Ranking College Football's Rosters for 2020

Author:
Steven Lassan
Publish date:
Feb 19, 2020

Nick Saban, Alabama Crimson Tide Football

Recruiting is the foundation for winning national championships, competing for CFB Playoff berths or performing at a high level in college football. While recruiting rankings aren’t 100 percent accurate, there is plenty of truth in the rankings and evaluations by the experts. Additionally, with advances in technology to watch more prospects, along with more offseason camps, the rankings for prospects and classes as a whole are more accurate than they were just a few years ago. Since the start of the CFB Playoff era, all six champions have come from teams ranked inside of the top five in overall roster talent. It’s no secret what a program needs in order to win big at this level. Great coaching, support staffs, state-of-the-art training facilities and luck certainly helps, but talent on the roster (and player development) provides a significant head start in the race to win it all each season.

Just how important are recruiting rankings and the overall talent evaluation? Alabama (No. 1) has won five national championships since 2009. Additionally, the Crimson Tide, LSU, Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State - the top five teams in this metric - have all played for or won a national title in the CFB Playoff era. Three teams from the SEC rank inside of the top four for 2020, with Ohio State (No. 3) and Clemson (No. 5) rounding out the top five.

Below are the national recruiting ranking averages for the Power 5 schools, Notre Dame and BYU over the last five classes according to 247Sports Team Composite rankings and each team's record over the last five seasons. Obviously, this doesn't take into account attrition. However, with a five-year window in place, this should be considered relatively even across the conference.

By Conference: ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten | Pac-12 | SEC

Ranking College Football's Rosters for 2020


Rk	Conf Rk	Team	Conference	'20	'19	'18	'17	'16	Avg	W/L	Conf.
1	1		SEC	2	1	7	1	1	2.4	66-6	36-4
2	2		SEC	1	2	1	3	7	2.8	54-15	30-10
3	1		Big Ten	5	14	2	2	4	5.4	61-7	40-4
4	3		SEC	4	5	15	7	3	6.8	51-14	29-11
5	1		ACC	3	10	6	16	10	9.0	69-5	38-2
6	4		SEC	7	11	12	9	9	9.6	42-24	22-18
7	1		Big 12	9	3	3	26	11	10.4	35-29	24-21
8	2		Big Ten	14	8	21	5	5	10.6	47-18	32-12
9	2		Big 12	11	6	9	8	20	10.8	58-10	41-4
9	5		SEC	8	9	14	10	13	10.8	44-20	27-13
11	6		SEC	6	4	17	12	18	11.4	40-25	21-19
12	2		ACC	22	18	11	6	2	11.8	38-26	21-19
13	3		Big Ten	15	13	5	15	19	13.4	49-17	32-12
14			IND	17	15	10	11	15	13.6	47-17
15	7		SEC	10	12	20	17	14	14.6	35-28	16-24
16	1		Pac-12	12	7	16	19	28	16.4	41-24	26-19
17	3		ACC	13	28	8	13	21	16.6	40-25	25-15
18	2		Pac-12	55	20	4	4	8	18.2	42-24	32-13
19	3		Pac-12	16	16	13	22	29	19.2	47-20	30-15
20	8		SEC	18	17	19	21	26	20.2	29-34	16-24
21	4		Big Ten	20	19	22	23	24	21.6	28-34	18-26
22	4		Pac-12	21	21	39	14	16	22.2	44-22	30-15
23	5		Pac-12	32	44	18	20	12	25.2	25-37	18-27
24	9		SEC	39	22	31	30	6	25.6	30-31	14-26
25	10		SEC	27	24	27	24	31	26.6	38-27	18-22
26	4		ACC	19	32	23	27	35	27.2	31-32	19-21
27	3		Big 12	28	33	25	31	23	28.0	40-25	25-20
28	6		Pac-12	24	31	37	37	27	31.2	33-31	21-24
29	11		SEC	23	34	38	29	34	31.6	37-27	18-22
30	12		SEC	30	23	55	28	25	32.2	23-39	9-31
31	5		Big Ten	43	30	32	35	22	32.4	39-26	24-20
32	6		Big Ten	31	46	28	18	42	33.0	21-40	10-34
33	7		Big Ten	25	27	44	40	32	33.6	52-16	34-10
34	4		Big 12	54	35	30	39	17	35.0	36-29	22-23
35	7		Pac-12	29	43	34	33	36	35.0	46-21	28-17
36	5		ACC	72	26	24	25	41	37.6	40-26	24-16
37	6		ACC	41	29	26	52	49	39.4	36-28	18-22
37	5		Big 12	45	37	33	38	44	39.4	45-20	28-17
39	8		Big Ten	34	40	40	41	46	40.2	47-19	29-15
40	7		ACC	44	55	46	34	30	41.8	36-29	24-16
41	8		ACC	42	73	29	32	37	42.6	35-29	21-19
42	6		Big 12	36	49	35	57	39	43.2	38-25	25-20
43	9		Big Ten	37	42	36	58	48	44.2	38-26	19-25
44	8		Pac-12	38	41	43	70	38	46.0	33-30	17-28
45	13		SEC	50	36	42	50	53	46.2	30-32	14-26
46	9		ACC	26	52	51	46	59	46.8	27-34	16-24
47	9		Pac-12	35	45	52	36	69	47.4	29-34	16-29
48	10		ACC	61	47	61	47	33	49.8	32-31	14-26
49	7		Big 12	46	48	53	53	52	50.4	29-34	20-25
50	10		Big Ten	47	51	59	48	51	51.2	39-26	27-17
51	11		Big Ten	33	25	49	71	80	51.6	22-40	14-30
52	12		Big Ten	58	38	48	63	56	52.6	30-33	15-29
53	10		Pac-12	62	56	58	45	43	52.8	26-36	15-30
53	10		Pac-12	56	64	45	44	55	52.8	43-22	29-16
55	11		ACC	48	39	64	56	60	53.4	29-35	17-23
56	14		SEC	52	58	41	64	54	53.8	24-38	10-30
57	12		ACC	59	53	50	55	66	56.6	27-34	14-26
58	12		Pac-12	53	68	69	49	46	57.0	14-46	8-37
59	8		Big 12	49	67	74	51	45	57.2	27-35	15-30
60	13		ACC	60	54	60	65	58	59.4	33-31	15-25
61	13		Big Ten	64	61	57	42	74	59.6	13-47	4-40
62	9		Big 12	51	62	68	60	73	62.8	36-28	22-23
63	14		Big Ten	87	63	54	43	71	63.6	20-41	10-34
64	14		ACC	63	60	67	66	75	66.2	30-33	14-26
65	10		Big 12	57	65	62	68	89	68.2	9-51	3-42
66			IND	78	79	78	67	50	70.4	36-28

