College Football Preview 2022

College football is back! It’s week 0 so we do have some games (As I discussed during the Weekly Update) but the season really starts Labor Day weekend! Let’s get you ready with all you need to know about this season as things got crazy in the offseason. You don’t have to worry that you didn’t pay attention, I got your back there!

Top 25 Preseason:

This is the AP Poll preseason Top 25. The AP poll is used as the official ranking system until the CFP starts (which usually isn’t until November). It is determined by sportswriters and comes over every week on Sunday (if all games are on Saturdays). The CFP comes out on Tuesday nights with a TV show on ESPN. You will also hear of the Coaches Poll; this is a poll that is voted on by FBS coaches who are members of the American Football Coaches Association.

• Conference breakdown: SEC leads with 6, ACC with 5, Big 10 has 4, Pac 12 & Big 12 with 3, American and the Independents are tied with 2 a piece.
• There were some records broken this year. LSU was not ranked for the first time since 2000. Texas for the first time since 2016 (despite being ranked 14 in coach’s poll).
• Vanderbilt is the only Power 5 school to never be ranked in Preseason Top 25.

Do the preseason rankings really matter?

46 teams were ranked last year at any point during the season. 11 teams ranked in preseason ended up in the final rankings. #3 Michigan was not ranked to start the preseason along with 3 others in the Top 10. On the other side preseason #6 Texas A&M ended the year not ranked.

Throwback to previous seasons:

Reigning champs: Georgia Bulldogs (won over Alabama 33-18)

Last year’s CFP: Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Cincinnati

Only teams to have ever made a CFP Final 4 (started in 2014 season): Alabama (7 – only missed 2019 CFP), Oregon, Florida St, Ohio St (4), Clemson (6), Michigan St, Oklahoma (4), Washington, Georgia (2), Notre Dame (2), LSU, Cincinnati.

CFP National Champs: Ohio St, Alabama (3), Clemson (2), LSU, Georgia. 3 finals (of 8) were Alabama vs Clemson. Alabama has been to the final 6xs (75% of the time).

What to Watch:

College GameDay starts every Saturday on ESPN at 8am. This is pre-game show that runs until kick-off of the first game (11am CT). Every week the location of College GameDay changes usually based on what the best game is that week.

The hosts of the show are Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, David Pollack and Kirk Herbstreit. Des is a Heisman Trophy winner RB from Michigan. Pollack was a LB at Georgia and is now in the College HoF. Herbstreit is a well-known announcer now but played QB for Ohio St. Lee Corso (aka Coach) was HC for Louisville and Indiana. The show goes through storylines from the games of the week as well as those feel-good pieces we all love. Who didn’t get teary eyed during the Iowa Hospital story?

The show always ends with the panel picking who they think will win this week (outright wins). They invite a famous guest picker to come in and join them as they pick as well. Usually that guest picker has a relation to one of the schools playing. Very last Lee Corso puts on the mascot head to indicate his pick for the main game.

Football game times are typically at 11am, 2:30pm and 6:30pm CT. Some games start in between all dependent on their TV schedule. ABC is considered the prime games but FOX usually as a good match up in the 11am spot.

Notable games this season:

Non-conference:

Week 1: Oregon vs Georgia, Notre Dame vs Ohio St, Florida vs Utah, LSU vs Florida St;

Week 2: Alabama vs Texas, Baylor vs BYU;

Week 3: Oklahoma vs Nebraska, Oregon vs BYU, Penn St vs Auburn, Miami vs Texas A&M

Regular conference play:

Clemson vs NC St Oct 1; Texas A&M vs Alabama Oct 8; Texas vs Oklahoma Oct 8; USC vs Utah Oct 15; Arkansas vs BYU Oct 15; Baylor vs Oklahoma Nov 5; ND vs Clemson Nov 5; Miami vs Clemson Nov 19; Utah vs Oregon Nov 19; OSU vs OU Nov 19; Egg bowl (Alabama vs Auburn) Nov 26; ND vs USC Nov 26; Michigan vs Ohio St Nov 26;

Conference championship week is December 3rd then it’s bowl season.

This year the CFP Semifinals will be Fiesta and Peach Bowl. The National Championship will be in LA on Jan 9.

