Josh’s College Football Rankings 2022–Week 4

Some fairly big changes this week. A few teams drop out of the rankings (bye Miami, Michigan State, and Texas!) and a couple others creep in (welcome Minnesota and Syracuse!). Some teams I had ranked very high struggled, while teams I was hesitant about ended up crushing opponents. Yeah, it was a good week for college football.

1. Alabama (4-0)–#2–W 55-3 Vanderbilt–I moved them back to the top spot after destroying Vandy.
2. Georgia (4-0)–#1–W 39-22 Kent State–The Bulldogs drop a spot because Kent State gave them such a tough time. It is truly a toss up between these two teams.
3. Ohio State (4-0)–#3–W 52-21 Wisconsin–I almost jumped Ohio State to #1. I considered it for a minute, but decided they are in that top tier with the other two and at the end of the day, it really does not matter yet.
4. Clemson (4-0)–#5–W 51-45 OT #12 Wake Forest–Clemson jumps into the top four after a big win against a highly ranked opponent. Plus, DJ had the kind of game he needed to have in order for the Tigers to be a top team again.
5. Michigan (4-0)–#4–W 34-27 Maryland–Yeah, Maryland was on my Watch List last week, but that does not mean they were ranked. The Wolverines struggled with their first decent opponent. Not a great look.
6. USC (4-0)–#6–W 17-14 Oregon State–Kind of the same boat as Michigan. Every team gets one pass due to a struggle against a weak opponent (for the most part). Is this a trend though?
7. Tennessee (4-0)–#8–W 38-33 Florida–The Volunteers can score and they should be able to hang with anyone, I cannot wait until they face Alabama in a few weeks.
8. Oklahoma State (3-0)–#9–BYE
9. Kentucky (4-0)–#10–W 31-23 Northern Illinois–Levis had four TDs and over 300 yards passing, but he was sacked five times. Is the Huskies defense that good?
10. NC State (4-0)–#11–W 41-10 UConn–Did what they are supposed to against UConn.
11. Penn State (4-0)–#14–W 33-14 Central Michigan–Looked like it was going to be an easy victory at first, but then things got interesting. Fortunately, the Nittany Lions were able to take control and pick up the win. If we are going with my tier idea, if the top three are the first tier, then I think the next tier is 4-6 (they just look a bit better). The third tier is fairly even in my opinion (7-13). I could see PSU being up there with the Vols and Cowboys or behind Ole Miss and Washington. Time will tell.
12. Ole Miss (4-0)–#15–W 35-27 Tulsa
13. Washington (4-0)–#22–W 40-22–Penix looks like the QB who beat Penn State.
14. Oklahoma (3-1)–#7–L 41-34 Kansas State–Now we get the one loss teams. If Tulane would have won this week, I would have considered ranking them since they beat K-State.
15. Baylor (3-1)–#16–W 31-24 Iowa State–It was a tough debate for me on what to do with Baylor. Iowa State is always tough at home (hell, they were favored), and the Bears walked out of there with a win.
16. Oregon (3-1)–#17–W 44-41 Washington State–An impressive comeback win for the Ducks.
17. Texas A&M (3-1)–#18–W 23-21 #13 Arkansas–I feel like nothing has changed from last year for the Aggies. They can beat anyone each week or lose to mediocre teams. The loss to App State looks worse since the Mountaineers lost to JMU.
18. Utah (3-1)–#19–W 34-13 Arizona State–The Utes are rebounding from their loss a few weeks ago. They are like Oregon right now. Dangerous.
19. Wake Forest (3-1)–#12–L 51-45 OT #5 Clemson–They easily could have won this game.
20. Pitt (3-1)–#20–W 45-24 Rhode Island–The run game dominated the FCS school. Nice to see.
21. BYU (3-1)–#21–W 38-24 Wyoming
22. Arkansas (3-1)–#13–L 23-21 #18 Texas A&M–Disappointing loss for the Razorbacks. I thought they could take another step forward and compete for the division.
23. Florida State (4-0)–HM–W 44-14 Boston College–The Seminoles are back baby!
24. Minnesota (4-0)–NR–W 34-7 #25 Michigan State–The Gophers are back baby!
25. Syracuse (4-0)–NR–W 22-20 Virginia–Holy crap, Syracuse is back! How long has it been since they were relevant? Hopefully they are for real.

Honorable Mention
UCLA (4-0)–W 45-17 Colorado–The Bruins have had an easy schedule (and have put up 45 points in 3 out of 4 games, weird).
Coastal Carolina (4-0)–W 41-24 Georgia State–I am not sure if the Chanticleers are as good as in recent years.
Cincinnati (3-1)–W 45-24 Indiana–The Bearcats gaves the Hoosiers a beatdown. They should rack up a bunch of wins from here on out.
James Madison (3-0)–W 32-28 Appalachian State–The Dukes should have a tough time in their first year at FBS, but apparently they did not get the message. They beat App State (who took down Texas A&M) and Middle Tennessee (who destroyed Miami).
Washington State (3-1)–L 44-41 #17 Oregon–The Cougs should have won this game. How did they blow that lead?

Watch List
Maryland (3-1)–L 34-27 #4 Michigan–Maryland has a beat up Michigan State next and then Purdue. They could easily get to 7-1 before heading to Wisconsin in November.
UNC (3-1)–HM–L 45-32 Notre Dame–I am still intrigued by the Tar Heels.
Oregon State (3-1)–L 17-14 #6 USC–Is the Pac-12 actually good this year?
Kansas (4-0)–W 35-27 Duke–Every college football analyst and broadcaster had to make a joke about basketball schools being good this year. I refuse to do it. I have standards.
TCU (3-0)–W 42-34 SMU–The Horned Frogs have had it easy so far, but the next four weeks should be a tough gauntlet (Oklahoma, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Kansas State). If they stay undefeated, then put them in the top five.

Plenty of big games next week. We have #5 Michigan at Iowa (always tough heading to Iowa and picking up a win). Oregon State travels to #18 Utah; #14 Oklahoma needs a rebound against TCU; #9 Kentucky heads to #12 Ole Miss; #23 Florida State will try to stay undefeated at home against #19 Wake Forest; #8 Oklahoma State heads to #15 Baylor; and #1 Alabama is at #22 Arkansas. The big game this week is #10 NC State travels to Death Valley to take on #4 Clemson. Looking for a good game on Friday? Check out Tulane and Houston and then late night, you have #13 Washington playing at UCLA.