Every summer since 2007 I have created an intricate set of college football predictions for each upcoming season. This year is no exception, as I will be using my blog over the next few hours to publish my 16th annual college football preview guide which will contain 18 entries in all. Without further ado, here are the teams I am predicting to surprise this season. These teams are ordered in the relative disparity between my picks and the experts average while also taking into account the significance of each pick.
| Surprise Teams | My Predictions: | Experts Predictions: | |
| 1 | Purdue | 12th in nation (+20); 1st in Big Ten West (+4) | 32nd in nation; 5th in Big Ten West |
| 2 | Oklahoma State | 5th in nation (+8); 1st in Big 12 (+1) | 13th in nation; 2nd in Big 12 |
| 3 | Mississippi State | 15th in nation (+19); 2nd in SEC West (+4) | 34th in nation; 6th in SEC West |
| 4 | Louisiana Tech | 83rd in nation (+34); 5th in C-USA (+4) | 117th in nation; 9th in C-USA |
| 5 | North Carolina | 27th in nation (+21); 2nd in ACC Coastal (+1) | 48th in nation; 3rd in ACC Coastal |
| 6 | Western Kentucky | 42nd in nation (+40); 2nd in C-USA (+ 2) | 82nd in nation; 4th in C-USA |
| 7 | Army | 37th in nation (+35) | 72nd in nation; |
| 8 | West Virginia | 49th in nation (+9); 4th in Big 12 (+4) | 58th in nation; 8th in Big 12 |
| 9 | UNLV | 94th in nation (+21); 3rd in MWC West (+1) | 115 in nation; 4th in MWC West |
| 10 | Western Michigan | 82nd in nation (+20); 3rd in MAC West (+1) | 102nd in nation; 4th in MAC West |
The Boilermakers are my # 1 surprise team of 2022, as I am projecting them to win the Big Ten West! This is a 9-4 team that beat two top 5 squads last yard that returns 14 staters including their star quarterback. I do realize that they lose there three best defenders including NFL first round draft pick George Karlaftis, but in a wide open Big Ten West division, why not pick the team with the best schedule and most dynamic offense.
Ramblings of the Ultimate Sports Sentimentalist 