College Football rankings: Alabama, A&M, OSU lead spring Top 25

By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer

With spring football well underway across the country, it's time to take a look at the top teams in the sport since my Way-Too-Early Top 25 in January.

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1. Alabama

The additions of former Georgia wide receiver Jermaine Burton, LSU cornerback Elias Ricks and Georgia Tech running back Jahmyr Gibbs highlighted the 2022 Tide recruiting class. While all those players are transfers, two of them (Burton and Ricks) come from programs that are SEC rivals and have proven capable of winning College Football Playoff national titles over the past three seasons.

Much was made of Burton’s decision to leave UGA after he helped the Bulldogs dispatch the Tide to secure the first national title in Athens, Georgia, in four decades. But the move made sense to Saban, considering his team lost wideouts Jameson Williams, John Metchie and Slade Bolden to the NFL Draft.

"He had a fairly productive year at Georgia," Saban said of Burton. "They had a lot of good players at his position. You know, he had some production this year but might’ve seen a better opportunity because we’re a little bit more wide open and throw the ball more with a good quarterback. That may have been his intention, but we feel like we lost both starting receivers and Slade … so to get a more experienced player that has some playing time in this league probably is a good thing for us."

2. Texas A&M

The Aggies move up to No. 2 in the spring ranking on the strength of their record-setting 2022 recruiting class. Even more impressive is that Jimbo Fisher’s A&M put together a class made almost exclusively from the high school ranks in an era when many recruiting classes are 50 percent (or more) transfers.

With additions such as five-star defensive lineman Shemar Stewart, former Ole Miss defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin and former LSU quarterback Max Johnson, A&M fans are looking forward to what could be their best season since the invention of sliced bread.

3. Ohio State

It’s impossible to ignore the talent returning for the Buckeyes in 2022.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud was a Heisman finalist. Running back TreVeyon Henderson was a dynamo in the backfield, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba will begin the 2022 season as a Heisman contender after his record-breaking performance in OSU’s win over Utah in the Rose Bowl.

The question yet to be answered is how good the Buckeyes' defense will be under first-year coordinator Jim Knowles. He added a player he’s familiar with, former Oklahoma State safety Tanner McAlister, through the portal, and he’ll lean on McAlister’s familiarity with his scheme.

With Jack Sawyer, Zach Harrison, J.T. Tuimoloau and Denzel Burke all returning, the expectation is Knowles will flip the Buckeyes' defense into the kind capable of winning a national title.

4. Georgia

Losing Burton to Alabama stings. But bringing in the No. 3-ranked class in the 2022 cycle will act as a warm salve.

UGA’s 2021 defense was generational. Odds are it won’t be again in 2022. But five-star safety Malaki Starks has a chance to become the best defensive back to leave Georgia under Smart since 2018 Jim Thorpe Award winner Deandre Baker.

5. Baylor

Dave Aranda was able to hold on to coordinators Jeff Grimes and Ron Roberts, and he added all-conference and former Tulsa nose tackle Jaxon Player. Roberts must find another leader on defense, with Jalen Pitre and Terrel Bernard headed for the NFL.

However, how Grimes evaluates the quarterback position will be most important in Baylor’s attempt to defend its Big 12 title, especially with the departure of 1,600-yard rusher Abram Smith. Quarterback Gerry Bohanon proved capable, but the offense looked outstanding with Blake Shapen running it in the Big 12 title game. Shapen completed 82% of his passes and threw three TDs in the conference championship.

6. Arkansas

Quarterback KJ Jefferson has an argument for the second-best quarterback in the SEC. And that’s saying something, as the best one is Alabama QB and defending Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young.

With Trey Knox edging toward first-round draft selection, he’ll hope to form a partnership with Oklahoma transfer Jadon Haselwood while former Alabama transfer and outside linebacker Drew Sanders helps anchor defensive coordinator Barry Odom’s defense.

The Razorbacks were 9-4 last season, with one of those losses coming 52-51 against Ole Miss and two others against the teams that played in the national title game.

7. Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish will have a new starter at quarterback in Tyler Buchner or Drew Pyne, but offensive coordinator Tommy Rees can identify who will be best fit to lead his offense. Finding another receiver to pair with tight end Michael Mayer and a new bell-cow back following the departure of Kyren Williams is the need.

