A preview of the non-SEC college football season

There are other college football conferences outside of the SEC. They have conference championships of their own and play against other non-SEC teams in bowl games.

They’re all vastly inferior to the Southeastern Conference and will continue to play at a lower level this season. That being said, there will still be several entertaining story lines to watch in 2022.

So, let’s examine the rest of the Power 5 conferences in a preview of the non-SEC college football season.

The Atlantic Coast Conference
Ah, the ACC. A once-proud conference before the Bowdens went away and Clemson benefited from every other team hitting as close to rock bottom as they could. As Clemson is expected to be at least another year away from climbing back to glory, another team is primed to step into that space.

Predictions: Miami beats Clemson in the ACC Championship as potential come-ups like Wake Forest return to their usual obscurity. Florida State will lose its first six games, quit the conference and beg the SEC to take them before the door closes on realignment.

The Big 12 
The Big 12, which includes only 10 teams, is primed for a fun season. As it pushes through its very real identity crisis with Oklahoma and Texas leaving in 2024, we have questions. Will Texas be back? Probably not. Will Oklahoma’s transition from Lincoln Riley to Brent Venables be as smooth as the Stoops-Riley handoff? No way. Can Baylor repeat as conference champion? Yeah, no.

Predictions: Oklahoma State beats Texas to win its second conference championship. OSU coach Mike Gundy will grow back his mullet and receive a 20-year contract extension.

The Big Ten
The Big Ten, which includes 14 teams, is arguably as competitive as the SEC. Ohio State. Michigan. Michigan State. Penn State. Iowa. Any of these teams could win the conference. But they won’t. It’ll be Ohio State.

Predictions: Ohio State will beat up on an Iowa team, lucky to make it as far as they did. Michigan and Michigan State will under-perform. Supply chain and labor shortages will sap the Wisconsin offensive line’s access to Red Robin’s campfire sauce. The Badgers will retreat into further obscurity.

The Pac-12
The Pac-12, which is set to include only 10 members by 2024, has long been the forgotten Power 5 conference. In the coming years, it will sink or swim based on its ability to replace USC and UCLA. Even at its weakest standing in decades, if not ever, this season might be the Pac-12’s best shot to place a team in the playoffs since 2016.

Predictions: USC beats Utah in the conference championship. Caleb Williams wins the Heisman. The Trojans are soundly defeated in the first round of the playoffs by Ohio State, Alabama or Georgia. Former Washington State coach Nick Rolovich, fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine, wins his $25 million lawsuit. Rolovich then immediately contracts monkeypox.

So, there it is. Your preview for the 2022 non-SEC college football season. There are several questions that’ll be answered in very fun ways as the fall progresses. That’s why we’re coming back next week for a full SEC preview and some other fun predictions about how the Alabama and Auburn seasons might play out.

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