, the potential cellar dwellers of the College Football Playoff? It’s an odd life when personal intrigue intersects with sports analytics. ESPN’s forecasting engine, SP+, is out to spotlight not just the champs, but the underbelly of college football.

Ohio State’s recent triumph in the inaugural 12-team playoff was dominated by sheer tenacity. Coach Ryan Day’s heartfelt narrative, “Through discipline and execution, this team dominated, finished the mission, and left no doubt,” rings true, echoing the sentiment on the sideline of every decisive game. Yet, as we turn our gaze toward tomorrow, who will don the crown in 2025-26? What’s the inside scoop on where powerhouses like Alabama, Texas, and Notre Dame might stand in this grand game of gridiron fate? The suspense is palpable.

But amidst the excitement for the top teams, there’s a shadowy subplot developing—what about the team limping to the rear? A question that tickles the mind of fans and analysts alike: Who will be the nadir of the Power Five in the upcoming season? The intricate SP+ model forecasts Purdue’s Boilermakers hovering at the dismal bottom of this power hierarchy. One wonders if they’ve already thrown in the towel, or if this is just another challenging chapter in their inevitable resurgence.

As a narrative unfolds, you can rely on me, a seasoned sports scribe familiar with the ebbs and flows of the game, and a digital marketer who’s navigated the SEO waves with unmatched skill—parallels in life and in sports analytics, both are catchy, yet unpredictable. LEARN MORE.

An ESPN model is predicting college football’s worst major team in 2025.

The 2024 college football season was a big one. Ohio State won the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes lost to Oregon and Michigan in the regular season, but came alive in the College Football Playoff. Ryan Day’s team took down Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame en route to the program’s first national championship since 2015.

“This team made history by winning the most difficult series of games in the history of college football,” Day said. “No team’s ever done that. Through discipline and execution, this team dominated, finished the mission, and left no doubt.”

Who will take home the trophy in 2025-26? Ohio State is once again the favorite to win it all. However, teams like Alabama, Texas and Notre Dame could prove to be tough outs.

Meanwhile, though, who will be the country’s worst major program? ESPN’s model, the SP+, has made its initial projection.

According to ESPN’s model, the SP+, the worst team in college football in 2025 – according to the major conferences, anyway – will be a team out of the Big Ten Conference.

The SP+ is projecting that the worst major conference team in college football for the 2025 season will be the Purdue Boilermakers. The Boilermakers are projected to be the country’s 116th best team in 2025 – that’s good for the worst among all major conferences.

Purdue, which went 1-11 in 2024, is projected to be really, really bad again in 2025. The conference does them no favors, either. Purdue has Notre Dame in the non-conference, along with USC, Michigan and Ohio State in the conference. It could be worse, too, as the Boilermakers avoid top Big Ten teams like Oregon and Penn State.

The SP+ is projecting that Purdue will be the country’s 121st best team on offense and the country’s 99th best team on defense.

It’s shaping up to be another rough fall for the Big Ten program, it seems.