College Football Rankings Spring 2022: Top 50
50 Louisville Cardinals
Final Rankings: 2021: 54 2020: 69 2019: 37
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: at Syracuse
There’s been a lot of grumbling about the coaching staff over the last few years, but there’s no reason to have anything but a great year with a bunch of the young parts from last year ready to produce. The starting 22 is dangerous.
Louisville Schedule
49 Washington State Cougars
Final Rankings: 2021: 71 2020: 76 2019: 76
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Idaho
Just how good is Incarnate Word transfer QB Cameron Ward? There’s an overhaul at the skill spots, and the defensive back seven is welcoming in too many new faces. Overall, though, this team will be sneaky-good again.
Washington State Schedule
48 Houston Cougars
Final Rankings: 2021: 39 2020: 86 2019: 101
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: at UTSA
The breakthrough 12-win season was great, but that needs to be just the start of something big. QB Clayton Tune leads a terrific-looking offense, and there’s enough time with a manageable early schedule to get the defense up and rolling.
Houston Schedule
47 Texas Tech Red Raiders
Final Rankings: 2021: 27 2020: 79 2019: 102
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Murray State
There’s a shot this is way too low if the upgraded offense kicks in fast. New head coach Joey McGuire has tapped WKU for offensive coordinator Zach Kittley – get ready for a lot more passing production, even for Texas Tech. However, a whole lot of parts need replacing.
Texas State Schedule
46 TCU Horned Frogs
Final Rankings: 2021: 73 2020: 44 2019: 82
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: at Colorado (Sept. 2)
TCU wants to get the O to go with new head coach Sonny Dykes and QB Max Duggan about to give it a try. Depth across the board is a wee bit of an issue, and it might take a bit to find the right starting 22, but this should be a much better year.
TCU Schedule
45 Miami Hurricanes
Final Rankings: 2021: 49 2020: 20 2019: 60
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Bethune-Cookman
There might be more work to do than many are going to believe. Mario Cristobal still needs time to work his recruiting magic, but he inherits a rising star of a QB in Tyler Van Dyke, and the defense should be great with a little time up front.
Miami Schedule
44 Fresno State Bulldogs
Final Rankings: 2021: 40 2020: 96 2019: 91
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Cal Poly
Can Jeff Tedford be great right out of the gate like he was in his last coaching stint with the Bulldogs? The defense has to rebuild, but QB Jake Haener should blow up even more under Tedford.
Fresno State Schedule
43 Arizona State Sun Devils
Final Rankings: 2021: 72 2020: 90 2019: 105
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Northern Arizona (Sept. 1)
The insider’s star of the 2021 offseason now will go the other way in the preseason predictions – that might be a mistake. There might be a whole lot of problems to overcome, and the defense loses eight starters, but getting QB Emory Jones from Florida should help ease the lose of QB Jayden Daniels to LSU.
Arizona State Schedule
42 Virginia Cavaliers
Final Rankings: 2021: 53 2020: 45 2019: 31
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Richmond
Can the offense do that again? Can the defense stop anyone? New head coach Tony Elliott will put the ball in QB Brennan Armstrong’s hands and let him bomb away. The secondary is questionable – get ready for a ton of shootouts, again – but the offense can handle it.
Virginia Schedule
41 North Carolina Tar Heels
Final Rankings: 2021: 50 2020: 14 2019: 59
Week 0: Florida A&M
Week 1: at Appalachian State
Did the window close for North Carolina? That might seem a bit extreme for a program that reloads fast and comes into 2022 with a strong defense, but Mack Brown’s team needs to be more of a threat in the ACC.
North Carolina Schedule
40 Maryland Terrapins
Final Rankings: 2021: 46 2020: 52 2019: 113
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Buffalo
After closing with the big bowl win that showcased the offense, now is when it should all blow up with just about everyone back. Now the consistency has to be there for a team that’s going to be in a whole lot of shootouts.
Maryland Schedule
39 San Diego State Aztecs
Final Rankings: 2021: 25 2020: 73 2019: 30
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Arizona
There’s a massive overhaul of high-end talent to be done at key spots, but the D will still be great, Virginia Tech/Oregon QB Braxton Burmeister should pump up the O, and the overall formula should still work.
San Diego State Schedule
38 Baylor Bears
Final Rankings: 2021: 5 2020: 87 2019: 21
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Albany
This might be way too much of a drop for the defending Big 12 champion, but head coach Dave Aranda has to rebuild a bit. The offensive backfield and defensive back seven must replace several key stars, but the lines should be strong.
