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bretticus33 Ballot for 2022 Final

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Jan. 10, 2023, 12:39 p.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Alabama has dominated CFB the last 15 years, but Georgia might finally be the team that supplants Bama atop CFB after a second consecutive national championship. We said the same thing about Clemson, but Clemson also didn't recruit to the level Georgia has been and Georgia at least has more prior history than Clemson did. Despite losing a lot of good players, Georgia will still be one of the most talented and loaded teams and primed for a three-peat.
2 Michigan Wolverines The Wolverines proved last season wasn’t a fluke with a second straight Big 10 title, but they also lost in the CFP semis for a second straight season in an upset loss to TCU. Their defense gave up a lot of big plays and the offense played a very sloppy game, including 2 pick sixes by JJ McCarthy. The big thing to watch for Michigan heading into 2023 will be if they can do it a 3rd time, if Harbaugh can finally win a big bowl game, or if Harbaugh is even still coaching Michigan or if he heads to the NFL.
3 Ohio State Buckeyes The Buckeyes backed into the CFP as the only team in the field to make the 4 but not play in their CCG. Regardless, a short-handed Ohio State came very very close to beating Georgia in the Peach Bowl in a game not many expected to be as close as it was. In fact, it could be argued the Peach Bowl was the true national championship game. As always, Ohio State will be losing a lot of players to eligibility, graduation, and the NFL, including CJ Stroud but they should return as a loaded team next season.
4 TCU Horned Frogs I'll usually subscribe to the "the loser of the natty should be #2 regardless" theory, but in TCU's case I just can't justify it. Sure they beat Michigan but watching that game, it looked to me like Michigan did more to lose than TCU did to win. Sure they lost to the irrefutable #1 team in the country in the natty, but I can't imagine the #2 team in the country would ever lose by 58 points in the 2nd largest defeat by a top 5 team and largest defeat in any bowl game ever. I'm sorry TCU; your season was great and a storybook one that nobody saw coming, but the only reason I still have the Frogs top 4 is my strict "playoff teams only" policy for the final top 4.
5 Alabama Crimson Tide It says something about the state of a program when going 11-2 (with both losses coming on the literal final play of the game) and winning a NY6 bowl is considered a down year. Yet that’s exactly what happened with Alabama who crushed Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama will be losing a lot of stars like Bryce Young and Will Anderson, but the Tide will be preseason contenders yet again in 2023. However, for the first time in a while Alabama won't be the SEC favorites thanks to Georgia's rise.
6 Penn State Nittany Lions The Nittany Lions capped off 2022 with an impressive Rose Bowl victory over Utah. Sean Clifford finishes his polarizing Penn State career with more wins than any other starting QB in program history and the defense shut down just about all of what Utah tried to do on offense. However the question next season will be if Penn State can take that next step and beat Michigan and/or Ohio State to contend for the Big 10 title. Until they can do that, PSU will remain a tier lower in the Big 10.
7 Tennessee Volunteers One of the many surprising teams in CFB this season, Tennessee ended their 2022 season with a huge win over Clemson to supplant themselves as the supreme orange team in the Orange Bowl. Hendon Hooker had a Heisman-worthy season and his college career is over, but Joe Milton put on a show in the Orange Bowl and Rocky Top will have a lot of excitement about the future with Josh Heupel and Joe Milton.
8 Washington Huskies After the disastrous Jimmy Lake era at Washington, the program appeared to be on the downturn but Kalen DeBoer did as well as any HC in the nation and brought Washington back to national relevance and capped it off with a win over Texas. Star QB Michael Penix is returning and will certainly receive preseason Heisman hype, so expectations will be higher in Seattle next season.
9 Utah Utes Utah’s season could be considered a bit of a disappointment. The Utes won the PAC-12 as many expected, but they dropped 3 games en route to the conference title and were knocked out of playoff contention pretty early. Then they lost the Rose Bowl for the 2nd straight season as well as losing starting QB Cam Rising in the bowl for the 2nd straight time. Utah is establishing itself as a PAC-12 powerhouse with one of the best coaches in not just the conference but the country. Utah should also return a solid group of players, including Cam Rising for his last season.
10 Clemson Tigers Clemson football is in a weird place because they seem to have the expectations of Alabama but have now put up two disappointing seasons in a row. The Tigers put up another strong season with 11 wins and an ACC title, but got embarrassed in the Orange Bowl by Tennessee. Because of all the success Clemson’s had in the last decade, this kind of season almost feels like a disappointment. Clemson would get a lot of help from more consistent QB play, where Klubnik is probably going to be the starter next season.
11 Tulane Green Wave With their near-miraculous comeback over USC to win the Cotton Bowl, Tulane completed the best turnaround in FBS history. The Green Wave went from 2-10 in 2021 to 12-2 with an AAC title and Cotton Bowl victory in 2022. The big question will be if Tulane can continue their roll into 2023 or if it's just a fluky miraculous run in 2022. Star RB Tyjae Sharps went pro, but the AAC will also have a lot of turnover in the next year with UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston all leaving but several programs, including UTSA and UAB, joining the ranks.
12 USC Trojans What a terrible end to the season for USC. Caleb Williams won the Heisman, but after back to back big wins over UCLA and Notre Dame, the Trojans got embarrassed by Utah in the PAC-12 championship game and collapsed against Tulane in the Cotton Bowl. The theme this season for USC has been excellent offense but abysmal defense. Lincoln Riley brought his OU DC Alex Grinch with him to LA, but just as things were in Norman, Grinch’s defense was abysmal yet again. If Riley is serious about winning titles with USC, then he has to dump Alex Grinch. Until then, expect USC to have another great offensive season with Caleb Williams returning, but ultimately get killed by their own defense.
