The 2022 college football season is about a month away, and student-athletes have been in the classroom all summer as they prepare for their season. All colleges and universities are very different in terms of campus size and enrollment, as US News as released its college rankings for the 2022 academic year.
Looking at last season, there was quite a bit of parity in the College Football Playoff for the first time in quite a bit. Michigan made its first appearance, with Cincinnati becoming the first Group of Five program to ever make the playoff since it started in 2014.
Will the fall bring that again, or will team like Clemson and Ohio State make their return after the Tigers missed for the first time since the playoff’s inaugural year with the Buckeyes missing for the first time since 2018.
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CBS Sports released its ranking for all 131 FBS teams earlier this week. Here is where each of the top 25 teams rank in US News’ college rankings.
Bryce Young was spectacular during his sophomore campaign, capturing Alabama’s second-straight Heisman after leading the Crimson Tide to the playoff. He has a new receiving corps, as John Metchie and Jameson Williams are off to the NFL. The Crimson Tide reloaded in the transfer portal, landing Georgia transfer Jermaine Burton and speedster Tyler Harrell from Louisville. Former five-star Ja’Corey Brooks also figures to be a big factor. Alabama should be a near unanimous pick come the release of the AP poll later this month.
The Buckeyes have C.J. Stroud returning at quarterback, as he was a Heisman Finalist last fall. Ohio State believes it has fixed their well-documented defensive issues with the hiring of Oklahoma State’s Jim Knowles. He’s going to ensure Ohio State’s talent is in position to make plays. The Buckeyes need to be better in the trenches, as that will be the key in returning to the playoff. This is a team primed to make its third appearance in the College Football Playoff in the last four years.
Georgia lost 15 players from last year’s team to the NFL Draft, as Kirby Smart and company have to reload. Eight of those players came on defense, with the front seven taking a heavy hit. Five of Georgia’s defensive players taken in the NFL Draft were first rounders. Seeing how the team reloads and performs is something to watch come the fall as the Bulldogs have recruited more than well enough in recent years to prepare for this moment.
The reigning Pac-12 champs could be one of this season’s preseason darlings after winning 10 games last fall and nearly taking the Rose Bowl against Ohio State. Much of that nucleus is back in 2022, including quarterback Cam Rising. Running back Tavion Thomas returns as well after rushing for 1,108 yards and 21 scores. Keep an eye on this team early with a chance to make serious noise. A big test awaits Week 1 at Florida, as the Utes head into a hostile environment to start off a season that has big expectations.
The lack of a College Football Playoff berth last season for one of the nation’s most consistent big-time winners this decade has the Tigers hungry in 2022. Dabo Swinney doesn’t mince words when he says this team is championship-worthy. He knows this defense will be one of the best in his tenure, but the biggest question falls at quarterback where D.J. Uiagalelei will need to be a much-improved option at the position to take the Tigers from 10 wins to 12 or more.
Marcus Freeman is already maximizing Notre Dame’s recruiting presence nationally ahead of his first game against Ohio State and there’s buzz around the Fighting Irish as an outside threat in the College Football Playoff race for 2022. That opener is nightmarish in Columbus, but the rest of the slate will offer opportunity for a steady rise back into the top 10 for a talented team. His fingerprints are already all over the program as a former coordinator, but it’ll be interesting to see how Freeman’s philosophy meshes with this group in the coming.
Even after losing head coach Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma is expected to be near the top of the Big 12 once again this year. We will see if Brent Venables is really the man for the job and can keep things rolling or not, but it will not be easy. Venables does not have a few key players on his roster, including quarterback Caleb Williams, who followed Riley to USC. The Sooners will be starting the year with some very new faces.
The preseason stock price on Michigan this fall is much higher than it was at this time a year ago following the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance and Big Ten championship under Jim Harbaugh, but there’s still room to buy if you’re a believer in a revamped coaching staff and several new faces on defense. The quarterback dynamic between Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy is also a fascinating competition over the next few weeks in fall camp with the incumbent McNamara having the edge.
While Texas A&M fans have their sights on representing the West Division in Atlanta for the conference championship game, this would be a big improvement. The Aggies won 10 games under Fisher for the first time with a strong chance of ending up in a New Year’s Six bowl game, as Athlon projects the Aggies to play Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. The quarterback position sees a bit of inexperience. The Aggies welcome Haynes King back after he was injured a season ago and brought in LSU transfer quarterback Max Johnson. Five-star freshman Conner Weigman could also factor in. Texas A&M might be a year away from seriously pushing for its first ever division crown since joining the SEC.
Dave Aranda is ascending the coaching ranks at a rapid pace after winning the Big 12 last season at Baylor and establishing the Bears as a perennial threat among the dozen or so elites following a Sugar Bowl title. Doing it for a second time is always more difficult than the first and staying in contention shows program stability and poise. Aranda is one of the nation’s best at getting the most out of his players and defensively, his Bears play with a mean streak at the line of scrimmage.
This could be Dave Doeren‘s best team in Raleigh, a group equipped with impact returners on both sides of the football and a schedule that’s conducive to success outside of a potential division-deciding tilt at Clemson Oct. 1. The Wolfpack must guard against the preseason hype, though. Will nine wins be enough to get to the New Year’s Six? That number likely needs to be 10. Quarterback Devin Leary is one of the best at his position in the entire country.
You would be hard-pressed to find a program with more offseason steam than USC this summer and that’ll be proven with the Trojans’ preseason ranking inside the top 15 nationally, perhaps at No. 10 given the respect level media types have for Riley and his offense. USC signed college football’s most impressive transfer class, anchored by Williams and Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison at receiver, and plugged holes defensively with several instant-playmaker types within the front seven.
