College Football Playoff rankings 2022: Projected Week 14 Top 25 after Michigan dominates Ohio State, LSU and Clemson lay eggs

Projected College Football Playoff rankings after Week 13: No. 20-16

20. Texas Longhorns

Bijan Robinson’s final game in Austin played out like a storybook for the star running back and his Texas Longhorns. Locked in a dogfight with Baylor as Quinn Ewers struggled, Steve Sarkisian relied on his workhorse to take him home and the mustard connoisseur delivered for him with 179 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Texas won’t be playing for a Big 12 title but an 8-4 campaign feels like a step in the right direction.

19. UCF Knights

Gus Malzahn and the UCF Knights are heading to the AAC Championship Game to try and beat Tulane for a second time to punch its ticket to the Cotton Bowl, but they almost laid the most inopportune egg in the War on I-4 against lowly South Florida. They needed a late touchdown and two-point conversion to secure the win, but the victory is all they needed to get where they wanted to go.

18. Oregon State Beavers

As someone who has banged the drum for the Beavs in many weeks this season, it was vindicating to see their performance in the rivalry formerly known as the Civil War. They fell behind by three scores at one point, but the defense stepped up and the offense found its rhythm to spark a massive comeback. And a final huge stop on the goal line earned Oregon State the big 38-34 win to punctuate a phenomenal 9-3 season.

17. UCLA Bruins

It was almost too predictable that the UCLA Bruins would have an emotional letdown on Friday night as they went on the road to face Cal given the tiring loss to USC last week. And indeed, the Bruins were down 21-10 late in the first half and trailed 28-27 early in the fourth quarter. But credit to Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Zach Charbonnet for coming through and pulling out the win, even if it was far from pretty.

16. Tulane Green Wave

There was a group of people who believed that Tulane’s terrific season would come to a close on the road at Cincinnati with an AAC Championship Game spot on the line. But the Green Wave defense showed up huge down the stretch while Tyjae Spears dominated with 181 yards and two scores in the huge victory. Now they will play UCF in a rematch for the conference title and a spot in the Cotton Bowl.