Top 10 Worst College Football, Basketball Schools 2020-2021
10. New Mexico Lobos
Here’s the positive. The football program needed a major overhaul – and still needs some work – under Danny Gonzalez, but the team won two games to close out the 2-5 season to bring a little hope going into 2021. That was about it for the fun for Lobo fans, with the basketball team finishing dead last in the Mountain West going 2-15 in the conference.
Last Year’s Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 111
Going against format, the next two schools are lumped together because their respective seasons in the two sports were intertwined …
T8. Temple Owls
Chalk up the football problems to 1) a rebuilding season and 2) the awful COVID year. Still, going 1-6 with the offense getting worse as the season went on was a disappointment. The basketball season didn’t help with just a 5-11 season overall and a rough 4-10 run in the AAC, finishing with a tournament loss to …
Last Year’s Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 68
T8. USF Bulls
USF basketball won nine games on the year and came up with an AAC Tournament victory over Temple, but the team still finished 4-10 in the league. The football side went 1-8 in the first season under Jeff Scott with the lone win over Citadel from the FCS. The Bulls finished last in the AAC including a loss to Temple – the Owls’ only win.
Last Year’s Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 60
7. Cal Golden Bears
It wasn’t just that Cal went 1-3 in the unfortunately limited 2020 college football campaign, it’s that it went 1-3 with a brutally painful 24-23 loss to Stanford. However, the win over eventual Pac-12 Champion Oregon was strong. That alone should be enough to give the school a break, but the Pac-12-last place 3-17 season in basketball ruined it.
Last Year’s Hoops & Helmets Ranking:
6. East Carolina Pirates
The Pirates were able to win their final two football games – beating Temple and SMU by a combined score of 80-41 – to give the fans a little bit of fun in an otherwise forgettable 3-6 season. However, the basketball team was the worst in the AAC by two wins, going 8-11 overall and 2-10 in conference.
Last Year’s Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 120
5. South Carolina Gamecocks
To be fair to the football side, the schedule wasn’t easy. However, there wasn’t any Clemson on the slate this year – and no Alabama – and it was still a 2-8 campaign with head coach Will Muschamp getting sacked midway through. The basketball team was better than Texas A&M and Vanderbilt, but it still finished 12th in the conference and won an SEC-low six games overall.
Last Year’s Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 95
4. ULM Warhawks
A strange disappointment in football, ULM was outscored 420-163 in an 0-10 season, The basketball team might have won seven games and went 5-13 in the Sun Belt, but it was last in the West and finished as the second-worst team overall.
Last Year’s Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 122
3. Vanderbilt Commodores
As wonderful as it was that Vandy broke a barrier with Sarah Fuller as the first woman to play major college football, it would’ve been nice for the athletic department to be known for even more.
The basketball team was dead last in the SEC with a 3-13 record – but won nine games overall – and the football side wasn’t even close, going 0-9 with only three competitive games.
Last Year’s Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 128
2. FIU Golden Panthers
A puzzling football disappointment, the Golden Panthers went 0-5, suffering the indignity of being the only FCS team to lose to an FBS team – 19-10 to Jacksonville State – in the winless run. FIU was last in Conference USA East in basketball – and last overall – with a 2-15 conference season, but at least the program went 9-17 overall.
Last Year’s Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 71
1. Northern Illinois Huskies
The fan base got to enjoy just three wins between the two teams this season.
The program that was a MAC powerhouse not all that long ago couldn’t do anything right in the shortened season, finishing last in the West going 0-6 with no luck whatsoever. There were a few close games, but it was the worst football team in the conference, and …
There wasn’t any fun in basketball, either.
There were just three wins overall and a 2-12 run in conference play, joining the football side by finishing dead last in the league.
Last Year’s Hoops & Helmets Ranking: 98
Photo Credits: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch (Franklin), Mark Zerof (Calipari), Steve Mitchell (NIU) – USA TODAY NETWORK
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