To go bowling teams need at least 6 wins so a winning record usually sends a team to a bowl game. There are 12 weeks of college football so you will hear records expressed as figures that add up to 12 (ex: 10 & 2 or 6 & 6 team). The New Year’s 6 games are considered the best after the playoff games. They are reserves for the best of the best in each conference. Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, Fiesta Bowl. Rose (Big 10 vs Pac 12); Sugar (Big 12 vs SEC); Orange (ACC vs Big10/SEC/ND). The other 3 have no ties but the best Group of 5 (meaning non-Power 5) school is guaranteed a NY6.

Major season headlines:

Here are some of the one-liners that I think personify the upcoming 2022 season.

Will they live up to the hype?

USC and Texas. These two teams are steeped with talent but have been lack luster lately.

Is the Dynasty over?

Clemson and UNC (well the Mac Brown dynasty).

Who needs a bounce back season?

Clemson’s offense, Florida and Indiana.

Does the rebound coach work out?

Oklahoma, Oregon and Notre Dame. All 3 of these teams lost their HC and it was a bit of a surprise.

Can they break into that next level?

Texas A&M. The Aggies have the top recruiting class, with record-tying 24 recruits ranked inside the ESPN300. But can they finally break into the Final 4? They beat Bama last year but still missed out.

Who’s bottom of the CFP barrel?

These 4 had terrible seasons last year but can they bounce back? It looks doubtful. Kansas (2-10), Vanderbilt (2-10 but 0-8 in SEC), Arizona (1-11) and Duke (3-9 but 0-8 in ACC).

We had a crazy coach shuffle this offseason. Here are the schools who got new HCs:

Florida – Billy Napier (from Louisiana); LSU – Bryan Kelly (from Notre Dame); Miami – Mario Cristobal (from Oregon); USC – Lincoln Riley (from Oklahoma); ND – Marcus Freeman; Oklahoma – Brent Venables; Oregon – Dan Lanning;

Coaches on the hot seat:

Nebraska’s Scott Frost and Auburn’s Bryan Harsin. Even though Frost is a Cornhusker alum, the fanbase has been less than impressed with what he has done. However last year there were so many close loses, he was given another year to prove himself. Auburn had so many games that they had the W’s but fumbled (not literally although sometimes) and let the other team’s come back in the game *cough* Bama *cough*.

The transfer portal was hotter than my car in Texas on a summer day. It is becoming more and more popular to transfer if a player isn’t happy with their coach, school, experience, where they are on the lineup, anything really!

Notable QB Transfers: Texas – Quinn Ewers (Ohio St); Texas A&M – Max Johnson (LSU); Oregon – Bo Nix (Auburn); West Virginia – JT Daniels (GA); Pitt – Kevin Slovis (USC), USC – Caleb Williams (OU); Nebraska – Casey Thompson (Texas); Ole Miss – Jaxson Dart (USC); Oklahoma – Dillon Gabriel (UCF); South Carolina – Spencer Rattler (OU); K St – Adrian Martinez (Nebraska)

Look at all that movement!

Not only have coaches and QBs changed schools and conferences but there has also been schools.

USC and UCLA dropped a bombshell saying they’re going from the Pac12 to the Big 10. OU and Texas announced they will head to the SEC for the 2025 season. The Big 12 filled those spots with BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston.

Take a trip to Vegas with me

*Just because I am explaining gambling and sports betting does not indicate that I recommend gambling, especially due to the addictive quality to it. Also note that these figures and pictures were taken from FanDuel online however no bets were placed. *

If you’re going to make some bets:

Heisman: Ohio St QB CJ Stroud is the betting favorite at +200. Followed by Alabama QB Bryce Young and USC QB Caleb Williams are the top 3. Alabama has 3 players in the top 10 with a QB, LB & RB. Bryce Young won it last year. If he wins again this year, he would be the only defending Heisman winner since 1975 Archie Griffin.

To win the natty: Alabama opened as the betting favorite and is still the fav. Currently the odds are +180 (FanDuel as of 8/27).

Although you can pretty much bet on anything now. Remember sports betting is only legal in certain states and some even limit it to in person so no online betting. For more on that, check out this article.

