The 2022 college football season was one for the ages, and it featured a conference championship weekend filled with shocking turns and upsets. Two of the four teams in the College Football Playoff failed to win their conference championship game, while four of the 10 title games across the FBS featured upset performances.
Now, the reigning champions are no longer dark horses or overlooked. Winning a conference comes with not only prestige but also with expectations. Tulane will no longer be viewed as a nice little Cinderella story but rather as a Group of Five power. Michigan proved its first Big Ten title was no fluke by going back-to-back and has earned the right to be discussed among the nation's elite programs. Adding another wrinkle, three conferences will look completely different in 2023 thanks to realignment.
Last season, three teams repeated as conference champions: Utah, UTSA and Michigan. To the contrary, the teams we selected as the first and third most likely to repeat -- Alabama and Baylor, respectively -- both failed to even reach the final weekend after disappointing campaigns. With transition among the teams at the top of college football, this year could prove even more difficult to forecast.
Without further ado, here is how we rank the 2022 FBS conference champions by their chances of repeating in 2023.
Potential Repeat Conference Champions
| 1 |  |
| Georgia is the first college football program to win consecutive national championships since the vaunted Alabama Crimson Tide in 2011-12. While the roster is undergoing a transition, Georgia is loaded once again and has a manageable path to contention. Thanks to a canceled series against Oklahoma, the Bulldogs boast one of the easiest schedules in the sport for a national contender. Handling Tennessee on Nov. 18 all but clinches the 'Dawgs a spot in the SEC Championship Game where they'll almost certainly be pegged as the favorites. | |
| 2 |  |
| The Tigers have been the safest bet in college football over the past decade with seven conference titles over the past eight seasons. Clemson is in a solid position to win another in 2023, especially with the ACC eliminating divisions. The only complication comes from competition. Florida State projects as a preseason top-10 opponent, and the Tigers could see. the Seminoles twice next year. But if first-year offensive coordinator Garrett Riley is able to revamp the offense, Clemson could be back in national contention and atop the ACC once more. | |
| 3 |  |
| Outside of Georgia, the Wolverines have been arguably the most dominant team in college football over the past two seasons with a 25-3 record plus consecutive Big Ten championships and CFP berths, ranking as high as No. 2. The 2023 iteration might be the best of the bunch with running backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards pacing what could be the most dynamic rushing attack in college football. The only roadblock on Michigan's schedule is Ohio State, another College Football Playoff team in 2022 that will have a target right on UM's back all season long after dropping two straight to its rival. But if the Wolverines can win three consecutive versions of The Game for the first time since 1997 – a national championship season – Michigan will win the Big Ten. | |
| 4 |  |
| The Utes are a fascinating case to project. Utah has won back-to-back Pac-12 championships with historic trips to the Rose Bowl. On the other end, the Utes were underdogs in both Pac-12 Championship Games they won and have historically started slow. The math ultimately settles Utah in as a very serious Pac-12 contender once more, but short of the overwhelming favorite status of the three teams ahead. Road trips to Baylor, Oregon State and USC early in the season could decide the ceiling for this team in 2023, especially as quarterback Cameron Rising works his way back from a major knee injury. | |
| 5 |  |
| There are fewer superpowers at the Group of Five level, making Tulane the first addition of the group at No. 5. The Green Wave rank top 35 in returning production with sensational quarterback Michael Pratt headlining the group after rebuffing the transfer portal to return. He combines with a spicy defense to produce one of the best teams in the nation at any level. Replacing running back Tyjae Spears is an existential question, but coach Willie Fritz has earned our trust. | |
| 6 |  |
| The Wildcats will be right back in the Big 12 championship mix in coach Chris Klieman's fifth season, but it's not a home run after a magical 2022 campaign. The Wildcats lost three regular-season games along the way to the title game, including a nonconference shocker to the aforementioned Green Wave. More importantly, dynamic playmakers Deuce Vaughn, Malik Knowles and Felix Anudike-Uzomah are off to the NFL. The baseline of talent will give Kansas State an extremely high floor, but playmakers need to emerge for the Wildcats to compete for the conference. | |
| 7 |  |
| The Rockets have boasted the most talented roster in the MAC for most of the past decade, but have struggled to win the big one. Luckily for Toledo, the program shocked Ohio in the MAC Championship Game in 2022 and arguably arrived on the top stage a year earlier than expected. Now, the Rockets lead the MAC in returning production, headlined by talented quarterback DeQuann Finn. No MAC team has won consecutive conference crowns since Jordan Lynch's NIU in 2012, but the Rockets have the pieces to do it. | |
| 8 |  |
| Trojans coach Jon Sumrall put together one of the most impressive debut seasons in college football last year, taking Troy from 5-7 to 12-2 and the first postseason AP Top 25 ranking in program history. Complicating matters, four of the six 2022 All-Sun Belt First Team selections are gone. Adding five Power Five transfers will help withstand the departures, but Sumrall will have to rebuild the core of his team to emerge again from a highly competitive SBC. | |
| 9 |  |
| The Bulldogs shocked preseason favorite Boise State in the Mountain West Championship Game to earn their first title since 2018. However, star quarterback Jake Haener is riding off into the sunset, leaving a massive hole for Jeff Tedford to fill. Returning backup Logan Fife and transfer Mikey Keene give the Bulldogs some intriguing options under center, but Haener played a massive role in Fresno State's success over the past two seasons. The Bulldogs went 18-4 in games Haener started, with half the losses coming against Power Five opponents. Fife was 2-3, including losses to UConn and Boise State. | |
| 10 |  |
| Closing out the list is the easiest selection on the board. UTSA is gone from Conference USA and off to the American Athletic Conference. The presumptive preseason CUSA favorite is Liberty, one of four new additions to the league. There will be a new champion. If the Roadrunners were back for another year, they would be much closer to the Georgia and Clemson tier than down here. Instead, they rank among the top contenders in the AAC. | |
