College football Power Rankings after conference championship week
11:35 PM ET ESPN personnel It was all supposed to be so easy heading into championship game week.USC beats
Utah in the Pac-12 title game on Friday to clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff and TCU does the same on Saturday in the Huge 12 champion against Kansas State. Well, not so easy.Instead, the Trojans lost a 2nd time this season to the Utes, this time to the tune of 47-24, while the Horned Frogs’latest return in a season filled with them fell short in overtime versus the Wildcats. The set of losses now throw a when pristine playoff image into uncertainty as Ohio State and Alabama– both idle on championship weekend– wait in the wings.Unlike what were expected to be fellow playoff challengers, Georgia and Michigan both functioned in varying degrees of style. The Bulldogs once again beat up on a ranked SEC opponent (LSU, 50-30) to claim the conference title. The Wolverines remembered and assembled a strong second half versus Purdue to win their 2nd straight Huge 10 crown.Elsewhere, Tulane and UTSA won the AAC and Conference U.S.A. titles, respectively, and Clemson returned backed to the ACC mountaintop with yet another conference title under Dabo Swinney.The action wasn’t quite foreseeable this weekend and neither are the last set of college football Power Rankings in 2022. On a disorderly championship game weekend, Georgia left no doubt about why it’s ranked No. 1. Dominating LSU 50-30 in Atlanta and winning the SEC championship, it felt like a statement game by the Bulldogs heading into the College Football Playoff. The defense smothered Jayden Daniels and Co.; Jalen Carter literally chose Daniels up with one hand; and the Georgia offense, led by Stetson Bennett, was its normal effective self as Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey each scored touchdowns– Alex Scarborough play 1:09 Kenny McIntosh ratings a TD and Darnell Washington hauls in the two-point conversion for a 50-23 Georgia lead.
The Wolverines were pressed by Purdue however declared their second successive Huge 10 championship behind running back Donovan Edwards, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, cornerback Will Johnson and others. Life without star running back Blake Corum has actually been manageable up until now for Michigan, as Edwards won championship game MVP honors after hurrying for 185 backyards and a goal, including a 60-yard dash early in the second half. McCarthy tossed 3 goal passes and developed have fun with his feet, while Johnson doubled his season interceptions total with two picks against Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell. Michigan’s defense consistently turned Purdue away in the red zone to preserve a lead and a best season.– Adam Rittenberg The Horned Frogs’resurgence mojo ran out an inch short in the Huge 12 championship, being packed at the objective line on successive plays in overtime before Kansas State kicked the game-winning
basket. Max Duggan had 251 pass backyards, 110 rush yards and a TD each passing and rushing, becoming the very first player with 250 passing and 100 entering a conference championship game since Deshaun Watson in 2015. Duggan was squashed after the game, disappointed that he couldn’t bring a conference title to TCU. But the 12-1 Frogs still have a possibility to become the second team unranked in the preseason to make the College Football Playoff, behind Michigan last year.– Dave Wilson The Buckeyes lost to Michigan in the last game of the regular season in a top-5 matchup and now the group waits to see
if it can still make it into the playoffs. With chaos that occurred on Friday and Saturday with USC and TCU losing, it gave Ohio State an excellent shot to return into the leading four despite not playing in the Big 10 national championship. Depending upon where the committee puts Ohio State, it might provide us an Ohio State-Michigan rematch in the semifinals, offering the Buckeyes a shot at exacting revenge.– Tom VanHaaren The Vols far surpassed expectations in