Defensively, the Irish lose perhaps their most talented player in Kyle Hamilton to the NFL Draft. However, Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman added former Northwestern defensive back and All-American Brandon Joseph to help fill the void left by Hamilton.

8. Utah

Perhaps the most underrated coach and program in the country are Kyle Whittingham and his Utah Utes. The defending Pac-12 champs return starting quarterback Cam Rising and added former Stanford linebacker Gabe Reid, who could replace Devin Lloyd or Nephi Sewell in the middle of Morgan Scalley’s defense.

9. Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin lost both coordinators, starting quarterback Matt Corral and multiple running backs to the draft or portal. He responded with one of the most impressive transfer portal hauls of the cycle, with former USC quarterback Jaxson Dart, TCU running back Zach Evans and USC tight end Michael Trigg.

The SEC West is loaded — the four teams in the top 10 of this ranking reflect that — and the Rebels will have to come out of the spring firing to maintain the momentum they had when they received their bid to the Sugar Bowl.

10. Michigan State

Mel Tucker followed losing arguably the best running back in the Big Ten in Kenneth Walker III by adding two talented transfers: former Wisconsin running back Jalen Berger and former Colorado running back Jarek Broussard.

If defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton makes the secondary look respectable in 2022, the Spartans will have a chance to challenge for the Big Ten East title.

11. Michigan

Jim Harbaugh's choice to interview for NFL head-coaching gigs simultaneously with the departure of offensive coordinator and 2021 Broyles Award winner Josh Gattis to Miami did not leave me — or many Wolverines fans — feeling warm and fuzzy. And there’s still the QB derby between Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy to sort out.

Still, the Wolverines can do a lot this spring to alleviate fears about whether they can defend their Big Ten title.

12. Clemson

The Tigers lost both 2021 coordinators to head-coaching opportunities (Brent Venables to Oklahoma, Tony Elliott to Virginia) and running back Lyn-J Dixon to transfer (West Virginia). However, coach Dabo Swinney elevated coaches already on his staff and signed Elite 11 MVP Cade Klubnik after a season in which D.J. Uiagalelei underperformed.

13. Oklahoma

New coach Venables and offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby didn’t wait for quarterback Caleb Williams to choose a new home before bringing in a signal-caller Lebby has worked with in Dillon Gabriel.

Lebby, who worked with Kiffin and Corral at Ole Miss, will install an offense that can score. But OU also hopes to regain the reputation it earned at the turn of the century as a place where opponents find it difficult to score.

After all, defense is how OU won its last national title 22 years ago.

14. Wake Forest

Dave Clawson has his quarterback in Sam Hartman, and he’s returning many of the players who helped the Demon Deacons get off to an 8-0 start before finishing 11-3, with a win in the Gator Bowl against Rutgers.

At the top of the Deacons' list this spring is just two words: stay healthy.

15. Oklahoma State

Mike Gundy’s Cowboys are coming off their best season since 2011. But they lost their best defender, linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, and offensive player, running back Jaylen Warren, as well as defensive coordinator Knowles to Ohio State.

The addition of respected SEC coach Derek Mason ought to shore up the defense, and returning quarterback Spencer Sanders ought to put the Cowboys in position to compete to play in the Big 12 Championship for a second consecutive year.

16. BYU

This is a bet on Kalani Sitake, who has put together back-to-back 10-win seasons at a time when not much was expected from the independents in Provo. The loss of prolific running back Tyler Allgeier certainly hurts, but BYU looks forward to getting offensive lineman Keanu Saleapaga back this spring.

17. Houston

After putting together their first 12-win season in the Dana Holgorsen era and returning quarterback Clayton Tune and running back Alton McCaskill for the 2022 season, the Cougars will look to challenge not just for the American title but also to become the second team outside the Power 5 to receive an invitation to the CFP.

18. Cincinnati

Luke Fickell enjoyed a magic season in 2021, as he and the Bearcats earned distinction as the first team outside the Power 5 to earn invitation to the CFP. But now his squad is losing his star quarterback in Desmond Ridder, running back Jerome Ford, wide receiver Alec Pierce and cornerback Ahmad Gardner to the NFL, as well as offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock to LSU.

