As the 2022 college football regular season concludes, it seems fitting to hand out some superlatives. I’ve looked at each of the Power 5 conferences and found at least one team to fill each of my six superlatives.   

The juggernaut: This one is extremely straight forward. Which team was supposed to dominate its conference and did so?

The doormat: Which team was supposed to be walked over and fittingly was?

The overachiever: Who surpassed expectations in 2022?

The underachiever: Who dropped duds this season? Spoiler: my ACC choice should bring Duck fans a chuckle. 

The season wrecker: Each conference possessed a team that ruined another’s with an upset win. Who?

The forgotten: Who slid under the radar and was completely irrelevant and lacked attention this season?

Let’s start local. Here are your Pac-12 superlatives.

Pacific Athletic Conference 

Juggernaut: Utah (10-3, 7-2 Pac-12)

This award should easily go to Washington. The Huskies finished with six wins in a row and had one the most explosive offenses in college football. But I just can’t give them this title if they didn’t at least compete in the Pac-12 Championship Game. For that reason –– and that reason alone –– it’s Utah. All of the Utes losses came on the road against solid teams, and they simply dominated the USC defense… twice. 

Doormat: Colorado (1-11, 1-8 Pac-12)

The Buffaloes finished with a point differential of -349. Yikes. Perhaps only Deion Sanders can save football in Boulder.

Overachiever: Oregon State (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12)

The Beavers had been slowly getting better over recent years, but a 9-3 season record was much better than many expected from OSU in 2022. It pains me, but I have to hand it to the Beavers.

Underachiever: UCLA (9-3, 6-3 Pac-12)

It was Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s fifth season. The Bruins had one of the best running backs in the conference with Zach Charbonnet. Despite a 9-3 record overall, finishing sixth in the conference just screams disappointment. 

Season Wrecker: Arizona State (3-9, 2-7 Pac-12)

The Sun Devils didn’t matter at all in 2022 except for their 45-38 win over Washington. The Huskies would have made the Pac-12 championship without this loss. ASU didn’t do much to help its own season, but boy did it screw up Washington’s.

Forgotten: California (4-8, 2-7 Pac-12)

Cal was far from the worst team in the conference. But it lacked any big wins or notable moments. The Bears lost five one possession games, and it was the most irrelevant season the Pac-12 offered in 2022.

Big 12 Conference:

The Big 12 may have been the most surprising conference in college football. Kansas didn’t suck, but Oklahoma did. The two purple teams competed for the conference championship. Madness.

Juggernaut: Texas Christian University (12-1, 9-0 Big 12)

How about those Frogs? TCU seemingly walked through five ranked opponents and is in the CFP for the first time in its history. A loss in overtime to No. 10 Kansas State shouldn’t diminish the great season the Horned Frogs had.

Doormat: Iowa State (4-8, 1-8 Big 12)

At least the Cyclones can celebrate a week 2 win over Iowa. There was nothing else to be remotely excited about for Iowa State this season.

Overachiever: Kansas State (10-3, 7-2 Big 12)

Yes, this could have also been TCU, but I already used them. The Wildcats had an outstanding season going 3-2 against ranked teams and winning the Big 12 for the first time since 2012 and finishing the season as the No. 9 ranked team in the country.

Underachiever: Oklahoma (6-6, 3-6 Big 12)

After losing head coach Lincoln Riley and quarterback Caleb Williams, among other transfers, the Sooners finished a season without a winning record for the first time since 1998. Oof.

Season Wrecker: Texas Tech (7-5, 5-4 Big 12)

The Red Raiders beat both Texas and Oklahoma in the same season for the first time ever. (Cowboy) hats off to the Raiders. 

Forgotten: West Virginia (5-7, 3-6 Big 12)

If I didn’t constantly see West Virginia posting its uniform combos on Instagram, I may have completely forgotten it even had a team.

Southeastern Conference:

The SEC was surprising, too. It was difficult to figure out just what the Florida Gators were, Alabama lost two games by a combined four points and the conference had 11 of its 14 teams crack the AP Top 25 at some point throughout the season.

Juggernaut: Georgia (13-0, 8-0 SEC)

It turned out that the 49-3 win over Oregon was just the tip of the iceberg for the Bulldogs. Unreal. They head into the CFP as the favorite to take home the championship trophy.

