2021-22 College Football: A Season to Remember

The 2021-22 college football season was filled with bright futures, rivalries, upsets, big wins, and somehow, more COVID-19 dilemmas. With football coming back at the end of the 2020-21 season, there were many hopes for the season ahead to fulfill the time lost. To many fans’ delight, this was delivered. 

Finishing off the 2020-21 season, Alabama held the top spot, followed by Ohio State, Clemson, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Georgia, Cincinnati, Iowa State, and Northwestern making up the rest of the top 10. However, although many of those teams appear at the top yet again, there is a clear discrepancy between the two seasons. Georgia now has the number one spot in its grasp, and the order from there has changed quite a bit. Spot 2 now belongs to Alabama, 3 to Michigan, 4 to Cincinnati, and 5 to Notre Dame followed in order by Baylor, Ohio State, Mississippi, Oklahoma St., and Utah. Many of these teams secured their spots with both upsets and unfortunate seasons. Starting in week 1, when Georgia beat Clemson 10-3, launching Georgia’s higher climb and Clemson’s fall from 3 to 19.

Rivalries also had a large play in this year’s rankings and the fans’ delights. Fans both cheered and wept as Georgia beat Florida 34-7, Oklahoma beat Texas 55-48, Alabama beat Auburn 24-22, and Michigan beat Ohio State 42-27. Many other rivalries left fans in states of extreme emotion, all sporting their teams’ gear, complete with face paint and pom-poms.

Unfortunately, COVID re-entered the scene as the bowl games were going on. This dilemma yet again screwed up the schedule with at least five games officially canceled, though fortunately, most games went on. Some games, like the Sun Bowl, only underwent a change in teams, with Central Michigan playing Washington State after Miami dropped out. 

The college football playoffs were thankfully not canceled, with Alabama playing Cincinnati and Georgia playing Michigan. Cincinnati was the first team from outside the Power 5 conferences to make the playoffs and it was the first time both they and Michigan made the playoffs. Georgia and Alabama both won, leading to the teams battling it out for the top spot in the championship game on January 10th, where Georgia beat Alabama, taking the number 1 spot 33-18. 

With the season now over, and fans moving on to cheer for their other favorite sports, players, coaches, managers, and fans alike can only hope that next year will go off without a hitch.

By Samantha Weiner