College Football Early Playoff And Winner Prediction
25 May, 2022
We are less than 100 days away from the new college football season that starts on August 27, 2022 and the excitement among the football fans is growing as Week 1 is getting closer.
Last season brought many interesting matchups, a couple of huge upsets but the Playoff picture was as expected. For the second time in the last 5 seasons, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs played in the National Championship game with the Bulldogs lifting the trophy after a 33-18 win.
The offseason brought many coaching changes and transfers but none of them will make a difference that will change the regular powerhouses that qualify for the Playoffs.
Following is our prediction for the 2022 season Playoff participants and the National Championship winner.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
The Alabama Crimson Tide were the top favorites to win the National Championship last season but they failed to the Georgia Bulldogs in the final which was only their second loss of the year. Alabama will not have an easy task to return to the National Championship game since many of their top players from last season will go pro this summer. Anyway Nick Saban has been able to replace talent year after year since 2007 and he will do that again this time leading the team to their 19th championship and 7th during his tenure at the school. The Crimson Tide will have Bryce Young at quarterback who will be able to lead the team to the very end if he stays healthy. Linebacker Will Anderson will also return aiming to prove that he is the best player in college football at the moment. Alabama made a couple of significant transfers such as bringing in Jermaine Burton from Georgia, Tyler Harrell from Lousiville, Jahmyr Gibbs from Georgia Tech and Eli Ricks from LSU.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
The last time the Ohio State Buckeyes lost more than two games in a season was back in 2011 but they have won only one National championship in that span, in 2014. The Buckeyes won the Rose Bowl last season but this team is built for much more than that. Ohio State will have a chance to return to the National Championship game but will fail to Alabama just like they did in 2020. It will be interesting to see how the Buckeys’ defense will function under Jim Knowles who is coming to Ohio State after three season with Oregon State. CJ Stroud comes back for the Buckeyes just as Jaxon Smith-Njigba and TreVeyon Henderson so Ohio State will have no issues scoring in the upcoming season.
3. Georgia Bulldogs
It is not just the fact that they won the National Championship last season but it is also the way they did it. Last year’s team finished with a 14-1 record and winning their first National Championship after 1980. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs fans that dominance is probably in the past but the Bulldogs will definitely have a chance to play for a spot in the final game. Most of the players from the Bulldogs defensive line will find their place in the NFL but the good news for Georgia is that quarterback Stetson Bennett is coming back for his senior year.
4. Oklahoma Sooners
If the previous three teams are expected to have the final word in the upcoming season, the Oklahoma Sooners are not on many lists as probables for the Playoffs. What will make the Sooners exciting to watch this season and a possible dark-horse candidate to make it to the Playoffs is the signing off Brent Venables as the new head coach. Venables is returning to Oklahoma where he spent 12 years from 1999 to 2011 after nine seasons with Clemson where he was the highest-paid coordinator in the country. Oklahoma lost a couple of standout players who moved elsewhere but they still have the nucleus of the team that can be very dangerous under coach Venables.
