On the heels of 'Week Zero' in college football, we wanted to see how much hope teams that lost over the weekend still should have. Utilizing College Football Reference, RotoWire.com looked at how teams ended up the rest of the CFB season after starting their season with an 0-1 record last season. There were 37 teams that started 0-1 last season.
Season Performance Of Teams Starting 0-1
Situation | Number of Teams | Percentage* |
Winning Record | 12 of 37 | 32.4% |
Bowl Game Appearance | 17 of 37 | 45.9% |
Final AP Poll Top 25 Ranking | 1 of 37 | 2.7% |
College Football Playoff Appearance | 1 of 37 | 2.7% |
*Rounded to nearest whole number
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Impact of a 0-1 Start on Bowl Eligibility
Looking back at the teams that started the college football season 0-1, you don't have to gaze back far to find the one team that reached the CFP after losing their season opener.
That's because the Clemson Tigers did just that in 2024, finding themselves on the wrong end of a 34-3 shellacking at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs on Aug. 31 before rattling off six straight wins and finishing the year 7-1 in ACC play.
Eventually, the Tigers wound up losing to the Texas Longhorns, 38-24, in the first round of the CFP, capping off a 10-4 season that was the high-water mark for the 37 0-1 teams in 2024.
While the Tigers were the only 0-1 CFP team (and final AP Top 25 poll placer) among the 37 teams surveyed, 17 of the 37 (or 45.9%) wound up making a bowl game at year's end, while 12 of those 37 (or 32.4%) had a winning record, showing how a first-week dud can rally the troops if you work hard enough.
Looking back, the only team ranked in the preseason poll to play in 'Week 0' was Florida State, who fell to Georgia Tech, 24-21 in Dublin, before the Seminoles' dud of a 2-10 campaign. Other notable Week 1 losers in 2024 included LSU, who fell to USC by a final score of 27-20 in Las Vegas before rebounding and finishing the year with a 9-4 record, while the Texas A&M Aggies kicked off the Mike Elko era with a 23-13 home loss to Notre Dame in Week 1 before closing the year with an 8-5 record in College Station.
Season Performance Of Teams Starting 0-1
Situation | Number of Teams | Percentage* |
Winning Record | 5 of 10 | 50.0% |
Bowl Game Appearance | 7 of 10 | 70.0% |
Final AP Poll Top 25 Ranking | 1 of 10 | 10.0% |
College Football Playoff Appearance | 1 of 10 | 10.0% |
*Rounded to nearest whole number
Of the 10 'Power Four' conference teams that lost their respective season openers last year, five of them (or 50%) finished with a winning record, while seven of the 10 teams reached a bowl game at year's end and one (Clemson) reached the CFP and found a spot in the year-end AP Top 25 poll.
Those 10 teams were the FSU Seminoles, along with the Tigers of Clemson and LSU, Texas A&M, West Virginia, Florida, along with Minnesota, Stanford, Virginia Tech and Houston.
Of those 10, other than the Clemson Tigers, the 9-4 LSU Tigers and 8-5 Aggies, Gophers and Gators were joined by the 6-7 Hokies and Mountaineers, while the Cougars went 4-8, the Cardinal went 3-9 and the Seminoles bottomed out at 2-10.
Keep an eye on RotoWire's Heisman odds as well all season.
