5 college football teams that will make some noise in 2022

Big Ten: Wisconsin Badgers

A slow start against elite opponents derailed what could have been a truly remarkable season from Wisconsin in 2021. However, they still managed to make quite the impact, winning eight regular-season games and making a strong run for their divisional crown.

What really feeds the Badgers some potential for 2022, though, is just how winnable their upcoming schedule is.

Playing in the heavily-inferior West division of the Big Ten, Wisconsin will be avoiding both Penn State and Michigan (the latter of which is the conference’s best). But the road slate will still be a tough one, with Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State, and Iowa all being destinations that the Badgers will have to visit.

Managing to at least split those four would still leave room for a decent season, though.

Big 12: Baylor Bears

Yes, Baylor just won the Big 12 title game and has a New Year’s Six bowl on the horizon, so they aren’t exactly desperate for a huge offseason makeover at the moment. But just before the 2021 bounce back, 2020 saw a horrendous 2-7 slump.

With that in mind, Baylor sitting as pretty as they are today is quite the accomplishment, and it will be for next year as well.

Oklahoma State is looking to be Baylor’s toughest game in 2022, and even it’s at home. Allowing for a close loss here and there, the Bears could easily have another 11-2 record under their belt a year from now.