By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer
While the national championship was still in the balance, programs all over the country turned over coaches, added to their signing classes and gained and lost players via the transfer portal.
As we enter the 2022 offseason, these are my Top 25 teams for next season.
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1. Alabama
I place a premium on returning quarterbacks. Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young will be around for another season, so if Jameson Williams does not opt for the 2022 NFL Draft (and is fully recovered from the injury suffered Monday night), the best QB-WR duo in the sport will be in Tuscaloosa.
2. Ohio State
The Buckeyes return three dynamic players on offense: QB C.J. Stroud, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and running back TreVeyon Henderson.
Ryan Day has tapped former Oklahoma State assistant Jim Knowles to revitalize the Buckeyes’ defense. If Knowles accomplishes his task, Ohio State will be a favorite to win the national title in January 2023.
3. Texas A&M
Alabama set the record for highest mark in recruiting rankings history with its otherworldly 2021 class. All A&M did this year was break it.
If either Max Johnson or Haynes King excels at QB, the Aggies can be great. But they haven’t won a conference title since 1998 and a national title since 1939.
4. Georgia
UGA is a top-five team on talent alone. If Kirby Smart nails the defensive coordinator hire, the Dawgs can make another run at the CFP.
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5. Michigan
This is true only if Jim Harbaugh is head coach at the start of the 2022 season. He’s rumored to be considering a return to the NFL.
6. Arkansas
Sam Pittman held on to two in-demand coordinators and quarterback KJ Jefferson. The Hogs’ continuity will pay off in 2022.
7. Baylor
No one has enjoyed a more gratifying turnaround than Baylor coach Dave Aranda. In 2020, the Bears won just two games. In 2021, they won 12 and the Sugar Bowl.
Aranda returns both coordinators and a potential breakout star in quarterback Blake Shapen, who led the Bears to a win in the Big 12 Championship Game.
8. Notre Dame
Elevating Marcus Freeman to head coach and keeping offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will pay dividends for the Fighting Irish, who will be in the hunt for the national title even after losing All-American defensive back Kyle Hamilton to the draft.
In fact, ND has already earned a commitment from Hamilton’s likely replacement: former Northwestern All-American DB Brandon Joseph.
9. Utah
Kyle Whittingham and the Utes are constantly underappreciated outside of Salt Lake City.
10. Michigan State
The loss of Kenneth Walker III to the NFL will be felt, but the addition of former Wisconsin tailback Jalen Berger means that Mel Tucker will have a new bell cow back.
11. Ole Miss
Lane Kiffin added former five-star running back Zach Evans from Texas Christian but lost defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and quarterback Matt Corral. Kiffin figures to find an apt replacement for Corral and continue to produce a high-powered offense.
12. Clemson
Death, taxes and Dabo Swinney winning 10 games every season.
13. Cincinnati
Luke Fickell will have to do his finest coaching job since taking over at Cincinnati if he hopes to contend for the AAC title in 2022. He lost All-American defensive back Ahmad Gardner, running back Jerome Ford and quarterback Desmond Ridder to the draft and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock to LSU.
If anyone can do it, it’s Fickell. In 2021, he lost former Cincy defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman to Notre Dame. He responded with an undefeated regular season, earning the distinction as the first Group of 5 program to receive an invitation to the College Football Playoff.
14. Wake Forest
Demon Deacons coach Dave Clawson returns QB Sam Hartman and a group of talented upperclassmen.
15. Houston
Dana Holgorsen is developing the Cougars into a would-be Big 12 Power at least a year before the move.
16. Oklahoma State
Mike Gundy has institutional backing that other coaches can only dream about, and he has made a living developing lesser known coaches, such as new Ohio State defensive coordinator Knowles and Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.
17. BYU
The Cougars would’ve played for a Pac-12 championship if only they were members in 2021. After two consecutive seasons of winning 10 or more games, BYU is putting itself in the national title conversation.
18. Iowa
Most years, the Hawkeyes look like a team that lacks an elite star, and most years they overcome that.
19. Oregon
Oregon responded to the loss of Mario Cristobal by hiring a coordinator who coached in the national title game. There’s little doubt that Dan Lanning will have the Ducks contending for the Pac-12 North title.
20. Coastal Carolina
CCU coach Jamey Chadwell and the Chants have earned the benefit of every doubt after winning 11 games in back-to-back seasons. Chadwell returns quarterback Grayson McCall, who quietly set the NCAA single-season passing efficiency rating record in 2021 (207.6).
21. Kentucky
Mark Stoops is building toward competing with Georgia for the SEC East, and his blend of physicality on offense and stifling defense could eventually get the Wildcats there.
22. Purdue
Jeff Brohm has his quarterback, as former walk-on Aidan O’Connell, who threw for more than 500 yards in the Music City Bowl, will return in 2022. Now, if Brohm finds a replacement for NFL-bound wideout David Bell, the Boilermakers can start faster in 2022 and finish as strong as they did in 2021.
23. Oklahoma
After years of running up the score, Oklahoma hired Brent Venables to prevent opponents from scoring. With Lebby as the new offensive coordinator, Sooners fans hope their team can lead the country in scoring margin.
24. Texas
Steve Sarkisian responded to a 5-7 debut season by landing the No. 1 player in the 2022 transfer portal, former Ohio State QB Quinn Ewers.
25. USC
Lincoln Riley dropped the biggest bombshell in college football when he left Norman, Oklahoma, for Los Angeles and the Coliseum. Riley has built one of the best reputations in the sport for developing quarterbacks, scoring points and winning games.
With a staff that features five assistants who worked for Riley at Oklahoma and a 2022 recruiting class that’s climbing the rankings, USC should challenge Utah for the Pac-12 South crown.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast “The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young.” Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to “The RJ Young Show” on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.
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