A Jersey Guy: Ten most interesting story lines for the 2022 CFB season
In the ever-changing world of college football, almost everyone does Pre-season rankings, covering just about everything.
We here at TMG like to take a look at a bigger picture.
How about what we feel will be the Top 10 STORY LINES for next season?
So here they are--open to debate about relevance and ranking.
1. USC
The Pac-12 needs USC as a Top 10 team, so does college football, but in the star-concentric world of Southern California, the Trojans needed more than that when they fired football coach Clay Helton last September.
They needed a presence, someone who would energize not only a team, but a city.
After a few months of speculation, they pulled if off when they grabbed college football's hottest young star of the future in Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley.
In a whirl-wind of action following Oklahoma's regular season loss to Oklahoma loss to Oklahoma State, USC football became more than relevant. It became the epicenter of activity, as Riley embraced the bright lights of Hollywood.
Others--including a scattering of talent from Oklahoma, an assortment of players using the transfer portal--are now including USC as their destination.
Make no mistake, not much (at least on the surface) is expected of the Trojans this season.
No Top 10 prediction, a once lightly regarded recruiting class that has been climbing steadily since Riley arrived and started a whirlwind of transfer portal activity as well.
The Trojans made a major move on Tuesday when they picked up Oklahoma starting QB Caleb Williams thru the transfer portal, another major milestone in Riley's short tenure at USC
USC could be next season's Michigan, a storied program, totally overlooked, which climbed into the Final Four, easily reversing last season's 4-8 tumble..
If there is further incentive, the CFP national championship game is scheduled to be played in Los Angeles in January 2023.
2. Nebraska
The biggest news in Lincoln this winter was that embattled Husker coach Scott Frost saved his job after a 3-9 flop.
The second biggest news is that the Huskers may be able to do a reverse in one season.
Frost, the former Nebraska star, whose home coming has been far more bitter than sweet, saved his job by promising to make massive changes.
His biggest?
Hiring Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Mark Whipple to transform the Huskers into contenders.
Nebraska and Frost have one more year to turn the program and Whipple, who has a storied career as an offensive guru and QB whisperer--check out this year's ACC regular season champion Pitt and QB Ken Picket--is that guy who can do it.
The word last season was that the Huskers' 3-9 record was somewhat misleading since 7 of the 9 losses were by 7 points or less.
Throw in an offense that no one at Nebraska or in the Big Ten has seen before, p[us a battle at QB between Texas transfer Casey Thompson and FSU transfer Chubba Purdy Adrian Martinez.
It could be a reversal of fortune for Husker nation.
It will be interesting and fun to watch, starting with a season opener in Dublin against Northwestern.
3. The SEC
How can you ignore the SEC?
You can't.
The gold-standard for football conferences always has good story lines and after last season, which ended with another SEC national championship, as well as an SEC national championship game, 2022 will be full of several plot lines.
Included are:
1.Can Alabama bounce back after its national championship loss to the Georgia Bulldogs?
2. Can Georgia, winner of its first national championship in 41 years repeat?
3. Will Florida (Billy Napier) and LSU (Brian Kelly) bounce back into national championship contenders with new coaches?
4. Can Texas A&M, with its first No. 1 in the country recruiting class and a regular season win over Alabama, get into the battle for SEC West championship honors?
All have merit, with perhaps Kelly's bold move from South Bend the most intriguing.
4. Clemson
The Tigers lost three games, both offensive and defensive coordinators and a spot in the ACC title game, as well as a place the CFP Final Four.
Was it the first sign of the end of the Dabo Sweeney run in Death Valley or a one year aberration that will self correct this season?
Clemson's run of double digit seasons continued last year, but the Tigers were not a factor from their opening game loss to Georgia wand out of the ACC title chase by mid-season.
What happens next season is one of the main story lines of ACC football in 2022.
5. Miami
Remember when Miami was really the U, with 5 national championships in 18 years from 1983 until 2001?.
When they were a factor, always included in the list of national championship contenders?.
Those were the days, my friends.
But the Canes haven't even been the best team in Florida in the past 20 years.
They have barely made a ripple in the Atlantic Coast Conference since moving from the Big East in 2004, going through 7 coaches in the past 14 seasons.
The latest to pick up the baton is Mario Cristobal, a U guy, who did his cGapprenticeship in the SEC and established himself at the University of Oregon.
Cristobal is back, replacing another U guy in Manny Diaz, but he has the backing of donors who promised to improve the facilities (on campus stadium?) and a new administration led by former Clemson athletic director Dan Radokovich.
Can it work this time? It will be fun to watch
6. Michigan
This is a story in progress, involving Jim Harbaugh, who guided the Wolverines back into Prime Time status as Big Ten champions last season.
But Harbaugh might jump back to the National Football League (Minnesota?)
If that happens, Michigan and its new coach becomes a story of interest.
If Harbaugh stays, the Wolverines quest for a repeat, or contender status at the very least is an intriguing issue.
7. Notre Dame
Lots of story lines here because it's Notre Dame.
But it's Notre Dame without Brian Kelly, who took the money ($95 million) and ran to the SEC and LSU.
It's Notre Dame with 35-year old Marcus Freeman, who last year was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati, where he did such a good job that Kelly hired him to run the Irish defense.
It's Notre Dame, with Freeman who made his head coaching debut on January 1 in the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State, with his defense squandering a 3 TD lead before dropping a 37-35 decision.
That makes Freeman 0-1 as a head coach, but that was a free play game.
Next up for the Irish: at Ohio State on Sept. 3. That could be 0-2
That its the ultimate nitpicking.
The big picture is that it is Notre Dame, with an untested, but possibly very good head coach, making it a ND season worth watching .
8. Texas
The eyes of lots of football fans will be on what Texas and second year coach Steve Sarkasian does in Austin next season.
A repeat of last season's 5-7 tumble is not going to cut it with Longhorn fans, who have been restless for more than a decade.
Signing a Top 5 recruiting class will help, and hoping that transfer portal QB Quinn Ewers from Ohio State develops into the super star everyone (including Ewers) predicted will add to that interest.
9. Group of 5 Schools
Cincinnati has dominated the past two yeas, including last season's CFP Final Four match up against Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. Before that it was UCF, another American Athletic Conference team.
But Cincinnati will be in a rebuild mode next season and UCF remains in flux. Perhaps Houston could emerge, but then against there is no clear cut Group of 5 favorite to get the guaranteed CFP playoff spot.
10. Portal Transfer
Which newcomer, using the portal transfer will transfer system which is running wild in college football, emerge as a season or career changer?
Surely it will be a QB.
Caleb Williams (Oklahoma) going to USC?.
Quinn Ewers (Ohio State) going to Texas?
Or will be some key position player who will fill in a need for a championship caliber team.
Maybe it will be a running back such as Jahlmyr Gibbs going from Georgia Tech to Alabama, which must restock its talent shelves once again.