Ranking college football’s 2021 conference champions by most likely to remain atop their leagues

The 2021 college football season didn’t stick to the script as only two of the 10 FBS conferences featured repeat league champions from the year prior, not counting a no-contest Sun Belt title game in 2020. Most notably, Michigan shocked the Big Ten by emerging from a disappointing pandemic season with its first conference championship in more than 15 years.

There was plenty to discuss beyond the Wolverines’ success, though. Baylor flipped from a 2-7 squad to a 12-2 conference champion in one of the biggest single-season turnarounds ever. Breakout performances at Pitt and Utah State also paced the field. 

However, winning a conference once is hard. Putting together title-winning teams multiple seasons in a row is even more difficult. Of course, Alabama has a chance to repeat as the early national championship favorite. After the Crimson Tide, the next seven championship favorites, per Caesars Sportsbook, are programs that did not win their conferences in 2021. 

Without further ado, here is how we rank the 2021 FBS conference champions by their chances of repeating in 2022.