Doormat: Vanderbilt (5-7, 2-6 SEC)

Texas A&M and Auburn had the same record as the Commodores in 2022. But Vanderbilt scored the fewest points and allowed the most points across the entire conference this season. But hey, congrats on getting your first SEC win since 2019.

Overachiever: Tennessee (10-2, 6-2 SEC)

Sports Illustrated had the Volunteers projected to finish eighth in the SEC in 2022. Instead, they won the game of the year over Alabama and hosted College Gameday twice.

Underachiever: Texas A&M (5-7, 2-6 SEC)

The Aggies had the No. 4 ranked recruit class in 2022. They lost to Appalachian State, Mississippi State, Alabama, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Florida and Auburn. LOL. 

Season Wrecker: LSU (9-4, 6-2 SEC)

I think we can all agree that Alabama makes the SEC Championship and the CFP if they don’t lose to LSU. Additionally, the Tigers ruined their own season by losing to Texas A&M.

Forgotten: Missouri (6-6, 3-5 SEC)

The Tigers season wasn’t a complete disaster, but it was certainly nothing to write home about. Kind of like Columbia, Missouri. 

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten was a bit of a mess. The conference beat itself more than many expected, but 10 teams finished bowl eligible because of it. The West division was competitive as each team in it lost at least four games. The Big Ten also had the most watched regular season game in 2022 when Michigan defeated Ohio State 45-23. 

Juggernaut: Michigan (13-0, 9-0 Big Ten)

As much as I believe that Ohio State wins a five game series against Michigan, the Wolverines were the lone unbeaten team in the conference, defeated the Buckeyes and were a shoe-in for the CFP.

Doormat: Northwestern (1-11, 1-8 Big Ten)

The Wildcats won their first game of the season over Nebraska in Dublin, Ireland. After returning to the U.S. they didn’t win a single game. Northwestern scored the least points of any team in the conference and had its worst season since 1989.

Overachieving: Illinois (8-4, 5-4 Big Ten)

Who had the Illini winning eight games, beating Wisconsin and Minnesota or being in the running for the Big Ten West? Not many. Bret Bielema might be one of the most surprising coaches of the year.

Underachieving: Michigan State (5-7, 3-6 Big Ten)

The Spartans started the season ranked No. 15 in the AP Top 25 and were projected as the third best team in the conference by Sports Illustrated. Instead, they scored the fifth fewest points in the conference in 2022.

Season Wrecker: Purdue (8-5, 6-3 Big Ten)

Honestly, just about any team from the Big Ten West could fill this role. As I mentioned earlier, no team in this division had fewer than four losses, and at least three of them came within the conference. But Purdue beat out Illinois and Minnesota –– both of whom were ranked at the time –– and earned the right to be the mediocre team that got to be slaughtered by Michigan in the conference title game.

Forgettable: Maryland (7-5, 4-5 Big Ten)

Maryland football is just forgettable in general. It’s geographically bizarre that they’re in the same conference as Nebraska and Iowa. It’ll be even weirder when USC and UCLA join the Big Ten, and the conference stretches coast to coast.

Atlantic Coast Conference

To me the ACC was the most underwhelming conference in football this season. It felt like a heavily favored ACC team was losing every other week. Additionally, only eight of the 14 teams are going bowling at the end of the season –– the lowest percentage in any Power 5 conference –– so there’s that.

Juggernaut: Clemson (11-2, 8-0 ACC)

Clemson cruised to another ACC championship. Yes, the Tigers lost two games, but Dabo Swinney’s team was unbeaten in conference play yet again. 

Doormat: Virginia Tech (3-8, 1-6 ACC)

The Hokies simply had a bad year. A collapse against Old Dominion in week 1 set the tone for the season. Virginia Tech never recovered. The Hokies hadn’t won three or fewer games since 1992.

Overachiever: Duke (8-4, 5-3 ACC)

Mike Elko took the Blue Devils from 3-9 to 8-4 in his first year. Impressive.

Underachiever: Miami (5-7, 3-5 ACC)

Oh, how sweet it is for Oregon fans to see Mario Cristobal struggle. The Hurricanes started the season ranked No. 16 but then lost to Duke and Middle Tennessee State at home. Brutal.

Season Wrecker: Louisville (7-5, 4-4 ACC)

I think a lot of people would be taking Wake Forest and NC State more seriously had they not lost to Louisville.

Forgotten: Georgia Tech (5-7, 4-4 ACC)

The Yellow Jackets are the little brother of their own state and their conference. They embody irrelevance like no other.