Year 2 under Josh Heupel and won 10 games in the routine season for the very first time because 2003. They’re headed to their first New Year’s 6 bowl game. However regardless of all the firsts, the end of the season was a downer for the Vols. They were ashamed 63-38 by South Carolina on Nov. 19, a loss that cost them an area in the College Football Playoff. Even worse, star quarterback Hendon Hooker suffered a season-ending knee injury (ACL tear)because thrashing.– Low The Crimson Tide lost two regular-season games for just the 4th time given that Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007. Quarterback Bryce Young was sensational all season and played through a shoulder injury. His getting corps wasn’t vibrant, and Alabama gave up an overall of 84 points on defense in its 2 losses to Tennessee and LSU. It was close to being an unique season for the Tide, whose 2 losses began the final play of the games, both on the roadway. But it might have also been a mediocre season. Alabama won 2 games against Texas and Texas A&M that were selected the game’s final play.– Chris Low
The Utes ended their season by making the biggest statement possible. Kyle Whittingham’s group beat No. 4 USC and its Heisman candidate Caleb Williams not simply two times in the same season, but in controling style that gave the Utes their 2nd straight Pac-12 champion. Absolutely nothing this season was simple for the Utes, who handled injuries and a tough opening loss to Florida in addition to being normally overlooked compared to their fellow Pac-12 teams. But as Cameron Increasing put it after the game on Friday night, Utah utilized all of those factors to its advantage and forged its way back to Pasadena for another Rose Bowl look.– Paolo Uggetti play 1:20 R.J. Hubert picks off Caleb Williams and Ja’Quinden Jackson rushes in for a 53-yard Utah touchdown.(modified) After DJ Uiagalelei struggled on his first 2 drives in the ACC Championship Game versus North Carolina, coach Dabo Swinney relied on Cade Klubnik for the remainder of the game, leading the Tigers to their seventh ACC title in 8
years in a 39-10 success. The efficiency should have had some Clemson fans scratching their heads about why Swinney did not make the very same choice a week back, when Uiagalelei had a hard time in a loss to South Carolina. Though there is not going to be a playoff appearance this year, the Tigers definitely played like a playoff group in the success. Not just did Klubnik play well, the defense decreased ACC Gamer of the Year Drake Maye and the Tar Heels offense, pressing him into numerous mistakes, including a 98-yard pick-6 by Nate Wiggins that basically sealed the win.– Andrea Adelson It’s difficult to describe Lincoln Riley’s launching season at USC as anything however a success. The Trojans went 11-2 a year after going 4-8 and had a genuine shot at making the College Football Playoff. Yet the reality that they were a game
far from winning the conference and being among the top-4 teams in the country and could not get past Utah twice this season will undoubtedly leave a bad taste lingering into the offseason. The good news for USC is that the Riley period is simply beginning, and more importantly, Caleb Williams will be back next season.– Uggetti The Nittany Lions ended their regular season on a four-game win streak after beating Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers and Michigan
State. The team ended with a 10-2 record after losing to Michigan and Ohio State, however it was a large enhancement on the 7-6 record Penn State had in 2021. Penn State saw some positives for the future also with freshmen running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who were the No. 1 and 2 rushers on the group, combining for 1,771 backyards and 19 touchdowns. The offense likewise has freshman quarterback Drew Allar, who got some experience in mop-up responsibility throughout the season. While there were 2 losses, Penn State can take a lot of positives far from this season.– VanHaaren A significant goal-line stand, a constant dosage of
Deuce Vaughn and a defense that harassed TCU quarterback Max Duggan assisted bring K-State its third Big 12 title. The Wildcats clamped down on Duggan on third down, where he went 2 for 10 for 21 lawns with an interception and a sack. K-State ran for 205 backyards, the second-most of any group against TCU this year, with Vaughn(130 lawns )breaking off a 44-yard TD run in the 4th quarter that kept TCU on the ropes. The Wildcats held up against another Horned Frogs rally, seeing their 11-point lead vaporize, but stopped Kendre Miller on third and 4th below the 1 in overtime before kicking the walk-off field goal to declare the title and a historic season. Chris Klieman ended up being the first coach aside from Costs Snyder to win 10 games at K-State because 1910.