College Football Ratings Week 5 2022
It was another entertaining weekend of college football with pandemonium in the lower reaches of the AP Poll. The top few teams are some distance among the rest, but the second tier is wide open and it’ll be interesting to see which playoff contenders emerge from the pack.
Top 25
Ohio State
Georgia
Alabama
Michigan
Utah (+3)
Texas (+4)
Purdue (+5)
LSU (-3)
TCU (+24)
Tennessee (-1)
Mississippi State (+6)
Minnesota (-6)
Cincinnati (-2)
Oregon (+1)
Maryland (-2)
USC (+2)
Penn State (+2)
NC State (-4)
Oklahoma State (-3)
Kansas State
Baylor (+8)
Washington (+5)
Kentucky (+9)
Clemson (+14)
Florida State (-4)
The biggest result of the week was TCU’s blowout win over Oklahoma. The Horned Frogs are undefeated and leaped into the top 10 in my ratings- they play the Big 12’s two other undefeated teams (Kansas and Oklahoma State) in the next two weeks. Purdue continues to be shockingly high in my ratings and rose further after a big win over Minnesota. Cincinnati is not getting any national buzz but they remain the top Group of Five team by a large margin.
Moving Up
I had written off Boston College (102nd → 68th) for dead after losses to Rutgers and Virginia Tech but they scored a great win over Louisville this week. Duke (90th → 63rd) has been a pleasant surprise this season, I expected the Blue Devils to be horrible but after a big win over UVA they look like they could win the ACC Coastal. Connecticut (125th → 115th) got their first win over an FBS team in nearly 3 years as they beat Fresno State as a 3 touchdown underdog, and they should be favored once again this week against FIU.
Moving Down
Fresno State (50th → 79th) was a popular pick to win the Mountain West, but they’ve fallen off a cliff this year and are 1-3 without an FBS win after their shocking loss to UConn. Oklahoma (7th → 28th) has seen their defense ripped to shreds two weeks in a row, first by Adrian Martinez and Kansas State, then by Max Duggan and TCU. The Sooners are in danger of falling to 0-3 in the Big 12 if they lose to Texas this week, a game where they’ll be an underdog. Texas A&M (24th → 38th) was not competitive at all in a loss to Mississippi State and may actually be the worst team in the SEC West.