The first edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings for the 2022 season was released on Tuesday night, and for the first time since the birth of this current format, Tennessee was tabbed as the top team in the nation. The Volunteers, currently 8-0 and with a win over No. 6 Alabama under their belts, now stare down crucial meeting with No. 3 Georgia on Saturday in the SEC on CBS Game of the Week at 3:30 p.m. ET.
It was anticipated, however, that both the Vols and Bulldogs would be slotted within the initial top four. Coming into the release on Tuesday, most of the intrigue centered around the positioning of three other undefeated teams: Michigan, Clemson and TCU. Well, the Tigers and Wolverines chimed in at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively, while the Horned Frogs were — controversially, to some — behind the Crimson Tide at No. 7.
So who’s overrated and who’s underrated in the first edition of the CFP Rankings? Let’s have a look.
Overrated: Clemson
It’s been hard to pin down the identity of the Tigers this season. One game, they look like world-beaters. The next, they look like pretenders. Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has significantly improved from last year but is still nowhere near the superstar he was touted to be when he came out of high school. Matter of fact, the last time we saw the Tigers, Uiagalelei was benched in favor of heralded freshman Cade Klubnik.
They have wins over No. 20 Syracuse, No. 21 Wake Forest and No. 22 NC State, which is nice but not terribly noteworthy. The out-of-conference schedule so far has been Furman and Louisiana Tech, which doesn’t do much to bolster the Tigers’ case. Clemson got in the top four because of its history of success in the CFP era. In reality, it’s impossible to trust this team through the eight-game sample.
Underrated: Michigan
What’s the knock against Michigan? The easy schedule that includes out-of-conference wins over Colorado State, Hawai’i and UConn? OK, but it has rolled through that slate with relative ease. It’s important that teams don’t play down to their competition, and the only one-score game the Wolverines have played is the 34-27 win over Maryland on Sept. 24. Oh, and it has a much better win than Clemson, too. The Wolverines dominated No. 15 Penn State 41-17 on Oct. 15, which is far more impressive than anything that Clemson has done.
In the end, it won’t matter. Michigan has games against No. 15
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