– Wilson Kalen DeBoer’s team helped Utah get to the Pac-12 title game with its late-season rise that included wins over Oregon State, Oregon and Washington State. The Huskies then enjoyed Friday night as Utah thumped USC to clinch a Rose Bowl area that likely would have gone to Washington if the Trojans had won. Still, the Huskies continue to bask in a remarkable first season under DeBoer, who reshaped the offense behind quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and will compete for nationwide training honors. Washington likely will fall to the Alamo Bowl, where it will try to win 11 games for the very first time since its CFP season of 2016.– Rittenberg 2 Related The Seminoles have a possibility to win 10 games for the first time considering that 2016, an exceptional turn-around for a group that won 8 integrated games over the past 2 seasons. The Seminoles did it with the very best hurrying offense in the ACC and the development of quarterback Jordan Travis, who earned second-team All-ACC honors after getting 3,163 backyards and scoring 30 goals. Florida State has actually already begun its bowl practices with some great news– All-ACC players Jared Verse and Jammie Robinson stated they prepared to play in the bowl game.– Adelson Tyjae Spears wasn’t going to allow his team to be denied on Saturday as Tulane caught its very first conference championship because 1998(Conference USA)– the last year it won at least 11 games(12-0). Spears, the Green Wave’s junior standout, ran for a season high 199 yards, going over the 120-yard mark for yet another week. Junior QB Michael Pratt represented 442 yards( 394 passing)and five goals (4 passing ). Pratt gotten in touch with 9 different receivers as the offense acquired a season high 648 total yards– a performance that saw two receivers go over the 100-yard mark (Duece Watts, 134 backyards, one TD; Shae Wyatt, 110 yards, two TDs ). Tulane’s defense, on the other hand, matched matters by being ruthless all day long, piling up six sacks. The Green Wave will likely be headed to the Cotton Bowl as the Group of 5’s agent in the New Year’s Six.– Baumgartner Oregon State finished the season at 9-3 with losses to USC, Utah and Washington, all leaders of the conference. The group completed the season on a high note, beating in-state rival Oregon 38-34. Quarterback Ben Gulbranson finished with 1,290 pass lawns and 8 touchdowns with 5 interceptions in nine games, while Chance Nolan had 939 yards and 7 touchdowns with eight interceptions in 5 games. The defense was led by Omar Speights and Kitan Oladapo, who combined for 152 total tackles, 9.5 deals with for loss and 2.5 sacks on the season.– VanHaaren It was a what-if season for the Ducks, who not just had opportunities to play in the Pac-12 title game, but likewise, at one point, remained in line to have a shot at the playoff too. Rather, Dan Lanning’s very first season as Oregon head coach ended on a sour note: back-to-back losses to
the school’s 2 primary rivals. There’s no real factor for concern in Eugene, but provided the talent the Ducks have coming next season and beyond, along with the fact that USC and UCLA are Huge Ten bound in 2024, Lanning is going to be expected to do much better than he did in his launching season.– Uggetti The Tigers went out with a whimper. Brian Kelly did a masterful task in his very first season, upgrading a lineup that went 6-7 last season, beating Alabama
, winning the West and contending for the SEC championship. But a lopsided loss to Georgia, on the heels of an embarrassing loss at Texas A&M, stings. And it signifies how much even more this program has to go under Kelly to truly complete for a spot in the playoff.– Scarborough
If this was the end of a period in Westwood with quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson lastly using all of his eligibility, it was an impressive method to go out. DTR had the very best season of his college profession and UCLA stayed unbeaten deep into the year. It was lastly a season that felt representative of what the Bruins expected when they employed Chip Kelly. Yet, there was still some frustration considered that they might not beat Oregon and competing USC to reach the Pac-12 title game or the Rose Bowl. UCLA now looks toward next year in search of not just a new quarterback however a new era that won’t take as long to pay dividends as the last one.– Uggetti