Mike Gundy can breathe easy this season knowing his Cowboys take the field itching to get back to the Big 12 Championship Game with veteran leadership on offense, driven by quarterback Spencer Sanders. Oklahoma State did lose the heart and soul of its coaching staff in Jim Knowles following his departure to Ohio State, leaving major shoes to fill for former Auburn coordinator and Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason. The Oklahoma State defense was one of the nation’s most complete units a season ago and the team really leaned on stops against quality competition.
What are the expectations for first-year Oregon coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks this season? Well, the former Georgia defensive coordinator said at Pac-12 Media Day that his team is confident they can win every game this fall. How’s that for supreme confidence with a program in transition? Auburn transfer Bo Nix could be a difference-maker at the quarterback position and Oregon’s defense might be one of the nation’s most potent units overall if the Ducks can stay healthy.
Head coach Paul Chryst, quarterback Graham Mertz and company have sizable expectations for 2022, as Caesar’s Sportsbook sets Wisconsin’s over/under win total at nine. The 2021 season was thought to be different. Mertz had a full offseason without COVID-19 interruptions, but that was not the case for him and his team. Mertz threw one touchdown to six interceptions during his team’s 1-2 start. Starting all 13 games, Mertz finished the season completing 58.4% of his passes for 1,821 yards, throwing nine touchdowns to 10 interceptions. He passed for 200 or more yards just three times and went 21-of-38 passing for 171 yards and an interception in the loss at Minnesota that kept Wisconsin out of the league title game.
16. ARKANSAS: T-162
The return of KJ Jefferson at quarterback means the Razorbacks will have one of the league’s top quarterbacks and that gives them a shot against a brutal slate. Ironically, Arkansas opens with Cincinnati — the next team on the list.
17. CINCINNATI: T-148
Cincinnati loses quarterback Desmond Ridder and several more talented players, which will make a dream season hard to replicate. There are still high expectations for Luke Fickell and company after the Bearcats made history a season ago by becoming the first-ever Group of Five program to make the College Football Playoff.
18. PENN STATE: T-63
Penn State has something to prove in 2022 — at least that should be the mentality the Nittany Lions take into a new season under James Franklin. Penn State has underwhelmed in recent years, and after signing multiple five-stars this recruiting cycle, has a roster that’s starting to look like it’s capable of competing against Michigan and Ohio State at the top of the conference.
19. MIAMI: T-55
Miami is set on offense with Tyler Van Dyke at quarterback. He has the upside to be a top-10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and has all the arm talent in the world. The defense has plenty of question marks, but the Hurricanes loaded up with one of the best defensive line transfer portal hauls from the 2022 cycle. The Hurricanes and new coach Mario Cristobal landed four defensive line transfers that hold at least a grade of 87 in 247Sports’ transfer portal rankings, highlighted by four-star West Virginia transfer Akheem Mesidor.
20. MICHIGAN STATE: T-83
The Spartans piled up players in the transfer portal and hope veteran leadership on offense can help replace the production of Doak Walker winner Kenneth Walker and his obvious impact in the ground game. Three new starters along the offensive line might be concerning. The secondary was college football’s worst in 2021, so improvements needed there are obvious as well. Michigan State broke out in Year 2 under Mel Tucker, and it gave him a hefty contract to keep other programs away from him. The pressure is on.
21. WAKE FOREST: T-28
Unlike a lot of other teams in the conference, Wake Forest has the luxury of a superstar quarterback back for another year. Sam Hartman steers the offense once more in 2022 after a spectacular breakout showing last season in which he threw for 4,228 yards, which ranked seventh nationally. Star wide receiver Jaquarii Roberson is off to the NFL, but Wake Forest already has his replacement in-house with A.T. Perry.
22. HOUSTON: T-179
With Clayton Tune returning at quarterback and several early-season showdowns on the docket, Houston could make noise as this year’s Cinderella in the College Football Playoff race.
23. KENTUCKY: T-127
Kentucky won 10 games for the second time in four seasons under Mark Stoops, who has done as good a job as anybody in college football. With quarterback Will Levis getting plenty of hype when it comes to the 2023 NFL Draft, the Wildcats are a trendy underdog pick to come out of the East Division. A road contest at Tennessee and late November home game against Georgia would likely determine how far that goes, but Athlon has the Wildcats taking a step back in 2022. Kentucky loses star wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson, as he accounted for accounted for 60% of the Kentucky’s receptions and 65.4% of its receiving yards.
24. TENNESSEE: T-103
Tennessee was one of college football’s most exciting teams in 2021. The Vols ranked seventh nationally in points per game at 39.3 under first-year head coach Josh Heupel, who arrived from UCF. Quarterback Hendon Hooker returns after a strong season, in which the Vols went 7-6, losing a thriller to Purdue in the Music City Bowl to conclude its campaign. In Hooker’s first season at Tennessee after transferring from Virginia Tech, he completed 68.2% of his passes for 2,945 yards and threw 31 touchdowns to just three interceptions. The defense remains a concern, which another coach pointed out. The Vols allowed an average of 421.7 yards per game and 29.7 points per contest, with the latter ranking 90th out of 130 FBS teams. How the offense adjusts after a whole year of tape being out there is important, as well as improvement on the other side of the ball.
25. PITTSBURGH: T-59
Pitt is one of the most experienced teams in the entire nation, but it also happened to have a couple of the more notable departures of the offseason. The first was Kenny Pickett, who ran out of eligibility and became the only quarterback taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Replacing him should be a fairly easy task, as the Panthers nabbed former USC starting quarterback Kedon Slovis through the transfer portal. In a much more shocking move, Addison entered the transfer portal and — ironically — ended up at USC. Finding someone to step up for him is a tall task.
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