Baylor Schedule
37 Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Final Rankings: 2021: 23 2020: 40 2019: 53
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: VMI (Sept. 1)
This might not be the ACC Championship-appearing team of last year, but QB Sam Hartman and the offense should be every bit as dangerous. The D last year was shaky, and now it’ll be even more questionable.
Wake Forest Schedule
36 South Carolina Gamecocks
Final Rankings: 2021: 37 2020: 81 2019: 70
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Georgia State
You’ll have to forgive Gamecock fans for being all jacked up after a surprising first season under Shane Beamer. There’s hope now, and for good reason. Oklahoma QB Spencer Rattler is taking over the offense behind a strong line, but the O has to be great early until the D rebuilds a bit.
South Carolina Schedule
35 Pitt Panthers
Final Rankings: 2021: 14 2020: 41 2019: 49
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: West Virginia (Sept. 1)
Don’t sleep on the defending ACC champs. The offense might have lost Kenny Pickett and star WR Jordan Addison, but USC QB Kedon Slovis is good enough to keep the O going. It’s Pitt. The pass rush will be great.
Pitt Schedule
34 Mississippi State Bulldogs
Final Rankings: 2021: 28 2020: 38 2019: 56
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Memphis
The Bulldogs suffers from being in the best division in college football, but the offensive skill spots are loaded to take the Mike Leach offense up several notches. This might be the most defensive talent Leach has ever worked with.
Mississippi State Schedule
33 Minnesota Golden Gophers
Final Rankings: 2021: 17 2020: 53 2019: 25
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: New Mexico State (Sept. 1)
This year is a test to see if Minnesota can simply reload and keep the systems going. The backfield is loaded with experience – QB Tanner Morgan is back along with a healthy RB Mohamed Ibrahim – but both lines have to fill in almost all the parts.
Minnesota Schedule
32 Nebraska Cornhuskers
Final Rankings: 2021: 60 2020: 55 2019: 93
Week 0: Northwestern (Dublin, Ireland)
Week 1: North Dakota
No, really. This is going to be the year when Nebraska is good again. It might not be the Nebraska of the glory days, but it’ll finally go bowling with the transfer portal bringing in the pieces to make the passing game go. Get ready for a whole lot of shootouts.
Nebraska Schedule
31 Auburn Tigers
Final Rankings: 2021: 41 2020: 21 2019: 16
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Mercer
It’s been an interesting offseason. However, the team that’s coming back should be good enough to make some noise in the SEC. It’s going to take fall camp, though, to settle a whole lot of jobs. The defense might need a bit of work to find the right mix.
Auburn Schedule
30 BYU Cougars
Final Rankings: 2021: 34 2020: 13 2019: 34
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: at USF
Once again, BYU will be a thorn in everyone’s side with a loaded defense and a potentially deadly offense with transfers coming in to help QB Jaren Hall. The program is in reload mode.
BYU Schedule
29 Boise State Broncos
Final Rankings: 2021: 36 2020: 49 2019: 10
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: at Oregon State
The Broncos should be far stronger after a disappointing 2021. QB Hank Bachmeier leads a terrific offense to go along with a loaded defense that should be among the best in the Mountain West.
Boise State Schedule
28 Iowa Hawkeyes
Final Rankings: 2021: 22 2020: 17 2019: 23
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: South Dakota
The outstanding Iowa defensive front will have to do the heavy lifting for a while until the offense comes around. The Hawkeyes were able to get to the Big Ten Championship without steady offensive production. The improvement starts by getting more out of the O line.
Iowa Schedule
27 Purdue Boilermakers
Final Rankings: 2021: 19 2020: 61 2019: 103
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Penn State
The Boilermakers might be missing star WR David Bell and top pass rusher George Karlaftis, but look … out. Last year might have been fun, but this should be Jeff Brohm’s best Purdue team yet. There’s too much talent to take a step back.
Purdue Schedule
26 Arkansas Razorbacks
Final Rankings: 2021: 12 2020: 34 2019: 121
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Cincinnati
As long as the defensive line and receiving corps can be good, everything else is in place to have an even better season. KJ Jefferson is an outstanding quarterback, but he needs Oklahoma transfer Jadon Haselwood and the receiving corps to be good fast.
Arkansas Schedule
CFN 2022 Spring Rankings
101-130 | 76-100 | 51-75 | 26-50 | 11-25 | Top 10
Spring Rankings, Season Predictions By Conference
ACC | AAC | Big Ten | Big 12 | C-USA | IND
MAC | M-West | Pac-12 | SEC | Sun Belt