College Football Ratings Week 8 2022
The ranks of the undefeateds are falling quickly with Syracuse, UCLA and Ole Miss picking up their first losses on Saturday. That leaves only 6 undefeated teams, with Georgia and Tennessee facing off in two weeks, while Ohio State and Michigan will square off in Columbus the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Top 25
Ohio State
Georgia
Alabama
Michigan
Tennessee
LSU (+5)
Texas (-1)
Oregon (-1)
Illinois (-1)
Utah
Penn State (+15)
Kansas State (+8)
Mississippi State (-1)
USC (+1)
TCU (-6)
Syracuse (+1)
Oklahoma State (+11)
Kentucky (-4)
Florida State (-1)
Oregon State (+7)
UCLA (-8)
Texas Tech (+2)
Clemson (-1)
Wake Forest (+7)
Auburn (+4)
LSU was a darling of my model early in the season, and they’re back in the top 10 after a dominating win over Ole MIss. If it wasn’t for that fluky loss against Florida State to start the season, they’d be easily in the top 10 of the polls right now. I was ready to call it quits on Penn State after their putrid performance against Michigan but they surprised me with a dominating win over Minnesota. My model still hates Clemson more than anyone else I’ve seen, my model largely chalked up their win over Syracuse to penalty yardage.
Moving Up
I thought Wisconsin (62nd → 38th) was toast after their blowout loss to Illinois, but in hindsight that result speaks more about the Illini than the Badgers. Wisconsin dominated Purdue and has an interesting swing game against Maryland next. Liberty (81st → 60th) dominated BYU and would be undefeated if they had picked up a two point conversion against Wake Forest back in September. East Carolina (54th → 36th) beat UCF to pick up the best win of Scottie Montgomery’s tenure in Greenville and could be a contender in the American this year.
Moving Down
Minnesota (34th → 65th) was in the top 10 of my ratings less than a month ago, but has been in complete free fall since with blowout losses to Illinois and Penn State. BYU (60th → 85th) was whispering about the playoff in September before a three game losing skid sent them to 4-4. There may not be a team in the country having a more disappointing season than Miami (35th → 51st) who committed a whopping 8 turnovers in their blowout loss to Duke.