Barnhouse's Bottom 25: Colorado State

Legendary sportswriter Wendell Barnhouse recently left the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and is now a correspondent for Big 12 Sports.com. With 30 years experience of observing the college scene, his expertise is unmatched. In the spirit of Steve Harvey's Bottom Ten, Wendell will provide us a capsule look at college football's less fortunate, counting down the Bottom 25 teams in Division I-A football.

No. 23 Colorado State
Location: Fort Collins, Colo.
Nickname: Rams.
Conference: Mountain West.
Coach: Steve Fairchild, first season.
Division I-A history: 464-504-33 in 109 seasons, .480 winning percentage.
Last bowl season: 2003.
Best record last five years: 7-6 in 2003.
Rank(ed) because: The Rams have fallen from the glory days under former coach Sonny Lubick. Colorado State has had three losing seasons in the last four years as Lubick's time in Fort Collins wound down.
Negative number: 0. That's the number of first-team Mountain West all-conference selections for the Rams over the last two seasons.
Possible victory: Sacramento State, Sept. 6. Of the four nonconference games, this Division I-AA foe is probably the only team the Rams can safely assume they can beat. In the MWC, the opener at home against UNLV might be Colorado State's best hope.
Biggest blowout: At California, Sept. 27. Other than facing rival Colorado in Denver, the Rams' toughest test will be against the Bears in Berkeley.
Is there hope?: Fairchild is Lubick's hand-picked successor and is a former Colorado State quarterback who served on Lubick's staff for seven years. After seven seasons in the NFL as an offensive coordinator, he has plans of using a power running game balanced with a daring passing attack.

Thanks to the Helmet Project.