Here's Ken Schreiber early look at who will be among college football's final four teams

Week 1 of the 2022 college football season is here and although we pay little attention to preseason polls, there's just no ignoring them. The AP has Alabama at No. 1 followed by Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson.

The polls have those first three teams in no specific order as they all have  a returning stud quarterback (Bryce Young at Bama, C.J. Stroud at OSU and Stetson Bennett at Georgia).  While No. 4 Clemson also returns quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, he had a subpar season last year and the Tigers' hold on that fourth spot is up for grabs. That means the top three can probably lose a game and still qualify for the CFP (unless four Power Five teams go undefeated, which has never happened in the history of the CFP) and yes, the mighty Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and their reputation can probably do the same coming in at No. 5. The Irish may actually play games this year and not be favored as they play both Clemson and at Ohio State.

It says here that Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia have separated themselves from the rest of the field without playing a game, with the fourth spot being a wild card.  I'm picking Oklahoma State.

Let's just get this out of the way

◘It's pathetic that the SEC and ACC play only eight league games while others play nine.

◘Notre Dame should be penalized for not playing in a championship league game because they play one less quality, if not ranked, league opponent.  There, once and no more.

Was Nebraska's loss the end for Scott Frost?

What happened last week in Dublin, Ireland, to Nebraska and its coach Scott Frost, will probably cost him his job.  Frost, up by 11 in the third quarter (28-17) against Northwestern after scoring a touchdown, decided to on-side kick.  After the Wildcats recovered and quickly scored a touchdown, momentum completely shifted.

Northwestern  took the lead for good, and the Huskers walked off with a gut-wrenching 31-28 loss. Frost is now 5-21 in one-score games in five years and looked like he didn't want to be there after seeing the same script play out.  It says here Frost is playing for his job each week and must defeat Oklahoma in two weeks or he's gone.

Is bigger any better?

All of a sudden, the College Football Committee has voted unanimously to expand to 12 teams. This after they couldn’t come to a consensus all of last year?  Why? It's simple: with UCLA and USC joining the Big Ten and Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC in 2025, the leverage is all with these two leagues. They were encouraged to vote with an eye towards monopolizing those 12 berths and of course, making more money in the final two years of the contract. Pathetic.

As this all gets sorted out, I am reminded of an acronym that perfectly describes what is happening in college football regarding conference expansion.  It's called FOMO — Fear of Missing Out.  Usually, it applies to missing a good party on campus or a special event when you are a student at a university.  Here, the same analogy can be made as every school with an uncertain future wants to make sure it's in a conference whose champion qualifies for the CFP.

◘Jim Harbaugh is the coach of the University of Michigan and former Wolverine quarterback.  He's been under a microscope for his inability to beat arch-rival Ohio State until finally breaking through last year with a victory and a CFP berth. This year, Michigan returns two quarterbacks, last year's starter Cade McNamara and sophomore JJ McCarthy, who also played during the season.  Rather than name a starter, Harbaugh announced that McNamara will start against Colorado State today and McCarthy next week against Hawaii.  What? First, it tells you something about the competition or lack thereof but it also tells you something about Harbaugh.  This unconventional, unheard-of approach to naming different starters the first two games only magnifies the issue and draws attention to Harbaugh, never one to avoid the spotlight.

On the field

No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 2 Ohio State (-17.5):  The coach Marcus Freeman Era starts today. The Irish start sophomore Tyler Buchner at quarterback. While he played in 10 games last year, he threw just 35 passes the entire season.  Meanwhile, the Buckeyes have C.J. Stroud, who threw 441 times for 4,435 yards.  The Buckeyes also return 12 starters and are heavy favorites. They are loaded with NFL-quality talent on both sides of the ball. But the most important difference-maker in this game is a person now playing for the Buckeyes. He's Jim Knowles, their new defensive coach who came over from Oklahoma State. Knowles was the best defensive coordinator in the country last year and led the Cowboys to the Big 12 championship.  Ohio State rolls at home at The Shoe.

No. 11 Oregon (+17) vs. No. 3 Georgia: Basically, a home game for the Bulldogs as the game is in Atlanta.  The one X factor is Ducks' quarterback Bo Nix. Nix, was a four-year starter at Auburn and immediately energized Oregon's offensive potential when he transferred. The Ducks' new coach is Dan Lanning, who was Georgia's defensive coordinator last year so there's a southern flavor here. The Bulldogs lost 14 starters from last year and had 15 players drafted by the NFL.  Bennett returns at quarterback but the new starters are NFL caliber on both sides of the ball.  Does Oregon have a chance?  It's all in Nix's hands.  He’s athletic and showed a propensity last year to extend plays that break down.  Improvising is his middle name.  The problem is he needs to be perfect and that's going to be difficult especially because there are times he makes "head-scratching decisions.” It says here take the points as this will be a closer game than most predict.

◘With no other games featuring two ranked opponents, and the marquee games both looking lopsided, we decided to make the trek up to The Heights to see Boston College. Full disclosure, their opponent is Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey and my alma mater.  It says here the Scarlet Knights will make some noise if they can pressure Eagles quarterback Phil Jurkovec.  The transfer from Notre Dame is a senior with experience and, if given time, will shred the Scarlet Knights defense.  It's the kind of game Rutgers always loses, but I'll be there as an impartial observer to quietly (you can't cheer in the press box or you'll get thrown out) root them on.  Go Scarlet Knights! Oops. Sorry.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia each has a stud QB back from last season