College Football Playoff rankings 2022: Projected Week 13 Top 25 after Tennessee upset, USC proves itself, Ohio State gets scared
Tennessee got stunned, USC got its signature win, Ohio State, Georgia and more got scared and now we look at the College Football Playoff rankings.
When you looked at the Week 12 slate in college football, it didn’t exactly jump off the page outside of USC and UCLA clashing. So it only figures that this week of action gave us more chaos for the College Football Playoff rankings than we could’ve imagined — and that’s without even counting the close calls.
The biggest result of the day was previously No. 5-ranked Tennessee going on the road and, not just getting upset, but getting blown out by unranked South Carolina. When you then throw in USC getting its signature win over its rivals, that shakes things up at the top. And let’s not forget that Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU were all pushed nearly to the brink in their wins.
Rivalry week is now on deck and the CFP picture is as crazy as ever. So we have to check out the projections for the upcoming College Football Playoff rankings.
Projected College Football Playoff rankings after Week 12: No. 25-21
25. UTSA Roadrunners
Week after week, the UTSA Roadrunners are just reeling off impressive wins. On Saturday, they blasted Rice for a monster 41-7 win, putting them at a cumulative 92-14 over the past two weeks. With its only losses this season coming to Texas and a triple-overtime loss in the opener to Houston, I don’t see how the Roadrunners can be overlooked for a spot in the CFP rankings.
24. Texas Longhorns
Yes, it’s just like the media to rank Texas after a good game. The Longhorns are the only four-loss team that will be in the Top 25, but the committee has loved the metrics of this team all along and some chaos mixed with a blowout win over Kansas is enough for Quinn Ewers and the rest of the mullet army to make its way back into the rankings.
23. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Due to the tragedy at Virginia earlier this week, Coastal Carolina’s Week 12 game was canceled, which is more than understandable. But the Chanticleers have earned their Top 25 spot before then and it’s time the committee recognizes a team that’s still 9-1 on the season and has weathered hardships to get to this point and submit another impressive resumé.
22. Ole Miss Rebels
You always worry about a hangover game after a hard-fought loss like the one Ole Miss suffered against Alabama last week but even that couldn’t have prepared the fans in Oxford for Saturday night against Arkansas. The Rebels got their doors blown off by the Hogs in Fayetteville as they trailed 42-6 in the second half before tacking on some points for morale. That’s a tough look and drops Ole Miss out of the Top 20.
21. Oregon State Beavers
You can’t say enough about the job that Jonathan Smith has done with Oregon State this season. Despite the fact that the talent level has not necessarily been on par with some other Top 25 teams this season, there have been few games the Beavers haven’t been competitive in. So for them to go on the road and wallop Arizona State – even with how lackluster the Sun Devils are – is only further testament to how quality of a team this is.