UPDATED POWER RANKINGS

 

Yet again, Georgia remains at the top of the power rankings. The Bulldogs are this year's best team but seem to not be nearly as good as last year. Yes, that is a high bar, but it seems as though no team in 2022 would compete with the top teams of last season. That likelihood makes this season much more interesting because most are unsure about how the CFP will unfold.

Speaking of the CFP, Ohio State is currently on the outside looking in after taking a second half shellacking at home from the school up North. The Buckeyes remain second in the power ranking but are clearly lower in a non gambling focused poll. Alabama likewise remains third after winning the Iron Bowl by the expected margin. Michigan jumps Tennessee after the abovementioned victory. The Wolverines have possibly been highly undervalued all season long. Let's see if they can keep up with the ever increasing expectations. The Vols fall to a respectable fifth after shutting out upstart Vanderbilt. USC currently sits fourth in the CFP poll but only sixth here. The Trojans can make their case this weekend in the PAC-12 Championship game. If the defense shows, maybe an increase in ratings will be in order. Clemson stays seventh even after the home loss to South Carolina because the Tigers have been floating around their lower end all year long. Utah's consistent presence in the top ten this year is no surprise. The Utes have a wonderful coach and play a style conducive to favorable results at the windows; especially when favored big. TCU moves in to the top ten and sits ninth after clobbering Iowa State. Perhaps, like Michigan, the Horned Frogs have been grossly underrated all season long. A Big 12 Championship could move them even higher in Sonny Dykes first season. Rounding out the top ten is Penn State. The Nittany Lions have been the most reliable team in 2022 save their excusable pair of losses to heavyweights Michigan and Ohio State. 

Elsewhere in the Top 25, Ole Miss plummeted after a brutal Egg Bowl loss. Mississippi State moved up as a result, passing the Rebels in fact. Notre Dame re-entered even after losing to USC. The Irish played much better than the final score indicated. 

Other Notable Moves

Tulane jumped up a good number of spots. Controlling the line of scrimmage for much of the game at Cincinnati was ultra impressive. The Green Wave have a chance to really prove themselves by avenging their sole conference loss in the AAC title game. Perhaps Coach Fritz really has gotten his team above their ceiling. 

South Carolina moved up a number of spots. Notching back to back wins over top AP top ten teams is impressive no matter what. 

Oklahoma State fell to its lowest spot in quite some time. The Cowboys' season collapsed after the TCU loss and was in free fall the last several weeks. Likewise, North Carolina's drop out of CFP contention was swift, but, not totally unexpected. The Tar Heels were playing most of the season way above their true ability and the schedule finally caught up.

Duke's number finally matches their win-loss record. Mike Elko did the best job of any coach in FBS this year. The fact he won eight games with little to no noteworthy talent is incredible. 

Troy moved up quite a bit and coach Jon Sumrall has a case for having done as well as Elko. The first year coach only lost twice and the Trojans are hosting the the Sun Belt Championship. 

Finally, Liberty really fell the last several weeks beginning with the loss at UConn. The Flames no longer have coach Hugh Freeze. The loss has the potential to set the program back quite a bit. Time will tell.

The following rankings reflect power ratings. The ratings are updated every week to reflect each team's performance against both its on-field opponent and the betting spread, or line.

Ranking	Team	Prev. Ranking
1	Georgia	1
2	Ohio State	2
3	Alabama	3
4	Michigan	5
5	Tennessee	4
6	USC	6
7	Clemson	7
8	Utah	8
9	TCU	12
10	Penn State	13
11	Florida State	11
12	LSU	10
13	Oregon	14
14	Texas	15
15	Kentucky	17
16	Mississippi State	21
17	Ole Miss	9
18	Kansas State	18
19	Washington	24
20	Oklahoma	16
21	Oregon State	19
22	Illinois	25
23	Notre Dame	26
24	Arkansas	20
25	Baylor	22
26	Florida	30
27	Tulane	39
28	Wisconsin	23
29	UCLA	27
30	South Carolina	43
31	Wake Forest	28
32	Central Florida	29
33	Iowa	31
34	Texas Tech	32
35	Purdue	41
36	Iowa State	36
37	Maryland	40
38	Minnesota	42
39	Louisville	38
40	Washington State	37
41	Cincinnati	33
42	Pittsburgh	44
43	Oklahoma State	34
44	North Carolina	35
45	Texas A&M	45
46	Auburn	49
47	Duke	61
48	Fresno State	47
49	West Virginia	51
50	Missouri	50
51	NC State	55
52	SMU	46
53	Michigan State	53
54	UTSA	48
55	Syracuse	52
56	BYU	56
57	Boise State	57
58	Air Force	59
59	Kansas	58
60	East Carolina	54
61	Troy	73
62	Nebraska	75
63	Appalachian State	60
64	Western Kentucky	65
65	Miami	64
66	Marshall	63
67	James Madison	67
68	South Alabama	66
69	San Diego State	62
70	Houston	68
71	Arizona	72
72	Northwestern	71
73	UAB	74
74	Arizona State	77
75	Toledo	70
76	Army	76
77	California	78
78	Memphis	85
79	Liberty	69
80	Virginia	80
81	Louisiana Lafayette	89
82	San Jose State	79
83	North Texas	81
84	Vanderbilt	82
85	Georgia Tech	88
86	Navy	86
87	Georgia State	91
88	Indiana	87
89	Stanford	84
90	Ohio	90
91	Georgia Southern	92
92	Tulsa	98
93	Southern Mississippi	93
94	Coastal Carolina	83
95	Utah State	94
96	Rutgers	95
97	Wyoming	96
98	Eastern Michigan	102
99	Kent State	99
100	Old Dominion	100
101	Virginia Tech	101
102	Ball State	106
103	Boston College	104
104	Miami Ohio	97
105	Buffalo	105
106	UTEP	107
107	Florida Atlantic	109
108	UConn	108
109	Rice	110
110	UNLV	103
111	Temple	121
112	Central Michigan	111
113	Middle Tennessee State	112
114	Western Michigan	119
115	South Florida	115
116	Bowling Green	114
117	Texas State	116
118	Louisiana Monroe	118
119	Northern Illinois	113
120	Louisiana Tech	120
121	Arkansas State	117
122	Colorado State	124
123	Akron	123
124	Hawai'i	125
125	Charlotte	122
126	Nevada	128
127	Colorado	126
128	New Mexico State	129
129	New Mexico	127
130	UMass	130
131	Florida International	131