Lindy Sports Has Tempered Expectations For Michigan State Football In 2022
Mel Tucker has raised expectations for Michigan State's football program significantly over his two-plus years in East Lansing. The Spartans were perhaps the biggest surprise in college football in 2021, going 11-2 and winning the Chick-fil-A Peach bowl.
Now, about two months away from the start of the 2022 season, preseason magazines are beginning to release their preseason Top 25 rankings heading into this fall.
One of those magazines is Lindy Sports', who revealed their preseason Top 25 earlier this week.
Compared to many of the other preseason Top 25 rankings, Lindy Sports has tempered expectations for the Spartans, as Michigan State comes in at No. 20 on the magazine's list.
For context, the Spartans were ranked No. 9 in ESPN's 'Way-Too-Early' Top 25 released in May, and Michigan State was ranked No. 13 in both the Sporting News and 247Sports' preseason Top 25 rankings. Additionally, MSU comes in at No. 16 in ESPN's Football Power Index rankings for 2022.
Given where Michigan State is being listed by several other sources, it's something of a surprise to see the Spartans down at No. 20 in Lindy Sports' preseason rankings. However, MSU does have to replace Kenneth Walker III in the backfield, and has questions along the offensive line and in the defensive secondary.
Throw in a 2022 schedule that looks more difficult than the one Michigan State had a year ago, and it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that the Spartans take a step back this upcoming season.
With that being said, I found a few other instances where I disagreed with Lindy's placement of certain programs.
The most jarring was seeing Oklahoma ranked No. 10, considering head coach Lincoln Riley left for USC this offseason and took prized freshman quarterback Caleb Williams with him.
The Sooners also lost their other QB who had starting experience, Spencer Rattler, to South Carolina. Throw in the fact that Oklahoma hired a first-time head coach in Brent Venables — who I like, but you never know with first-year guys — and a preseason No. 10 ranking seems awfully high.
Another ranking that stood out was No. 14 Miami. Now, you can chalk me up as a believer in Mario Cristobal — I think he's going to bring the Hurricanes back to a place of national relevancy in the near future. But labeling Miami as a preseason Top 15 already seems a little too quick.
Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke could have an excellent season for the Hurricanes, but they have a lot of questions to answer on the defensive side of the ball. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Canes ranked in the Top 15 by season's end, but starting them that high seems like a recipe for disappointment.
Finally, this one didn't come as a shock, but I have a hard time believing that Clemson is the No. 4 team in the country heading into the 2022 campaign. The Tigers took a sizable step backwards in 2021 from a national title contender to a team that failed to win the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time in six years.
Yes, Clemson still won 10 games in 2021, and the fact that it was a disappointment speaks to where expectations are for this program. But I get the feeling that the Tigers' days of competing for national championships might be over. Head coach Dabo Swinney suffered significant departures to his coaching staff for the first time of his tenure at Clemson, and the head coach's decision to hire from within a coaching staff that disappointed last year was less than inspiring. I think the Tigers will be a good to very good team in 2022, but not a Top 5 team.
In more minor disagreements, I felt that Lindy Sports' ranking of Ole Miss at No. 17 was a little low for the Rebels, while the magazine listing Michigan at No. 6 and Oregon at No. 11 feels a bit too high.
Other Big Ten teams that Lindy Sports included in its rankings were Ohio State at No. 2 and Wisconsin at No. 16 — no complaints with either of those rankings.
While it's fun to look at preseason Top 25 rankings and get excited for the upcoming season, I'm chomping at the bit to see these teams actually get on the field and start playing games.
