College Football Rankings Spring 2022: Top 25
25 Kentucky Wildcats
Final Rankings: 2021: 21 2020: 36 2019: 45
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Miami University
The loss of star power hurts, but the Cats have a terrific offensive backfield with QB Will Levis and RB Chris Rodriguez to work around. As always, the Kentucky style and system will make it a tough out, especially with seven defensive starters back.
Kentucky Schedule
24 Cincinnati Bearcats
Final Rankings: 2021: 7 2020: 9 2019: 22
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: at Arkansas
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the program might be in reloading mode now, and the talent level still on campus is strong, but as the NFL draft just showed, there were a TON of great players who now have to be replaced. No, the Bearcats won’t fall off the map, but there will be a step back.
Cincinnati Schedule
23 Texas Longhorns
Final Rankings: 2021: 65 2020: 4 2019: 52
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: ULM
This is an assumption that the talent and the tools will match up with the expectations – at least somewhat. There’s no excuse. Steve Sarkisian might not have the lines quite yet, but the transfer portal help to go along with the experience in place should be enough to make a big push for big things.
Texas Schedule
22 UCF Knights
Final Rankings: 2021: 48 2020: 70 2019: 19
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: South Carolina State
Bowls are exhibitions and there’s almost never any correlation between what happens in them and how a team does the next season, but the win over Florida set a tone. The help from the transfer portal should be enough – with an already great group in place – to get UCF back on top of the American Athletic Conference.
UCF Schedule
21 LSU Tigers
Final Rankings: 2021: 35 2020: 29 2019: 1
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Florida State (Sept. 4 in New Orleans)
Just how quickly can Brian Kelly turn all the LSU talent into a winner? Just being good again won’t be good enough, though, with a whole lot of good new parts coming in to go along with an already good base. Arizona State QB Jayden Daniels – if he wins the job – should be in for a massive season.
LSU Schedule
20 Utah Utes
Final Rankings: 2021: 13 2020: 114 2019: 46
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: at Florida
The Utes might not be that again, but you know what you’re getting. The lines will be tough, the defense will be great, and the running game will be solid to help QB Cameron Rising try to keep the 2021 momentum going.
Utah Schedule
19 UCLA Bruins
Final Rankings: 2021: 42 2020: 32 2019: 97
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Bowling Green
Okay, UCLA. Now it’s time to really do this. The offense lost a slew of big parts, but the defense should be the best yet under Chip Kelly, the transfer portal will help, and QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson will be a difference maker.
UCLA Schedule
18 Penn State Nittany Lions
Final Rankings: 2021: 32 2020: 56 2019: 5
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: at Purdue
This ranking has as much to do with brand name and coaching than anything else. There are way too many big losses on defense, and the offense needs to crank up the right mix for the line. Of course there’s talent – it’s Penn State – but there won’t be a whole lot of time with this schedule to warm up.
Penn State Schedule
17 Michigan State Spartans
Final Rankings: 2021: 10 2020: 54 2019: 26
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Western Michigan (Sept. 2)
Alright, now do it again. It would help if the pass defense wasn’t among the worst in the nation, but the running game will keep on going with some fantastic transfers looking to be the next Kenneth Walker. Mel Tucker won’t let his D be that mediocre again.
Michigan State Schedule
16 Ole Miss Rebels
Final Rankings: 2021: 11 2020: 22 2019: 99
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Troy
This is based on the belief that Ole Miss will rebuild fast around all the great transfers on both sides of the ball. The team lost a ton of talent, but – with all due respect to Matt Corral – with a little bit of time, the offense might have upgraded with USC QB Jaxson Dart and all the other pieces. TCU RB Zach Evans is going to be fantastic.
Ole Miss Schedule
15 Tennessee Volunteers
Final Rankings: 2021: 20 2020: 75 2019: 36
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Ball State
The offense should be even better – QB Hendon Hooker is just that good – and there aren’t enough big losses on either side of the ball to matter. Now the program has the good problem of dealing with high expectations again.
Tennessee Schedule
14 Florida Gators
Final Rankings: 2021: 51 2020: 7 2019: 20
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Utah
Can a new coaching staff turn everything around right away? Yeah. Billy Napier is just that good, QB Anthony Richardson might be just that good, and after a down year, the program might just be right back in the hunt for something special.
Florida Schedule
13 NC State Wolfpack
Final Rankings: 2021: 15 2020: 37 2019: 112
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: at East Carolina
Every year there’s an ACC team that rises up and makes a big national splash. That’s NC State in 2022 with QB Devin Leary leading a tremendous offense – even without OT Ikem Ekwonu – to go along with what might be the ACC’s best defense outside of Clemson’s.
NC State Schedule
12 USC Trojans
Final Rankings: 2021: 74 2020: 24 2019: 38
Week 0: OPEN DATE
Week 1: Rice
Let’s just go ahead and assume USC goes from struggling to amazing right away under Lincoln Riley. Caleb Williams is a Heisman-caliber talent, but the Oklahoma QB isn’t the only star transfer coming into an already great situation.
USC Schedule
11 Wisconsin Badgers
Final Rankings: 2021: 18 2020: 25 2019: 11
Week 0: Austin Peay
Week 1: Illinois State
There’s one giant tweak happening here that might make all the difference – new offensive coordinator Bobby Engram is going to mix it up a bit. It’s Wisconsin, so the amazing backs will rumble behind giant human beings, but don’t be shocked if there’s a passing game. And yeah, it’s Wisconsin. The defense will once again be outstanding.
Wisconsin 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