With the season being over and the Georgia Bulldogs being declared national champions, we officially begin the long 8 and a half month offseason before college football graces our televisions once again. Us fans need no shortage of content to get us through the darkness of the offseason, so I’ll start with my way-too-early top 25 for the 2022 season. There’s obviously a lot that can and will change between now and September, between the transfer portal, assistant coach hires, players entering the NFL Draft or choosing to stay behind. Nevertheless, there’s a lot that we do know, teams with momentum heading into the year, teams with coaching changes and major roster turnover. So, here are my subject-to-change rankings of the 2022 college football season.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
They’ll lose plenty of guys to the NFL as they always do. But, they return the best quarterback and defensive player in the country, picked up key transfers in Jahmyr Gibbs and Eli Ricks, and still have a roster loaded with elite athletes. They’re the favorites to win it all heading into the season.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
The performances of Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Harrison Jr in the bowl game should give confidence in the Buckeyes’ ability to replace Olave and Wilson, especially with Emeka Egbuka waiting in the wings. With the hiring of Jim Knowles to coach the defense, Ohio State should reassume dominance over the Big Ten and be a bonafide national title contender.
3. Georgia Bulldogs
Perhaps no one has a bigger question mark at the quarterback position, but whoever it ends up being is walking into a phenomenal situation, returning most of the receiving production from this year. They’ll lose many pieces off that incredible defense, but with more top tier athletes waiting to take their place the Bulldogs will still be a serious playoff contender and head and shoulders the best team in their division.
4. Clemson Tigers
I’m not going to sink the Tigers after a disappointing 2021 season, frankly I think a coordinator shakeup could be a good thing for a staff that has remained consistent for so long. DJ will have to show major improvement (I think having new blood to challenge him will help), but there’s enough pieces for me to call Clemson a playoff contender again.
5. Utah Utes
Disappointing loss in the Rose Bowl to Ohio State, but this team has a very young defense and should be able to survive the loss of stud linebacker Devin Lloyd. Cam Rising was the catalyst of this team’s early-season turnaround, add in the return of thousand yard rusher Tavion Thomas, and Utah should be heavy PAC 12 favorites and can absolutely become the 14th different program to crack the playoff four.
6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Of all the team’s that suffered a coaching change, Notre Dame probably had the smoothest transition with the promotion of Marcus Freeman and return of OC Tommy Rees. Chris Tyree will fill in nicely for Kyren Williams at RB1, and Matthew Mayer, Deion Colzie and Braden Lenzy will make life easier on whoever wins the quarterback job, particularly behind an offensive line that consistently churns out NFL talent.
7. Texas A&M Aggies
The Aggies are loaded with talent, if Jimbo Fisher doesn’t win at least 10 games this year he’s out of excuses. The number 1 recruiting class in the nation enters, they have a three way quarterback battle, and Devon Achane should comfortably replace Isaiah Spiller as RB1. They lose talented players the draft, but there’s enough high end talent to make the Aggies very competitive in 2022.
8. Baylor Bears
I’m one more great Baylor season away from just trusting Dave Aranda to field an awesome team no matter who’s on the roster. Gerry Bohanon and Blake Shapen will compete for the starting job, while Tristen Ebner should step in and fill in for Abram Smith. As for the defense, I’m just sitting back and trusting Dave Aranda to fill in the holes by NFL departures and field the top defense in the Big 12 yet again.
9. Michigan State Spartans
Kenneth Walker III is a massive loss, and losing Jalen Nailor doesn’t help matters either, but my reasoning for trusting the Spartans is that their pass defense literally cannot possibly be any worse, and with a coach in Mel Tucker who has both a defensive background and an affinity to comb the transfer portal, I believe it will get substantially better.
10. Oklahoma Sooners
I have no idea whether or not Brent Venables in the long run will get Oklahoma to the national title heights of of which they aspire, but frankly switching to a defensive identity after many years of being all-offense could be a good thing. I think the drop-off from Caleb Williams to Dillon Gabriel is smaller than people realize, and the matchup with Gabriel and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebey produced exceptional results when both were at UCF. Sooners will be in the mix in the Big 12.
11. Michigan Wolverines
They lose a lot off their nasty defensive line as well as a couple pieces of their award winning offensive line, but the return of Ronnie Bell will be a boost to whoever wins the starting quarterback job between Cade McNamara and JJ McCarthy. The Wolverines will be very competitive again, but I don’t see another Big Ten East title or playoff appearance in their immediate future.
12. BYU Cougars
Another team that I’m done doubting after a 10 win season when they entered the year dead last in returning production. Year 2 of Jaren Hall with returning receivers Puka Nacua and Gunnar Romney as well as some key pickups from the transfer portal. Their defense needs to improve for them to live up to this ranking, but as they return nearly everybody, a major improvement on that side of the ball could be in the cards.
13. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Sam Hartman returns as probably the best quarterback in the ACC and one of the best in the country. The Deacs won 11 games with one of the worst defenses in college football, similar to my thoughts on Michigan State, I thing even an improvement to being average on that side of the ball will result in other great season for Wake Forest.
14. Kentucky Wildcats
Mark Stoops has done the impossible and turned Kentucky into a consistent, steady program. That won’t change this year with Stoops signing an extension and returning both coordinators. Will Levis needs to show improvement, but a stout defense and nasty offensive line will keep Kentucky in the 9-10 win range.
15. Oregon Ducks
Dan Lanning begins his head coaching career in a good situation, inheriting the top program in his division, having both an experienced, quality QB transfer and a talented redshirt freshman to choose from. They lose potential number 1 pick Kayvon Thibodeaux, but returning Noah Sewell, Brandon Dorlus and others will give Lanning a lot of defensive talent to work with.
16. Wisconsin Badgers
I’ve seen a few way-too-early rankings that have the Badgers as high as 6, which I think is a little silly, but the defense will be good enough to keep them in the mix and be favored, along with Iowa, to win the Big Ten West. Braelon Allen will assert himself as one of the top backs in the country, but the combo of Graham Mertz not being very good and having a very weak receiver corps will hold this team back.
17. Iowa Hawkeyes
Wisconsin has a better running back and Iowa has a marginally better quarterback, and otherwise these are essentially the exact same team. Whoever wins the head to head matchup will most likely win the division. Iowa’s defense will be excellent again, headlined by the return of stud defensive back Riley Moss, but a painfully pedestrian offense will hold them back, just like in 2021.
18. Oklahoma State Cowboys
I’m expecting some regression from a 12 win 2021 season, but with an experienced quarterback coming off maybe the best performances of his career, they’ll still be in the mix in the Big 12. Their biggest loss is defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, as well as multiple NFL draft picks on that side of the ball, so if this team is going to exceed this ranking it’ll have to be through old school Mike Gundy means: offense.
19. NC State Wolfpack
Along with star quarterback Devin Leary, NC State returns no shortage of talent despite losing a projected top 10 pick in Ikem Ewkonu. They’ll likely be a pass-first offense, as they return their top 2 receivers while losing the two leading rushers. They have studs on defense, if they can fill the holes lost on the defensive line they can mean serious business in the ACC.
20. Houston Cougars
With Cincinnati suffering serious losses all over the field, Houston should be the favorites in the American. Clayton Tune is one of the best quarterbacks in G5 football, this offense is primed to be a problem next year. Their defense has question marks, but not enough to keep this team out of the top 25.
21. Arkansas Razorbacks
Sam Pittman has done a spectacular job of taking over the worst program in the SEC and turning them into a nine win team. It’s time to prove he can maintain it through roster turnover, with top receiver Treylon Burks a likely first round pick. They snag Jadon Haselwood out of the transfer portal, and returning Dominique Johnson and Rocket Sanders at running back will help out KJ Jefferson. The defense loses quite a bit, but getting back Jalen Catalon helps ease those losses.
22. Cincinnati Bearcats
Few teams in the country will be losing as much as the Bearcats, but Luke Fickell has elevated the recruiting enough to where they can survive major turnover and still contend for the American conference title. Desmond Ridder leaves giant shoes to fill at the quarterback position, but the team is optimistic that Evan Prater is the man for the job. The loss of blue chip players all over the field will hurt, but this program isn’t going anywhere.
23. Pittsburgh Panthers
In an ACC Coastal that saw lots of turmoil in the offseason (4 coaching changes and 2 star quarterback departures), Pitt should be the clear favorites coming in. They replace Kenny Pickett with USC transfer Kedon Slovis, who inherits a stacked receiver corps headlined by Jordan Addison and all five offensive line starters. The question marks begin with playcalling, with offensive coordinator Mark Whipple leaving for Nebraska. If there isn’t a major drop off their, Pitt can well exceed this ranking.
24. Kansas State Wildcats
This ranking implies that Adrian Martinez is a talented quarterback whose struggles were a product of having little talent around him at Nebraska. Deuce Vaughn is one of the best skill position players in the country, and another year of Felix Aundike-Uzomah and Daniel Green plus highly rated transfer Branden Jennings will elevate a defense that has holes to replace in the secondary. If there’s a hole it’s the interior of the offensive line, but there’s plenty of reason for optimism in Manhattan.
25. Florida Gators
If there’s a team that fired their coach in 2021 that I trust to rebound quickly it’s the Gators, and it’s in part my belief in Anthony Richardson to become one of the top quarterbacks in the sport and part because I think Florida was a better team than their record a year ago. They quit on Mullen down the stretch, but this team was a two point conversion away from taking Alabama to overtime in September. Billy Napier has work to do to get the program where it wants to be, but he has a step on several other teams that fired coaches this year.