2022 College Football Rankings: CFN Season Formula Top 10
10 LSU (10-4)
2022 CFN Season Score: 19.39
2022 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 15
2022 CFN Preseason Ranking: 22
2021 CFN Season Score: 57
Best Win: Alabama 32-31
Worst Loss: Texas A&M 38-23
Going from 57th last year to the top ten – that’s not a bad first run under Brian Kelly. It was the highest-ranked four-loss team with a win over Alabama and a spot in the SEC Championship along the way. The 63-7 win over Purdue in the Citrus Bowl was the biggest bowl blowout ever before Georgia took it up a notch in the national championship.
9 Alabama (11-2)
2022 CFN Season Score: 19.83
2022 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 7
2022 CFN Preseason Ranking: 1
2021 CFN Season Score: 5
Best Win: Kansas State (Sugar Bowl) 45-20
Worst Loss: LSU 32-31
This seems a little low, right? Maybe a lot low? It’s simple – there weren’t any Elite Wins. It’s the highest ranked team without won, and there were only five victories over teams that finished with winning records. Kansas State was the only team the Tide took down that finished with ten wins – it just so happened to be in the Sugar Bowl.
8 Clemson (11-3)
2022 CFN Season Score: 20.27
2022 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 13
2022 CFN Preseason Ranking: 4
2021 CFN Season Score: 28
Best Win: Florida State 34-28
Worst Loss: South Carolina 31-30
It might not have been a College Football Playoff season, but the Tigers won the ACC Championship and got to the Orange Bowl – that’s not bad for a second straight down year. It got rocked by Notre Dame, but had it held up in the 31-30 meltdown loss to South Carolina, it might have made the CFP. It ended up as the highest ranked three-loss team.
7 Troy (12-2)
2022 CFN Season Score: 21.54
2022 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 53
2022 CFN Preseason Ranking: 89
2021 CFN Season Score: 93
Best Win: UTSA 18-12 (Cure Bowl)
Worst Loss: Appalachian State 32-28
It was as quietly great a season as it gets. For all of the big things that happened with the new-look Sun Belt, and for all of the splashy wins, the Trojans ended up fighting through winning 11 straight to close out the run. They took down the Sun Belt title and beat Conference USA champion UTSA in the Cure Bowl.
Georgia, Michigan, TCU, Tulane … Troy. Those were the only teams to get to at least 12 wins.
6 Tennessee (11-2)
2022 CFN Season Score: 21.63
2022 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 6
2022 CFN Preseason Ranking: 20
2021 CFN Season Score: 43
Best Win: Alabama 52-49
Worst Loss: South Carolina 63-38
All the points, all the big plays, and all the fun got the Vols this close to the top five. The wins over Alabama and Clemson were massive, but there weren’t enough – there were only three other wins over teams that finished with a winning record. That’s part of the deal – had Florida or Missouri won its respective bowl game, Tennessee is No. 4. If both of them had won, it’s third.
CFN 2022 Rankings: Season Formula Final
101-131 | 76-100 | 51-75 | 26-50 | 11-25 | Top 10 | Top 5
CFN College Football Season Formula
CFN Final Overall, Conference Rankings by Opinion – 1-131