It’s week four of the 2022 Colege Football season and things are about to get serious as Conference Play gets underway in earnest. Of the current AP top 25, only Oklahoma State doesn’t play this week and there are three all-ranked games. Two of these are in the SEC and they will be closely watched as both involve teams with NY6 Bowl Game aspirations.
The All AAC clash sees two 3-0 teams meet and it will define Clemson’s season. The Tigers had a rare down year in 2021 and they will be keen to show the pollsters that they are deserving of their recent neat perennial ranking in the CFP places.
Outside of these two games, the main interest lies in the PAC 12 where Oregon face a challenging trip to Washington State. The Cougars have taken a bit of time to adjust to Mike Leech’s departure. However, they have started well this season (3-0) and a win here will catapult them deep into the rankings.
All the ranked games are below with our predicted winner in each in blue…
All The Ranked Games
No. 5 Clemson @ No. 21 Wake Forest
No. 10 Arkansas @ No. 23 Texas A&M
No. 20 Florida @ No. 11 Tennessee
Three potentially great games and a proper test for Arkansas. The Razorbacks are 3-0 and have a couple on good wins under their belt. A win here on the road will really make people sit up and take notice.
Power Five Clashes
Maryland @ No. 4 Michigan
No. 17 Baylor @ Iowa State
No. 22 Texas @ Texas Tech
No. 15 Oregon @ Washington State
Vanderbilt @ No. 2 Alabama
Wisconsin @ No. 3 Ohio State
Kansas State @ No. 6 Oklahoma
No. 7 USC @ Oregon State
No. 13 Utah @ Arizona State
Stanford @ No. 18 Washington
Four all PAC 12 meetings here, headed by USC’s trip to the currently unbeaten Oregon State. The Beavers have racked up the points in their openers and have a couple of nice wins over MW opposition. However, this is a whole different ball game and they might struggle to keep pace with the Trojans high octane offense.
The only ranked team we can see losing here is Baylor who has a tough trip to Iowa State to contend with. Falling to 2-2 will undoubtedly send the Bears out of the rankings and end any lingering CFP playoff hopes they may have been clinging onto.
As mentioned above we will also be intrigued to see how the Oregon-Washington State game goes. We were very close to picking the Cougars but think that new Head Coach Jack Dickert might need a full season in charge before they are competing for the Pac 12 title.
All FBS Games
Kent State @ No. 1 Georgia
Central Michigan @ No. 14 Penn State
Tulsa @ No. 16 Ole Miss
Middle Tennessee @ No. 25 Miami
Northern Illinois @ No. 8 Kentucky
UConn @ No. 12 NC State
Wyoming @ No. 19 BYU
Nothing outstanding here with the ranked teams all having winnable games. We can’t see any upsets here but it will be interesting to see just how good Wyoming are. They had a nice win over Airforce last week and they could at least give BYU a game.
FCS v FBS
Rhode Island @ No. 24 Pittsburgh
Rhode Island did beat UMass last season to get a rare win over FBS competition (their second ever). However, it will be the shock of the year so far if they manage to upset the Panthers on the road.
Other Games Worth Watching
Image: University of College/Shutterstock.com
Duke @ Kansas
Normally interest in these two schools’ meetings would be reserved for the Basketball court. However, this year they are both 3-0! Whoever loses the school will get the chance of revenge they can get revenge on the more familiar court later in the year.
Notre Dame @ North Carolina
The Fighting Irish finally got a win for their new head coach Marcus Freeman last week. Can they build on that with new QB Drew Pyne? Their win was littered with mistakes last week but if they have finally gelled then they still have enough big games on the schedule to get back into consideration for a New Year Bowl. Going to a 3-0 North Carolina won’t be easy but a win will show they have turned the corner.
PAC-12
UCLA @ Colorado is a complete reversal of fortunes. The Bruins are riding high at 3-0 – even if they were a tad lucky last week. They take on the Buffaloes who have shipped 128 points in their opening three losses. However, they have played some decent teams and maybe they are not as bad as they look?
Sun Belt
Conference play gets underway properly this week and 3-0 Coastal Carolina will be looking to avenge last year’s narrow loss against Georgia State. The Chanticleers were as high as 14th in the CFP rankings last year but this narrow defeat ensured that they never got back in.
With the AAC and MW staring badly they will be targeting the G5’s At Large New Year Bowl slot. Coastal Carolina has only lost three of their last 29 games, and those losses were by a combined total of eight points!
That completes our quick look at what’s on offer in week four. Should be another interesting weekend. Before you go why not check out our week three roundup and check back next week for week four’s games.
