After a wild college football offseason that saw a coaching carousel unlike any other, the 2022 season is right around the corner. With games set to begin at the end of August, the season is just over two months away. Week 1 of the season kicks off the first week of September with a ton of marquee non-conference matchups.
With that in mind, the reading below is a list of the 10 best non-conference games of the 2022 season. The games feature schools from all five Power Five conferences as well as one program in the AAC and one team that is an FBS independent school.
Most of the games take place in Weeks 1 or 2 of the season, when non-conference action is at its peak. However, there are two games that make the list that are midseason matchups that each take place in November.
Get the fastest scores, stats, news, LIVE videos, and more. CLICK HERE to download the CBS Sports Mobile App and get the latest on your team today.
Here is a ranking of the 10 best non-conference games for the coming season.
New Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman gets an early test on the road against his alumni at Ohio State to open the season. These two teams have just met six times in their storied histories, with the Buckeyes currently leading the series 4-2. The last meeting between these two teams came following the 2015 season in the Fiesta Bowl, where Ohio State won by a score of 44-28. The Fighting Irish’s two wins against the Buckeyes came in 1935 and ’36. Ohio State is currently a 14-point favorite in the game as they return quarterback C.J. Stroud, who finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting last season.
Much like Notre Dame’s Freeman opening the season against his alumnus as a new head coach, Oregon’s Dan Lanning will open up the season against his former employer, the Georgia Bulldogs. Lanning served as Georgia’s defensive coordinator dating back to 2019 and won a national championship with the Bulldogs last season. The Bulldogs are currently a 17-point favorite in the game as they look to repeat as national champs with quarterback Stetson Bennett back under center. These two teams have only met once before in 1977, with Georgia winning by a score of 27-16. This game will also take place at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta where the Bulldogs will basically have home-field advantage.
The last time these two teams met was in the Rose Bowl Game, following the 2009 season, when Alabama head coach Nick Saban won his first national championship by defeating the Longhorns by a score of 37-21. Texas, however, leads the all-time series 7-1-1. Their last win over the Crimson Tide came in 1982 by a score of 14-12. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian looks to rebound in 2022 after a disastrous 5-7 start to his tenure with Texas last season. Meanwhile, Alabama returns the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Bryce Young. Last year, Young threw for 4,872 yards with 47 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Crimson Tide are currently a 15-point favorite in the contest.
After Miami kicks off the Mario Cristobal era with two cupcakes in Bethune-Cookman and Souther Mississippi, the Hurricanes travel to College Station for their first true test of the season. Miami returns quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, who is coming off an impressive redshirt freshman campaign and is expected to be one of the top signal-callers in the country this season. As for Texas A&M, the Aggies enter 2022 with a historic recruiting class, ranked No. 1 in the 247Sports Composite rankings. These two teams have met three times in their history, with Miami leading the series 2-1. The last time they played was in 2007 and ’08, with the Hurricanes coming out on top both times. Texas A&M is currently an eight-point favorite.
These two programs have never met before. Cincinnati enters the 2022 season fresh off of a College Football Playoff appearance, where they lost to Alabama in the semifinals by a score of 27-6. However, the Bearcats lost a ton of talent that helped them get to that point, including quarterback Desmond Ridder, cornerback Sauce Gardner, wideout Alec Pierce, safety Bryan Cook and defensive end Myjai Sanders, all of whom were picked in the first three rounds of the 2022 NFL Draft. Arkansas has seen major strides under head coach Sam Pittman, finishing 3-7 in 2020 and 9-4 in 2021. The Razorbacks return quarterback K.J. Jefferson who threw for 2,676 yards and rushed for another 664 in 2021.
New Florida head coach Billy Napier will get a tough test to open his tenure with the Gators against a Utah team that finished 10-4 and almost knocked off Ohio State in the Rose Bowl Game. These two teams have only met one time before back in 1977, with Florida winning by a score of 39-29. Anthony Richardson will take over starting quarterback duties for the Gators after Emory Jones transferred to Arizona State this offseason. Last year, Richardson threw for 529 yards and six touchdowns while also rushing for 401 yards and three scores on the ground. Utah is currently a two-point favorite on the road in this contest.
This year will be the 90th meeting between the two teams, with Notre Dame leading the all-time series 48-36-5. The Fighting Irish have won the last four meetings dating back to 2017, including a 31-16 win in South Bend last season. USC will look to snap Notre Dame’s winning streak with new head coach Lincoln Riley in charge. Riley comes to the Trojans after five successful seasons at Oklahoma and brought Sooners quarterback Caleb Williams with him. Last season, Williams took over for Spencer Rattler as a trust freshman midway through the season and completed 64.5% of his passes for 1,912 yards with 21 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also rushed for 442 yards and six scores.
This epic rivalry was renewed last year for the first time since 2010 and it saw Oklahoma squeaking out a 23-16 win at home. The Sooners lead the all-time series 46-38-3 and Nebraska has not beaten Oklahoma since 2009. They have also won just two of the last nine meetings against the Sooners. Oklahoma enters the 2022 season with a new head coach in former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who was with the Tigers since 2012 but spent 13 seasons with the Sooners from 1999-11. This is also a crucial season for Nebraska head coach Scott Frost, who is 15-29 in four seasons with the Huskers. The Sooners are currently a 4.5-road point favorite in the matchup.
These two teams have met just six times in their history, with Clemson leading the all-time series 4-2. However, two of those meetings came in 2020 when Notre Dame joined the ACC for one season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fighting Irish won the first meeting 47-40 in the regular season but Clemson won in the ACC title game, defeating Notre Dame by a score of 34-10. Clemson lost Venables to Oklahoma and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott to Virginia this offseason, two key pieces of their coaching staff in recent seasons. The Tigers will look to return to the College Football Playoff in 2022 after missing out last season, snapping a six-year consecutive streak.
This game is a rematch from last season when Penn State beat Auburn by a score of 28-20 in State College. The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series 2-1, with the Tigers last beating them in 2003 in the Capital One Bowl, 13-9. Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin survived a rocky offseason and will return as the Tigers’ head coach in 2022 for his second season in charge after finishing 6-7 last year. As for Penn State, head coach James Franklin is set to enter his ninth season with the program and owns a 67-34 record including a 3-4 record in bowl games. Penn State is currently a one-point road favorite in the contest.
© 2005-2022 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc.
