Illinois Football: Illini landing spot prediction in first College Football Playoff rankings

For the first time in history, the Illinois football team is going to find themselves listed in the College Football Playoff rankings.

At 6:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday night, ESPN will reveal the first installment of the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings for the 2022 season. As an Illini fan, I never used to care a ton about the rankings, but this season is different. We are actually going to be involved in some form or fashion.

The thing most people are going to look at will be the top four teams and the two teams who are on the outside looking in. Only four programs get into the playoff, maybe for the last time ever as expansion talks are constantly on the table. But who will the CFP pick for the final four?

Georgia is trying to defend their national title from last season, and they are 8-0 so far in the 2022 campaign. They are a lock to be in the top four. I think Tennessee is a lock as well. They have been playing amazing football and took down Alabama.

The Big Ten has been strong this season too. Ohio State and Michigan are both 8-0 and will eventually play each other, but for now, I think they both get in the playoff.

My prediction is No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Tennessee, and No. 4 Michigan. I am also curious about the two teams who are No. 5 and No. 6. I think Clemson is going to be one of the two programs. They are 8-0 this season. The other team is questionable. Alabama at 7-1 is right there, but TCU out of the Big 12 is 8-0 this season.

To round out the top six, I am going to go with No. 5 Clemson and No. 6 TCU.

Illinois football should be a serious threat in the College Football Playoff in 2022.

After the top six, then things really start to get jumbled up. In the AP Top 25, Illinois is currently ranked as the No. 14 team in the country. But is that where the CFP will have us ranked?

Alabama, Oregon, USC, and UCLA are all pretty much locks to be ranked ahead of the Illini. That takes care of the top 10 in the CFP.

Now I will go down the list of the AP Top 25 to see who might be ahead of Illinois in the CFP. The next team is Ole Miss. They have a strength of schedule (SOS) of No. 41 in the country and beat a top-10 Kentucky team that is no longer ranked. I think they will be ahead of Illinois.

Utah has an SOS of No. 20 in the nation, and they have beaten USC, which is currently ranked No. 9. They are going to be ahead of Illinois. Kansas State just took down No. 18 Oklahoma State and they have an SOS of No. 7 in the country. I don’t see them being behind the Illini.

In my opinion, I think the CFP decision-makers are going to put LSU ahead of Illinois on Tuesday night. The Tigers are 6-2 but have the No. 11 SOS and have beaten No. 11 Ole Miss this season. They will probably hop the Illini. I think there is a real danger of Penn State hopping us as well. Their SOS is No. 5 in the nation and the only two losses for the Nittany Lions are against Michigan and Ohio State, who are both top-five programs.

I don’t think North Carolina has enough mustard to jump the Orange and Blue. At 7-1, their record is good, but they are right with the Illini with the No. 49 SOS and they haven’t beaten a top-25 program.

It is extremely early in the season, but Illinois’ No. 50 SOS is probably going to hurt us in this first CFP ranking. I love that we are ranked No. 14 in the nation by the AP Top 25, but I think we will be a little lower in the CFP. I see the Illini opening up as the No. 16 team in the CFP. That shouldn’t be discouraging, though. There are plenty of games ahead to help boost us up. The season is just beginning.