5 College Football teams headed for a hefty drop in 2022

#2: Michigan State Spartans

Speaking of teams losing impact players, the Michigan State Spartans will also be victimized a great deal by the departure of top-tier running back Kenneth Walker III. While only attending MSU for one season, Walker easily became the face of the Spartans, along with being one of the faces of college football for the 2021-22 stretch.

Walker was such an impactful talent that, combined with the performances of other big names on the MSU roster, I believe he was a bigger part of still-new head coach Mel Tucker’s success than most would admit. And that is not a light statement when facing the league competition that Sparty has on an annual basis.

In short, the Big 10 is brutal (especially in the East), and Tucker will be missing quite the security blanket for Michigan State’s next run. With that said, I wouldn’t be holding out too much hope for 2022 being a 2nd-straight year of the Spartans sitting in the top 10.

#1: Cincinnati Bearcats

The Cincinnati Bearcats just might be the only team on this list that will not be particularly “worse” next season than they are today. Luke Fickell’s squad should be at the top of the AAC, the Group of 5, and CFB altogether in 2022 just as they have been in 2021, regardless of QB Desmond Ridder‘s absence.

The problem comes in when trying to compare future accolades to the one that they hit this season: Making the College Football Playoff bracket as a Group of 5 school.

A 13-0 Cincinnati with convincing wins over Notre Dame and Houston undoubtedly deserved the opportunity to play for the national title. However, a lot of external factors had to go their way for them to actually be granted it (i.e. Oklahoma, Clemson, Ohio State, and the Pac-12 all falling out of consideration).

As dastardly as it may sound, Cincy merely cracking this year’s top four is an accomplishment that will most likely never be replicated by any other programs at the Group of 5 level (at least not until the CFP is expanded). Even the odds of the Bearcats making it a 2nd time before their move to the Big 12 are very low. For that reason alone, they could not be spared from being placed on this list.