College Football Playoff rankings 2022: Projected Week 13 Top 25 after Tennessee upset, USC proves itself, Ohio State gets scared

Projected College Football Playoff rankings after Week 12: No. 12-11

12. Kansas State Wildcats

Given the way that West Virginia played in Morgantown last week when Oklahoma came to town, there was a world in which Kansas State could’ve found itself in some trouble on Saturday. But the Wildcats once again proved that they might be the most underrated team in college football at this point in the season with another convincing performance that earned them an eighth win of the year.

There are always aspects of Kansas State that aren’t perfect. They gave up 31 points on the road and Will Howard threw a pick against West Virginia on Saturday. But one thing they do is fight and hit you from all angles all the time. This team isn’t going to make the College Football Playoff but, after narrowly losing out earlier in the year, they could very well spoil TCU’s chances in the Big 12 Championship Game.

11. Penn State Nittany Lions

Death, taxes, and Penn State beating the brakes off of bad teams in the Big Ten. We saw what happened against Michigan for the Nittany Lions and, while they played Ohio State close for much of the game, they collapsed late in that big matchup. It’s abundantly clear that this isn’t a team that’s on the level of the top of the Big Ten East, but it’s also obvious that they are a cut above the rest of the conference as well.

The Nittany Lions went on the road to Rutgers and, even though it was a close contest early on, they proved their quality as they wore the Scarlet Knights down and ended up blowing out their foes with a 55-10 win. Penn State now will close their season next week in Happy Valley against Michigan State with a chance to submit a 10-2 season and with a sense of renewed hope for James Franklin.