That said, Fickell responded to losing Marcus Freeman to Notre Dame by recording an undefeated regular season.

19. Oregon

New Ducks head coach Dan Lanning brought an SEC flavor with him when he hired former Auburn offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham and secured the transfer of former Auburn quarterback Bo Nix.

If he’s able to get linebacker Justin Flowe on the field with Noah Sewell, the Ducks might end up in the Pac-12 title game for a fourth consecutive year, even after losing Kayvon Thibodeaux to the NFL.

20. Texas

Perhaps no program piqued my interest more during the 2022 transfer portal cycle than the Longhorns. With the transfer additions of former Ohio State quarterback Quinn Ewers, Wyoming wideout Isaiah Neyor and Alabama tight end Jahleel Billingsley, combined with running back Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Xavier Worthy, Steve Sarkisian’s offense should be formidable.

If defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski can flip the defense into one of the nation’s best instead of one of its worst, there’s no reason to believe Texas can’t contend for a Big 12 title and invitation to the CFP — but that remains a sizable if. Getting Texas native and former Ohio State cornerback Ryan Watts to transfer to the Forty Acres should help.

21. Wisconsin

Jim Leonhard’s defense welcomed a Pac-12 defensive jewel out of the portal in former UCLA cornerback Jay Shaw. Shaw led the Bruins in interceptions last season, with three. He has made 16 starts and played in more than 40 games at UCLA.

The expectation is he’ll slide in nicely with Dean Engram and Alexander Smith at the corner spot.

But the defense has not been the weakness at Wisconsin. That has been quarterback play.

With Badgers coach Paul Chryst bringing in offensive coordinator Bobby Engram, the hope is that he can develop quarterback Graham Mertz into the second coming of Russell Wilson he was billed to be coming out of high school.

22. Kentucky

The Wildcats must replace three starters on their offensive line — including NFL Draft darling Darian Kinnard — and offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who joined the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams as offensive coordinator.

But the biggest concern for Mark Stoops is the loss of a generational talent at wide receiver in Wan’Dale Robinson. With 104 catches and more than 1,300 yards, the Nebraska transfer left Lexington with one of the best individual seasons ever by a Wildcat.

Besides the offensive concerns, Stoops will want to fix his team’s turnover margin, as UK finished 125th in that stat in 2021, despite winning 10 games in a season for the second time in four years and just the third time since 1977.

23. USC

While Williams grabbed headlines, coach Lincoln Riley’s priority needs to be fixing a USC defense that is anything but solid.

With a roster he expects could turn over 35 players and has lost 18 to the portal since Dec. 11, Riley is truly in a spring-cleaning mode for a program that finished 4-8 and is a far cry from its dynastic days of the mid-2000s.

However, the Trojans landed the previous two No. 1 recruits in the state of California in defensive end Korey Foreman and corner back Domani Jackson. That’s a good start.

24. Penn State

James Franklin responded to the loss of defensive coordinator Brent Pry to a head-coaching job at Virginia Tech by hiring former Miami coach Manny Diaz. Offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich will have another year with quarterback Sean Clifford, but all eyes will be on Gatorade National Player of the Year Nick Singleton, who ran for more than 2,000 yards and 44 touchdowns as a prep senior at Governor Mifflin (Shillington, Pennsylvania).

Clifford will also return wideout Parker Washington and add Western Kentucky transfer Mitchell Tinsley to help fill the vacancy left by Jahan Dotson.

Tinsley caught 87 passes for 1,402 yards with 14 TDs for the Hilltoppers en route to former WKU quarterback Bailey Zappe breaking the FBS record for passing yards in a season, with 5,977.

25. Iowa

The Hawkeyes believe in building their program through high school recruiting, so much so that they are the only Big Ten program that has not added a transfer in this 2022 cycle. 

However, the Hawkeyes managed to make the Big Ten Championship Game without consistent quarterback play. Relying almost exclusively on brilliant defense — particularly in the secondary — Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz willed his team to the No. 2 ranking seven weeks into the season before finishing at No. 23.

The bet here is that Ferentz and the culture in Iowa City find a way back.

Dropped from Way-Too-Early Top 25: Coastal Carolina, Purdue

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.