Bijan, bowl games and a Wildcats breakout: Here are 5 college football topics to watch in 2022

For now, the CFP will remain at four teams. So, which team from the Pac-12 will represent the conference in the CFP?

Currently, the Conference of Champions’ flagship football programs — USC, Oregon and Washington — are in flux. USC hired Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma, and he seems like a good bet to return the Men of Troy to power … but will that happen in 2022? Will Dan Lanning’s championship-winning experience as Georgia’s defensive coordinator jolt Oregon back to national relevance? Can Kalen DeBoer help the Huskies after winning big at Fresno State?

Or will the reigning Pac-12 champions stay at the top?Utah checks in at No. 7 in ESPN’s way-too-early look at the 2022 poll, and Jon Wilner of the Pac-12 Hotline has the Utes ranked sixth.

So maybe Utah will be the Pac-12’s representative in the College Football Playoff.

It’s not bringing water to the desert, but Jedd Fisch and his around-the-clock staff seem to have revived the Arizona football program.

The Wildcats signed arguably the best recruiting class in program history for 2022, which includes six players from the uber-talented Trinity League in Los Angeles: All-American wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (Servite), All-American running back Rayshon “Speedy” Luke (St. John Bosco), four-star tight end Keyan Burnett (Servite), defensive end Taitai Uiagalelei (Mater Dei), quarterback Noah Fifita (Servite) and linebacker Jacob Manu (Servite). Arizona’s recruiting class is rated by 247Sports.com as the second-best class in the Pac-12 and the 20th-best class in the nation.