The College Football Playoff selection committee will meet early next week to unveil the debut Top 25 rankings of the 2022 season.
Barring any extraordinary upsets before the crew convenes in Grapevine, Texas, the inaugural rankings will be topped by Georgia and Ohio State, followed by some combination of Clemson, Michigan and Tennessee, should the Volunteers win Saturday against Kentucky.
This crowded top group speaks to the wider variety of teams in the national championship mix compared to, say, last season. At this point a year ago, the Bulldogs and Alabama had carved out a gap from the rest of the pack and established themselves as the clear teams to beat in the playoff chase.