How were Texas and Ohio State's rosters built? Money, lots and lots of money. Ryan Day made headlines when he told boosters it would take around $13 million to build a championship-caliber roster -- two years ago. The 2024 Buckeyes roster cost an estimated $20 million; we don't have such figures for Texas, but safe to say it was in the neighborhood.
Ohio State and Texas are also first and second in total athletics revenue, out-earning third-ranked Alabama by at least $25 million.
But if money alone bought semifinal berths, where is Miami? Where's Ole Miss? And even if it does cost $20 million to purchase your way into the College Football Playoff's Final Four, how do you spend it? Do you go all-in on talent acquisition at the expense of retention? And even if that is the case, do you spend more on the portal or in recruiting? And what positions provide the most ROI?
These programs -- who meet for just the fourth time on Friday night, all four with both teams in the AP top-10 -- are mirror images of each other in many ways, and that's reflected in how they build their rosters.
In studying how Ohio State and Texas acquired their players, a few themes emerged:
These are old rosters, especially at certain positions: Twenty-four of the top 50 players in Friday night's game will be in their fourth year or more of college. Both quarterbacks are experienced players. Both teams are especially old on the lines:
-- Four of Ohio State's top five D-linemen are in their fourth or fifth year of college
-- Four of Texas's starting offensive linemen are 3- or 4-year starters
-- Four of Texas's top five D-linemen are in their fourth or fifth year of college
It's okay to go quarterback shopping, experience matters more than anything: Neither quarterback signed with their respective school out of high school. One quarterback's journey has been the most well-told saga of this era of college football. But the common link is that both bring years of experience into their battle for a national championship berth.
You basically have to be an absolute athletic freak to play as a freshman: Three true freshmen will see significant snaps in the Cotton Bowl. They ranked No. 1 (Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith), No. 28 (Texas DE Collin Simmons) and No. 32 (Texas WR Ryan Wingo) in the Class of 2024. (All rankings via 247Sports composite.)
The lines are almost exclusively home grown: Of the 20 linemen who will see the most action in the Cotton Bowl, 19 signed with their respective schools out of high school. Texas defensive end Trey Moore is the lone exception, and he was the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year at UTSA in 2023. (Texas does play three transfer defensive tackles, but all come off the bench.)
To state the obvious, these are the elite of the elite: Here are the respective class rankings for both rosters. Recall that 2021 was a transition class for Texas.
Below, I've summarized the recruiting rankings of the top 25 players on each roster, tracking significant categories: players who've spent four or more years in college; transfers; 5-star recruits and, since those are so rare, top-100 recruits. Some players check more than one box; Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers checks them all.
OHIO STATE
4+ year players: 13
Transfers: 3
5-star recruits: 8
Top 100 recruits: 11
Offense
Quarterback
Will Howard: 3-star, signed with Kansas State in 2020; 42 career starts
Running Back
TreVeyon Henderson: 5-star recruit; top-5 rusher in Ohio State history
Quinshon Judkins: 3-star, signed with Ole Miss in 2022
Wide Receiver
Jeremiah Smith: 5-star recruit; some say would be No. 1 pick in 2025 draft
Emeka Egbuka: 5-star recruit; 38 career starts
Carnell Tate: 4-star, top 100 recruit
Tight End
Gee Scott, Jr.: 4-star, top 100 recruit; fifth-year player
Offensive Line (L-to-R)
Donovan Jackson: 5-star recruit; 40 career starts
Austin Siereveld: 3-star recruit
Carson Hinzman: 4-star recruit
Tegra Tshabola: 4-star recruit
Josh Fryar: 3-star recruit; fifth-year player
C Seth McLaughlin, a fifth-year senior transfer from Alabama and LT Josh Simmons, a 4-star recruit, were both lost for the year to injury
Defense
Defensive Line
Jack Sawyer: 5-star recruit; fourth-year player
Ty Hamilton: 3-star recruit; fifth-year player
Tyleik Williams: 4-star recruit
Ty Hamilton: 3-star recruit; fifth-year player
JT Tuimoloau: 5-star recruit; fourth-year player
Linebacker
Cody Simon: 4-star, top 100 recruit; fifth-year player
Sonny Styles: 5-star recruit
Arvell Reese: 4-star recruit
Secondary
Denzel Burke: 4-star recruit; school record-holder for most starts by a cornerback
Lathan Ransom: 4-star recruit; fifth-year player
Caleb Downs: 5-star recruit; signed with Alabama in 2023
Jordan Hancock: 4-star, top 100 recruit
Davison Igbinosun: 4-star recruit
TEXAS
4+ year players: 11
Transfers: 5
5-star recruits: 6
Top 100 recruits: 9
Offense
Quarterback
Quinn Ewers: 5-star recruit; signed with Ohio State in 2021; 35 career starts
Running Back
Tre Wisner: 3-star recruit
Jaydon Blue: 4-star recruit
CJ Baxter, a former 5-star recruit, was lost to injury before the season
Wide Receiver
Matthew Golden: 4-star recruit; signed with Houston in 2022
DeAndre Moore, Jr.: 4-star recruit
Ryan Wingo: 5-star recruit
Isaiah Bond: 4-star, top 100 recruit; signed with Alabama in 2022
Tight End
Gunnar Helm: 3-star recruit
Offensive Line (L-to-R)
Kelvin Banks: 5-star recruit; 41 career starts
Hayden Conner: 3-star recruit; 42 career starts
Jake Majors: 4-star recruit; school-record 56 career starts
DJ Campbell: 5-star recruit; 29 career starts
Cameron Williams: 4-star recruit
Defense
Defensive Line
Barryn Sorrell: 3-star recruit; 39 career starts
Vernon Broughton: 4-star recruit; fifth-year player
Alfred Collins: 4-star, top 100 recruit; fifth-year player
Trey Moore: unrated recruit; UTSA transfer; 40 career starts
Collin Simmons: 5-star recruit
Linebacker
Anthony Hill, Jr: 5-star recruit
Liona Lefau: 4-star recruit
Secondary
Jahdae Barron: 4-star recruit; 38 career starts
Michael Taaffe: former walk-on
Andrew Mukuba: 4-star recruit; signed with Clemson in 2021; 46 career starts
Jaylon Guilbeau: 4-star recruit
Malik Muhammad: 4-star, top 100 recruit
SUMMARY
24 of 50 (48%) have spent four or more years in college -- and the lines and quarterbacks are especially old
42 of 50 (84%) signed with their respective schools out of high school -- including 19 of the top 20 linemen
14 of 50 (28%) were 5-star recruits, and all three freshmen who will see significant action were 5-stars. 5-star recruits account for roughly 1 percent of all recruits
20 of 50 (40%) were top-100 recruits. Roughly 2,500 high school players sign with FBS schools each year.
We'll take a look at how Notre Dame and Penn State were built next.