College Football Playoff rankings 2022: Projected final Top 25 after Georgia and Michigan dominate, USC and TCU give Ohio State help

Projected College Football Playoff rankings after Week 14: No. 10-9

10. Utah Utes

The job that Kyle Whittingham has done at Utah cannot go unnoticed as one of the best program buildings in the country. This team lost a load of NFL-caliber defensive talent from last year’s team that went to the Rose Bowl and also suffered through a number of injuries this year. But they continued to persevere, punched their ticket to the Pac-12 Championship Game.

After that, all the Utes did was play ultimate spoiler to USC and the Trojans’ CFP hopes as they capitalized on the weak defense and Caleb Williams’ injury for a dominant win. Utah is now back-to-back Pac-12 champions and this team is clearly one that will be in teh mix for the conference year after year despite roster turnover, especially after USC and UCLA depart for the Big Ten.

9. Clemson Tigers

Particularly on the heels of losing to rival South Carolina to end the regular season to effectively eliminate them from having any chance of making the Playoff, there were some who wondered what Clemson would look like in the ACC Championship Game. And when D.J. Uiagalelei started at quarterback, the signs didn’t look good for the Tigers.

Dabo Swinney made the early switch to Cade Klubnik, however, and changed the math. UNC had no answer for the offense after the quarterback change and, meanwhile, the Tigers defense completely put the clamps on Drake Maye and the often-high-powered Tar Heels offense. It might’ve been all for naught, but it was an impressive final showing from Clemson.