5 former college football powerhouses that could be “back” in 2022

Some usual college football powerhouses have drifted back into irrelevance over the past couple of years, but who could be “back” in 2022?

When you think of historical college football powers, names like Alabama, Notre Dame, and Ohio State come to mind. Those programs have been powerhouses over the years and dating back decades. They’ve been able to maintain “elite” status for as long as anyone can remember.

Other programs like Georgia, Clemson, and Oklahoma are also on that powerhouse level and all have been in the national title conversation each season.

But there are others who are more historical powers both in the sense that they’ve had storied histories and they’ve also been out of the spotlight for a while.

Some historical powerhouses like Yale or Syracuse have long since faded into irrelevancy and there’s probably no hope for the latter to be a playoff contender seeing as Dino Babers can’t seem to get the program back on track (spoiler: the Orange won’t be on this list).

Michigan is also considered a “historical powerhouse” and “blue blood” and the Wolverines had been irrelevant in the national spotlight for about 15 years before finally winning a Big Ten title and beating Ohio State in 2021. They are seemingly “back” after Jim Harbaugh’s breakout season.

Which former powerhouse programs could be next to be “back” in 2022?