CFBHQ Top 10: Early College Football Power Rankings for 2023 Season
Predicting the future is always a gamble, especially in college football, and especially in modern college football with all the changes that have come to the game and directly impact how schools create their rosters.
The recruiting landscape has been forever changed with the advent of the new NIL rules, the transfer portal has brought a practical free agency to the game, and coaching turnover all help create upheaval on many teams.
But while it's always hard to predict the future, what we do have is the past and the present, and those both give us some major clues as to what college football will look like in the 2023 season to come.
CFBHQ Top 10: Early College Football Rankings for 2023 Season
In theory, team(s) in these rankings should beat the team(s) ranked lower and lose to the team(s) ranked higher on a neutral field
Just missed out: Oregon
2022 record: 10-3, 7-2 Pac-12
Where Oregon is now: Around five starters on defense and up to six on offense should come back to the Ducks next season, including crucially quarterback Bo Nix after he passed for 3,594 yards and scored 44 total touchdowns, key to an eight-game win streak midseason after the ugly Week 1 loss to Georgia.
Lanning made a name for himself coordinating Georgia's defense, but he has some work to do crafting the Ducks' unit in his image, especially after it loses the likes of linebacker Noah Sewell and cornerback Christian Gonzalez. Nix is also set to lose four starters from his good offensive line, but the program grabbed a coup in the transfer market when both receiver Traeshon Holden and defensive lineman Jordan Burch committed this offseason.
10. Washington
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2022 record: 11-2, 7-2 Pac-12
Where Washington is now: What a difference a year made for the Huskies under new head coach Kalen DeBoer and transfer quarterback Michael Penix. DeBoer's offense and Penix's arm, which led college football in total passing yards this past season, have rejuvenated the program, going from 4-8 a year ago to 11-2, beating four ranked opponents and rivals WSU and Oregon.
Now with the return of Penix and some important underclassmen, the core of skill players that made this offense go should be back for 2023, putting Washington in the conversation as a potential College Football Playoff contender.
9. LSU
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2022 record: 10-4, 6-2 SEC
Where LSU is now: Turns out that Brian Kelly is actually a good football coach, proving his doubters wrong after an offseason of speculation about whether he was the right fit for LSU. So far, so good: he beat Alabama, took the SEC West crown, and won 10 games, including a rout over Purdue in the bowl.
Jayden Daniels, the transfer quarterback who helped bring this offense to life, will return in 2023, and he'll have top receiver Malik Nabers after he went over 1,000 yards and caught three touchdowns this past season. And combined with the return of linebacker Harold Perkins and Maason Smith, whose 2022 was cut short by an ACL tear, LSU should have plenty of speed in the front seven to make another run at the West in 2023.
8. Penn State
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2022 record: 11-2, 7-2 Big Ten
Where Penn State is now: The loss of quarterback Sean Clifford and cornerback Joey Porter, Jr. are costly for the team, but James Franklin has been building a core to replace that outgoing talent after making a statement by beating Utah in the Rose Bowl.
Drew Allar is set to take the quarterback role, a year after arriving on campus as a consensus five-star prospect and top-five passer. Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen return at running back, and KeAndre Lambert-Smith at receiver. Defensively, the unit has improved under Manny Diaz's guidance, ranking top 10 in scoring, run-stop, and total defense. But Penn State needs to take the next step: beating Ohio State or Michigan, or both, in 2023.
7. USC
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2022 record: 11-3, 8-1 Pac-12
Where USC is now: Hoping that Alex Grinch can perform some major surgery on the team's defense so it doesn't cost this team a trip to the College Football Playoff. USC was in CFP contention heading into the Pac-12 title game, but a score of missed tackles and poor tackling resulted in a bad loss to Utah, and then another heartbreaker to underdog Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.
If Grinch can get his defense in order, the Trojans have the firepower to make a run at the national title.
Caleb Williams, the defending Heisman Trophy winner, will return at quarterback, and he'll have receivers Mario Williams, Tahj Washington, and Brenden Rice, not to mention a premier transfer pickup in Dorian Singer from Arizona. Running back MarShawn Lloyd helps replace Travis Dye's lost production, too, but there are holes to fill, likely three, on the offensive line.
6. Tennessee
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2022 record: 11-2, 6-2 SEC
Where Tennessee is now: Big Orange returned to the national college football conversation with its best turnout in a generation this past season, but two late losses to Georgia and South Carolina kept the Vols out of the playoff picture despite leading the nation in total offense most of the year.