Things your bf is betting on:

• O/U (Over Under) – this will be expressed as one number for the total amount of points will be scored in the game. You can bet that the teams combined scores will be higher (the over) than the number or lower (the under) than the total points.
  • Example: During the 2018 Orange Bowl between Alabama and Oklahoma, the Over/Under opened at 79.5, which means the Las Vegas betting gods think that the combined score from both teams will be 79 points. If you take the Over, you win money if the sum of the two teams scores is 80 or more. If you take the Under, you’re hoping for a lower scoring game with the teams scoring less than combined 79 points of below.
  • If the teams playing have good defenses, the O/U will be lower (less points scored). If the teams have high powered offenses (like an air raid – aka throws a lot) then the total will be higher.

• Line aka the Spread – the line means the amount a team is expected to win by.
  • Example: Let’s say the line is +3 for the home team (translating to the home team is favored by 3 points). So if you bet on the home team in Las Vegas, you will only win money if the home team wins by more than 3 points (4+). If the visiting team wins outright by any score or loses by less than 3, then you lose your money. Yes even if they lose, you can still win money. See figure above.
    • A lot of the time you will see it expressed in half numbers so +2.5 means that if the home team wins by 3, you still get your money.
  • You can bet this at the end of Quarters or the Half as well as the whole game. There is also a live line which means the line moves during the game. Usually if the home team scores, the line will increase, etc. The only way I play those is if I have faith in a team that they will comeback in the game and I can get a bigger line. I do not recommend this if you’re new to the betting scene.

• Team total – similar to the O/U, this is displayed as one number but it’s the total of only one of the teams. You can bet the Over/Under for the team. So if you think that team will score more than that number, you bet the Over.
• Win total – this figure is how many games you think a team will win in the season.
  • Example: This year (preseason 2022) Michigan has a win total of 9.5 which means that the Vegas gods are split and think the Wolverines will win either 9 or 10 games. If you have confidence that Michigan will win 10 of their 12 games this season, you will bet the Over. You win money if they win 10, 11 or 12 games. If they win 9 or less, you lose your $$.
• Money Line – if you’re new to betting, this is the way to go. You are simply picking who wins but if you bet on the favorite, you don’t get paid as much. A lot easier to do thus why you don’t get paid as much but if you like the underdog to win, you could get more than the line.

• Parlays are bets placed on multiple things happening but both have to hit for you to win.
  • Example: If you take a parlay of CJ Stroud winning the Heisman and Ohio St winning the national championship, you only get your money if BOTH of those things happen. If CJ Stroud wins the Heisman but Ohio St loses to Alabama in the national championship, your bet is a losing ticket.
• Futures are bets on something that hasn’t happened yet. Usually the earlier you bet these, the bigger the payout.
  • Example: Betting on Alabama to win the national championship or Georgia to win the SEC Conference Championship are future bets.

You cannot bet on negatives. Meaning you cant bet on someone to get injured, drop the ball, miss a FG, etc.

How to read those bets:

There are several different ways you will see odds. Let’s go through some examples so you can understand what you will win if you bet.

• If something is +180 that means you bet $100 you win $180 (in addition to your $100 so a total payout of $280). If the odds are negative, for example -110, than that means you have to bet $110 to win $100 (which with your initial bet of $110 you would get a total payout of $210). So negative figures are worse payouts because they indicate the favorite to win.
  • If you’re like, great Claire that doesn’t help me because I ain’t betting $100, I wanna bet $5, let’s walk through that.
    • +180 would translate to $9 of winnings (total payout of $14). Here’s the math: 180 / 100 = 1.8 * your bet = profit winnings.
    • On the flip side, if you bet $5 the -110 favorite, your winnings are $4.50 (total payout of $9.50). Math: 100 / 110 = 0.909 * your bet = profit winnings
• If odds are 6/1 (read as 6 to 1 odds) then that means for every $1 you bet, you win $6 (that’s in addition to the $1 you bet). The denominator doesn’t have to be 1 but you read it the same way, so if you see 6/2 that means you win $6 for a $2 bet.

Gambling or not, college football is always entertaining. Let the chaos and craziness begin!