Month: December 2022

For the eleventh consecutive season, the College Football Researchers Association has bestowed a Player of the Year award to the best overall player in college football, and this season Caleb Williams from Southern California has taken the title. Williams garnered 6 of 13 possible first-place votes to get the victory over runner-up Max Duggan by a total of nine points. Interestingly, the third place finisher was Hendon Hooker who we already know is not one of the top four vote-getters for this year’s Heisman Trophy. Over the past decade, eight of the previous ten winners of this award went on to win the Heisman Trophy, with Deshaun Watson (2016) and Tua Tagovailoa (2018) being the two CFRA Players of the Year to fall short in the Heisman Race. The full breakdown of votes is below with the number of first-place votes each player received in parentheses:

1.  Caleb Williams, Southern California (6)– 43 points

2. Max Duggan, TCU (2)– 34 points

3. Hendon Hooker, Tennessee (3)– 26 points

4. Stetson Bennett, Georgia– 21 points

5. C.J. Stroud– 16 points

6. Blake Corum, Michigan– 14 points

7. Bijan Robinson, Texas– 6 points

8. Jalen Carter, Georgia (1)– 5 points

8. Mohamed Ibrahim, Minnesota (1)– 5 points

10. Marvin Harrison, Jr, Ohio State- 4 points

11. Brock Bowers, Georgia– 3 points

11. Bryce Young, Alabama– 3 points

11. J.J. McCarthy, Michigan– 3 points

14. Frank Harris, UTSA– 2 points

14. Deuce Vaughn, Kansas State– 2 points

14. Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee– 2 points

17. Michael Pratt, Tulane– 1 point

17. Drake Thomas, NC State– 1 point

17. Drake Maye, North Carolina– 1 point

17. Cameron Rising, Utah– 1 point

17. Jordan Addison, Southern California– 1 point

17. Kendre Miller, TCU– 1 point

It’s officially bowl season everyone! However, before the postseason can began, the CFRA must publish its end of regular season top 25 poll. You will see that this poll is quite similar to the other major polls (AP, Coaches, and CFP) at the top but then some unique discrepancies appear later on. You will also see we had a near record number of ties in this poll with three different pairs of teams sharing a top 25 spot, including one pair that will play each other in an upcoming bowl game! (see the time for # 18 below ) Without further ado, here is this year’s CFRA End of Regular Season Poll.  First-place votes are in parentheses next to each team.

1.  Georgia (13)– 349 points

2.  Michigan (1)– 337 points

3.  Ohio State– 311 points

4.  TCU– 310 points

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5.  Alabama– 284 points

6.  Tennessee- 279 points

7.  Utah– 242 points

8.  Kansas State– 240 points

9.  Clemson- 237 points

10. Southern California- 223 points

11. Penn State– 222 points

12. Washington– 189 points

13. Florida State– 159 points

14. Tulane– 157 points

15. Oregon State– 139 points

16. Oregon– 135 points

17. LSU– 120 points

18. Notre Dame– 85 points

18. South Carolina– 85 points

20. UCLA– 73 points

20. Troy– 73 points

22. Texas– 62 points

23. UTSA– 56 points

23. Mississippi State– 56 points

25. Ole Miss– 27 points

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Others Receiving Votes: Purdue 21, NC State 20, Fresno State 17, South Alabama 11, UCF 11, Illinois 8, North Carolina 5, Duke 3, Cincinnati 2, Pittsburgh 1

Dropped Out (since Midseason Poll): Oklahoma State 10, Wake Forest 11, Syracuse 13, Illinois 18, Kentucky 19, Cincinnati 21, North Carolina 22, Purdue 25

Teams Ranked Higher in CFRA than AP, Coaches, and CFP Polls: Kansas State (8), Notre Dame (18), South Carolina (18), Troy (20), Ole Miss (25).

Teams Ranked Lower in CFRA than AP, Coaches, and CFP Polls: Oregon (16), UCLA (20), Texas (22), NC State (NR).

Teams Ranked Exactly the Same in All 4 Major Human Polls (AP, CFP, CFRA, and Coaches): Georgia (1), Michigan (2), Alabama (5), Tennessee (6), Washington (12), Florida State (13),