ESPN staff writer, David Hale, shared his rankings for the 2022 College Football season – this ranking broken into tiers. While Hale ranked all 131 college football teams, we’ll focus our attention on the top-six tiers, roughly 30 programs, and see where the Aggies fall.
Beginning at “Tier 6: The under-the-radar gems,” Hale includes the likes of Arkansas, BYU, Cincinnati, Iowa, Ole Miss and Pitt. Many of these programs had solid seasons in 2021 and while each team lost important players, Hale claims they should still be respected.
“Tier 5: The (kind of) basketball schools,” includes Baylor, Houston, Kentucky, Michigan State, Oklahoma State and Wake Forest. While we’re used to seeing these programs make a run to the Final Four, all teams won at least 10-games last season with four playing for a league title.
“Tier 4: They’re (maybe) back!” includes Miami, Texas and USC. With all of these programs having exciting and headline-grabbing off-seasons, it’s prove-it time for these squads whose recent history isn’t too impressive.
“Tier 3: Rising stars,” includes NC State, Texas A&M, Utah and Wisconsin. Tier 3 is where we find our Texas A&M Aggies! Expectations are high in 2022 for all of these squads. If the off-season hype and on-paper talent mesh on the field, there’s a great chance for these programs to make some national noise. They still need to prove they’re legitimate playoff contenders, however.
“Tier 2: How quickly we forget,” includes Clemson, Michigan, Notre Dame and Oklahoma. This group totals 13 playoff appearances between them. With off-season buzz not alarmingly high, the odds are in their favor for someone to make the CFP again in 2022.
And, finally, “Tier 1: The clear favorites,” includes Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State. No surprises here…top FPI teams and Vegas’ top-three favorites to win it all in 2022. Will there be a team from a different tier to dethrone these heavy favorites?
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