Georgia #1 In Final FBS Computer Rankings

January 10, 2023 by Staff

The final FBS 2022 Congrove Computer Rankings put Georgia comfortably in the top spot. The rankings were released shortly after the Bulldogs claimed a second consecutive national championship with a resounding 65-7 beatdown of TCU. The Horned Frogs plummeted from 4th to 7th with the loss.

Michigan, which topped the rankings headed in to the bowl season, wound up in 2nd.The Wolverines fell 51-45 to TCU in their playoff semifinal game at the Fiesta Bowl, despite being favored by more than a touchdown at Fan Duel Sportsbook. Michigan tried to come back from a 19-point deficit, but came up short and has now lost back-to-back semifinal games in the championship playoff.

One spot behind was fellow Big Ten member Ohio State which also lost its semifinal contest, 42-41 to Georgia in the Peach Bowl. In that contest, the Bulldogs rallied late on a 5-play, 72-yard drive that culminated in a 10-yard pass to Adonai Mitchell with 54 seconds left in that game.

Alabama moved up to 4th after blasting Kansas State 45-20 in the Sugar Bowl. The Wildcats, who had climbed to 10th following its 31-28 overtime victory against TCU in the Big 12 Championship game, stumbled to a 15th-place finish in the rankings. As for the Tide, the 11-2 'off' year saw Nick Saban's troops lose two games by a total of 4 points as they fell 52-49 at Tennessee on a walk-off field goal, and 32-31 at LSU in overtime on a walk-off two-point conversion.

The early odds for winning the 2023-2024 national championship are not surprisingly led by Georgia (+300), Ohio State (+700), Alabama (+700) and Michigan (+800).

Complete Top 131.

Another SEC team climbed a spot up to 5th as Tennessee, led by backup QB Joe Milton as Hendon Hooker recovers from his ACL injury, went all Rocky Top on Clemson in the Orange Bowl with an unexpected 31-14 romp. The loss only knocked the Tigers down one spot to 8th.

The SEC and Big Ten domination of the rankings continues with Penn State grabbing the 6th spot. The Nittany Lions wrapped up an 11-2 campaign with a 35-21 stunner over Utah in the Rose Bowl. That setback dropped the Utes to 10-4 and sent them on a 5-spot descent to 14th in the rankings.

Washington moved up 3 spots to No. 9 after taking care of business in enemy territory by traveling to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl and knocking off favored Texas 27-20. The Longhorns had worked their way up to No. 18 in the rankings, but tumbled 7 spots to 25th after the loss left them with a not-so-special 8-5 record.

Florida State, which was 8-13 over the previous two seasons, finished a 10-3 campaign by topping Oklahoma 35-32 in the Cheez-It Bowl. Ryan Fitzgerald's 32-yard field goal with 55 seconds left provided the game-winning points for the Seminoles.

Oregon and Oregon State took 11th and 12th, respectively. The Ducks rallied past North Carolina 28-27 in the Holiday Bowl while the Beavers trashed Florida 30-3 in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Tulane put the final touch on a quality 12-2 campaign with a 46-45 upset of USC in the Cotton Bowl. The Green Waved tallied 16 points on a pair of touchdowns and a safety in a span of 3:58 late in the game to pull out the win. As a result, Tulane takes home the No. 13 spot in the computer rankings and finished as high as 9th in the traditional voter polls. Meanwhile, USC (11-3) sank three spots to 16th.

In all, the final top 25 contains programs from every conference except the MAC whose highest-ranked team is Eastern Michigan (9-4) at No. 49.

The ACC has two schools in the top 10 and 3 in the top 24, while the American places only one school in the top 25 with Tulane at 13, but Cincinnati was just one spot outside. The Big Ten has 3 of the top 6, and also has Minnesota checking in at No. 21. The Big 12 had 3 schools scattered from No. 7 to No. 25, and CUSA managed to get one entry in the Top 25 with UTSA finishing 23rd after a loss to Troy dropped the Roadrunners from 17th.

Notre Dame at No. 18 is the only independent team among the top 43, while Air Force is the lone representative of the Mountain West at No. 22. Boise State (28th) and Fresno State (30th) just missed out.

The PAC-12 has 5 schools all bunched between 9th and 16th.

The SEC has 3 of the top 5, plus LSU at 17 and Mississippi State at 19.

And finally, the Sun Belt has Troy at No. 20