Talk about conserving your finest for last. The Gamecocks beat a set of top-10 teams in the last 2 weeks of the season– Tennessee and in-state rival Clemson– to put
themselves in terrific shape to play someplace in Florida in their bowl game. Second-year coach Shane Beamer did a great job of getting his group back up after unsightly losses to Georgia and Florida. Quarterback Spencer Rattler was at his finest in the wins over Tennessee and Clemson. He accounted for 9 touchdowns, including 8 scoring passes. That’s after throwing just 8 touchdowns in the previous 10 games.– Low At one point or another, Notre Dame was proficient at everything in Marcus Freeman’s first season in charge. Logan Diggs and Audric Estime rushed for over 1,500 lawns, tight end Michael Mayer caught a bunch of passes, the defense stopped the pass more often
than not and the special groups system obstructed a bunch of punts. But the arrows just briefly all pointed in the best instructions simultaneously. The Irish began the season 3-3 with losses to Marshall(bad )and Stanford(worse ), and after a five-game win streak that consisted of a romp over Clemson, they couldn’t throw much of a scare into USC and completed 8-4. Freeman is strongly trying to upgrade the roster skill; we’ll see if he can get the Irish back to a top-15 level in 2023.– Connelly play 2:06 Heather Dinich breaks down what USC’s loss implies for College Football Playoff hopefuls, Ohio State and Alabama. The Longhorns’brief week as Kansas fans ended in frustration as Texas needed the Jayhawks to knock off Kansas State to offer Texas a spot in the Big 12
championship game. Now, after missing a bowl game in 2015 in Steve Sarkisian’s first season in Austin, the 8-4 Longhorns, in what might be Bijan Robinson’s last game in scorched orange, will want to make the most of the extra practices with an eye toward making a push in 2023.– Wilson Maybe it wasn’t exactly the routine season Mike Leach and the Bulldogs were wishing for, however it was solid. Their only losses were to SEC West champ LSU, SEC champ Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky. And they recuperated from
losing three of 4 games in the middle of the schedule to liquidate the routine season with back-to-back wins versus East Tennessee State and in-state rival Ole Miss. With a solid defense in place and Will Rogers anticipated back, the future is bright in Starkville.– Scarborough Coastal Carolina returned Grayson McCall and head coach Jamey Chadwell. Appalachian State had Chase Brice and a crammed lineup.
Louisiana still had quite a few big-time athletes from last year’s Sun Belt champion squad. Georgia State was athletic and physical. Newcomer Marshall had huge ambitions. The Sun Belt appeared packed heading into 2022, however who won the conference on Saturday afternoon? None of the groups above. Rather, Troy relocated to 11-2 by scoring 31 points in the first 20 minutes versus Coastal and travelling to a 45-26 romp in front of a thrilled home crowd of 21,554. Gunnar Watson needed only 12 conclusions to toss for 318 lawns and three scores, and the Trojans made a ring in Jon Sumrall’s very first season in charge.– Connelly Jeff Traylor has actually not lost time. He took over
a 4-8 program, enhanced it to 7-5 in 2020 and has gone 23-4 given that. His Roadrunners won their first Conference U.S.A. title last fall, then repeated on Friday night with a comfortable 48-27 triumph over North Texas in the Alamodome. Down 10-7 in the second quarter, they took control with a 24-3 run, then retreated in the 4th quarter with Frank Harris ‘3rd and 4th touchdown passes of the night. Harris went 32 for 37 for 341 lawns, Zakhari Franklin had 144 receiving lawns and 3 ratings and Kevorian Barnes hurried for 175 lawns too. This program has actually peaked just in time to head to the AAC next fall.– Connelly The Wolfpack harbored ACC title hopes entering into this season with junior quarterback Devin
Leary returning. However a loss to Clemson and the fact Leary( 1,265 passing backyards, 11 touchdowns), the conference’s preseason player of the year, was restricted to six games since of a torn pectoral doomed those hopes. Sophomore cornerback Aydan White(33 solo takes on, four interceptions) and fifth-year senior kicker Christopher Dunn(24 of 25 FGs; 102 points )made first-team All-ACC honors. A 30-27 double-overtime triumph in Chapel Hill concluded the routine season on a good note as NC State won a minimum of eight games for a third straight season.– Baumgartner