13 Kansas State Wildcats The Big 12 champs got off to a great start against Alabama, going up 10-0, but then Alabama woke up and outscored the Wildcats 45-10 the rest of the way. Despite the loss, KSU still exceeded expectations this season with 10 wins and a Big 12 title. The Wildcats are losing All-American RB Deuce Vaughn to the NFL, but KSU will still want to try repeating their 2022 season in 2023, minus the blowout loss in the bowl game. With the rising star in HC Chris Klieman and improved recruiting, it's certainly possible.
14 Florida State Seminoles Are the Seminoles back? The Noles had their best season in years with a 10-3 record and bowl win. Mike Norvell appears to have FSU on the right track after a rocky first few seasons but he flipped the roster with recruits and transfers, guys that he wants in his program and not Willie Taggart's guys. However, now the expectation for them will be to compete for the ACC title in 2023. They were close in 2022 and QB Jordan Travis is supposed to be back as well as a lot of talent, including star defender Jared Verse, so the possibility is there.
15 Oregon State Beavers Oregon State finished off their stellar 2022 season with a dominant bowl win over Florida to finish 10-3. The PAC-12 could be loaded again next season, so who knows if Oregon State can or will compete for the conference title, but don’t be surprised if Jonathan Smith has the Beavers rolling again next season. QB was a weak spot for the Beavers in 2022 but they'll have DJU coming in from Clemson and a prized 4 star recruit in 2023, Oregon State could be even stronger next season. Smith is putting in one of the best coaching jobs in the nation.
16 Oregon Ducks All things considered, 10-3 is a good season. However, considering Oregon was on the precipice of the CFP with a few weeks left in the season but losses to rivals Washington and Oregon State really put a damper on the season; a loss to UNC in their bowl game would have been a really bad way to end the season. QB Bo Nix is returning for his final year of eligibility, but it will be interesting to see how Oregon does without Kenny Dillingham leading the offense.
17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Irish’s 2022 season was a weird one. The same team that lost to Marshall and Stanford was the same one that blew out Clemson. Ultimately, Notre Dame beat a hot South Carolina team to finish Marcus Freeman’s first full season as HC with 9 wins. Expectations will continue to be high for Notre Dame heading into next season but Freeman has to show he can get more consistent performances out of his team.
18 LSU Tigers The Brian Kelly era started off rough, with a terrible southern accent and a loss to Florida State that turned out wasn’t as bad as we initially thought it was. LSU still lost 4 games, including blowouts to Tennessee and Georgia, but the Tigers also ended Ole Miss’ hot streak and beat Alabama for the first time in years. Brian Kelly was brought in to win big things with LSU so progress and more consistency will be expected in his second season but things looked like they started heading on the right track towards the end of 2022.
19 Troy Trojans Troy quietly strung together a 12 win season capped off with a bowl win and Sun Belt championship and solidified themselves as the 2nd best G5 team (IMO). The Trojans were led by a strong defense and while it could depend on who leaves and who comes back to the team (or joins from crootin or portal), Troy should be considered a favorite for the Sun Belt title again next season, especially with Coastal Carolina having a new coach and App State in a lot of uncertainty.
20 UCLA Bruins 2022 was the best season in Chip Kelly’s tenure there, the ending was clearly not what they were hoping for. UCLA’s mistakes turned out to be very costly as Pitt took advantage of them. The Bruins could have a question mark at QB as DTR has run out of eligibility, coming up just 15 yards short of the all-time UCLA passing yards mark but got injured before he could surpass it.
21 Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State had a strong 9-4 season, but the season will be remembered for the passing of Mike Leach, one of the most popular and influential coaches in the sport. The team rallied to come from behind and kicked a late FG to take the lead before ultimately icing the game with a TD on Illinois’ laterals. The big question for MSU next season will be how they do in Zach Arnett’s first season as HC and how the offense does (or even what it looks like) without Leach there to lead them. Will MSU continue down the air raid road or will they regress from that to a more regular spread-type of offense?
22 South Carolina Gamecocks South Carolina nearly ended their season with wins over Tennessee, Clemson, and Notre Dame but gave up a late TD to ND to lose their bowl game. Regardless, Spencer Rattler seemed to be rediscovering himself after his time at Oklahoma ended in disappointing fashion and HC Shane Beamer is establishing himself as a great HC. How long Beamer lasts at South Carolina is unknown, but for the time being he has the Gamecocks on an upward trajectory and maybe they could surprise in the SEC next season.
23 Fresno State Bulldogs FSU is a 4 loss G5 team, but it’s worth pointing out that they were without a lot of their key players, including star QB Jake Haener who didn’t play in 2.5 of Fresno State’s 4 losses. The Bulldogs ended the country as hot as anyone with a MWC title and LA Bowl win. They're losing two stars in DB Evan Williams and the aforementioned Haener, but Fresno picked up Mikey Keene in the transfer portal to help replace the latter. With Jeff Tedford returning as well, Fresno State should be a contender in the MWC again next season.
24 Duke Blue Devils The Blue Devils had one of their best seasons ever in Mike Elko’s first as Duke’s HC. Duke ended 2022 with an easy win over UCF and the future is looking bright for Duke. Defense and the ground game led the way for Duke and should continue to in 2023. However, if it does continue into 2023, how much longer can Duke hold onto Elko?
25 Pittsburgh Panthers I don’t think anybody reasonably expected Pitt to repeat their 2021 season without Kenny Pickett and Jordan Addison, but Pitt still had a good season. The Panthers finished with 9 wins and ended their season with a Sun Bowl victory over a good UCLA team. QB will be a question mark for Pitt after having to cycle through a few guys this season, but Pat Narduzzi will be hoping he can get more consistency and fewer injuries at QB in 2023.

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