Now, several of the key pieces to that puzzle are gone including Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, and Cedric Tillman. But many remain: Joe Milton is a potential star at quarterback, and the school secured the pledge of elite 5-star QB recruit Nico Iamaleava, and UT signed transfer tight end McCallan Castles.
But for the Volunteers to take that final step, Josh Heupel will have to get better on defense, especially in the secondary unit, which ranked among the worst in college football last season. And he'll do it without edge rusher Byron Young and three other starters in this front seven.
5. Florida State
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2022 record: 10-3, 5-3 ACC
Where Florida State is now: It looks like Mike Norvell may have finally turned the corner, in his third season winning 10 games for the first time since 2016.
Running back Treshaun Ward transferred out, but quarterback Jordan Travis will return in 2023, as will star edge rusher Jared Verse, and transfer tight end Jaheim Bell and cornerback Fentrell Cypress are important additions.
The Seminoles also return much of the core of their skill group to keep this offense on schedule next fall.
4. Alabama
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2022 record: 11-2, 6-2 SEC
Where Alabama is now: It's easy to think the era of Alabama's dominance may be coming to an end, but reports of Nick Saban's demise have been greatly exaggerated: both of the Crimson Tide's losses were on the final play of games on the road against ranked opponents.
Don't overlook what this team loses: Bryce Young, Will Anderson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Henry To'oTo'o, and Jordan Battle, among others, it was undisciplined and prone to penalties, and struggled at wide receiver and on the offensive line.
But what the Tide returns is enough to keep it in contention for the SEC title: quarterbacks Ty Simpson and Jalen Milroe, a potentially great receiver room led by Ja'Corey Brooks and Kobe Prentice, and important pieces on defense like Dallas Turner at linebacker and Kool-Aid McKinstry at cornerback.
Until proven definitively otherwise, the talent gap between Alabama and its competition is more than enough to keep it in the running for the national title.
3. Ohio State
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2022 record: 11-2, 8-1 Big Ten
Where Ohio State is now: Despite the criticism around Ryan Day after losing two straight to Michigan, the Buckeyes are seemingly right on the cusp of breaking through to the College Football Playoff title chase. Key skill players return to this offense in 2023: receivers Marvin Harrison, Jr. and Emeka Egbuka, the pair who helped lap Georgia's secondary in the Peach Bowl, and running back TreVeyon Henderson should be back after dealing with an injury.
J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer lead a physical front seven unit defensively, Cade Stover is back at tight end next fall, and OSU has a decision to make at quarterback, likely between Kyle McCord and Devin Brown. Notably, the Buckeyes play three tough games on the road in 2023: at Notre Dame, at Wisconsin, and at Michigan.
2. Michigan
2022 record: 13-1, 9-0 Big Ten
Where Michigan is now: Once again, head coach Jim Harbaugh is the subject of NFL rumors, and though he said he "expects" to coach the Wolverines in 2023, his presence on the sideline is the difference between Michigan being a top four team and not.
Receiver Ronnie Bell and tight end Luke Schoonmaker are headed to the draft, but quarterback J.J. McCarthy returns, as most crucially does starting tailback Blake Corum, who had a knee injury late in the season but was arguably a Heisman-worthy player at the position in 2022. Transfer additions like offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson and edge rusher Josaiah Stewart are important pickups.
1. Georgia
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2022 record: 15-0, 8-0 SEC
Where Georgia is now: The kings of college football after winning two straight national championships, including a historic 65-7 beatdown of TCU that is officially the biggest postseason win in the sport's history. Not bad after some analysts thought Georgia's personnel losses last year would be too costly.
Now, the Bulldogs are set to lose another batch of NFL talent including Jalen Carter, Kelee Ringo, Christopher Smith, and Darnell Washington. Stetson Bennett is also out after going 29-3 as starting quarterback.
But Kirby Smart's recruiting efforts should once again help balance those losses. Sophomore quarterback Carson Beck is the favorite to succeed Bennett and all-world player Brock Bowers is back, as are the likes of Mykel Williams and Malachi Starks on a defense that played five underclassmen in 2022, and Georgia added receivers Rara Thomas and Dominic Lovett in the portal, a pair of notable pieces who will help boost this receiver corps in 2023.
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