College Football Ratings Week 4 2022
Week 3 saw one legitimate playoff contender lose (Oklahoma) and two more come very close to it (Clemson and USC). I still think that there’s a large gap between the top 3 teams and everyone else, most of the drama in the coming weeks will lie in the 4th through 10th area as it was last week.
Top 25
Ohio State (+1)
Georgia (-1)
Alabama
Michigan
LSU (+2)
Minnesota (+10)
Oklahoma (-2)
Utah
Tennessee (-3)
Texas (+10)
Cincinnati (-2)
Purdue (-2)
Maryland (+1)
NC State (-2)
Oregon (+9)
Oklahoma State (-5)
Mississippi State
USC (+16)
Penn State (-4)
Kansas State (+15)
Florida State (+5)
Arkansas (-2)
Ole Miss (-1)
Texas A&M (-11)
Oregon State (-6)
For the first time this season, we have a new #1 in my ratings as Ohio State treated Wisconsin like an FCS team in a blowout win. Minnesota is flying up the rankings after demolishing Michigan State- I believe this is the Gophers’ highest ever place in my ratings. We now have enough data that I’ve reduced the weight of my preseason ratings, no team is a bigger beneficiary of this than USC who rises into my top 25 for the first time all season.
Moving Up
The biggest week-over-week gain this season belongs to Middle Tennessee (108th → 63rd). The Blue Raiders were viewed as a middling CUSA team before they destroyed Miami in a game that was not even as close as its 16 point margin indicates. The only team to beat MTSU this year is James Madison (70th → 35th) who, like USC, benefitted a lot from de-emphasizing preseason results. The Dukes are one of only two undefeated G5 teams left in the country. Kent State (101st → 62nd) played Georgia shockingly close and opens MAC play next week as the possible conference favorites.
Moving Down
It’s one thing to lose to Ohio State, but it’s another thing to get completely vaporized like Wisconsin (27th → 71st) did. The final score of 52-21 doesn’t look horrible, but Wisconsin scored all their points in garbage time and Ohio State pulled the starters early. Boise State (49th → 82nd) looks to have their worst team in over a decade after they lost to UTEP as a 17 point favorite. Virginia Tech (76th → 98th) might be one of the worst teams in the Power Five as the Hokies got killed at home by a mediocre West Virginia team.