Takeaways From Roster Rankings

* During the College Football Playoff era (since 2014), every champion currently ranks inside of the top five of the roster rankings going into 2020.

* Only two teams – Michigan State and Washington – rank outside of the top 16 in roster rankings and made the CFB Playoff.

* Alabama has reeled in eight No. 1 recruiting classes since 2011.

* Georgia has closed the gap to Alabama for the No. 1 spot in the roster rankings. Prior to 2018, the Bulldogs had an average of 4.8 over a five-year window for recruiting rankings. Going into 2020, that number has been lowered to 2.8.

* Georgia has not finished below No. 3 in each of its last four classes.

* Auburn (No. 6) is the highest-rated team in roster talent to not have a CFB Playoff appearance.

* It just means more? The SEC takes 12 of the top 30 spots in the roster rankings, with four coming in the top six – Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Auburn.

* Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson are the only teams with fewer than 10 losses since the 2016 season.

* Ohio State holds a significant edge in roster talent over its Big Ten counterparts. Consider this: The SEC’s No. 6 team in the roster rankings is Texas A&M (No. 11 nationally). The No. 6 team in roster rankings in the Big Ten is Maryland at No. 32.

* Since 2017, both Michigan and Penn State have improved their roster talent. The Wolverines rank No. 8 (up from No. 14) and the Nittany Lions check in at No. 13 (up from No. 21).

* Clemson has passed Florida State for the No. 1 roster in the ACC according to recruiting rankings. The Tigers rank No. 5 nationally going into 2020 – a significant increase from their 2017 rank (No. 12).

* Florida tied for second nationally in roster rankings prior to the 2014 season. The Gators have slipped into a tie with Oklahoma for No. 9 going into 2020. However, coach Dan Mullen has reeled in back-to-back top-10 classes.

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* The 2020 season is a critical one for coach Tom Herman at Texas. The Longhorns aren’t hurting for talent. This program has reeled in three consecutive top-10 classes and ranked No. 3 in back-to-back years (2018-19).

* Although Texas has the No. 1 overall roster in the conference, six Big 12 opponents have more overall victories than Texas from 2016-19.

* USC ranked No. 6 in the roster rankings prior to the 2017 season. However, the Trojans have fallen to No. 18 and no longer hold the top spot in the Pac-12.

* Washington has inked three consecutive classes ranked No. 16 or higher.

* Similar to its rival USC, UCLA is also trending in the wrong direction. The Bruins ranked No. 13 in this article in 2017 but have fallen to No. 23.

* Since 2010, Nebraska has signed only one class (2014) that ranked outside of the top 30.

* South Carolina, Nebraska, UCLA and Ole Miss are the only four teams in top 25 roster talent that have a losing record since 2016.

* Wisconsin ranks No. 33 in the roster rankings but has won 52 games since 2016. Only Oklahoma, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama have more overall wins in that span.

* Oklahoma and Texas are the only Big 12 teams to rank inside of the top 25 for roster talent.

* Only three ACC teams – Clemson, Florida State and Miami – rank inside the top 25 of roster talent for 2020.

* Georgia Tech is a program on the rise under coach Geoff Collins. The Yellow Jackets brought in the No. 26 haul for 2020, which is easily the program’s highest ranking over the last 11 classes.

* Virginia Tech’s 2020 class rated No. 72 nationally, which dropped the program to No. 36 overall. Prior to 2017, the Hokies ranked No. 28 overall in roster talent.

* Purdue ranks No. 51 nationally, but this team is likely to move up the list in future seasons. Coach Jeff Brohm has inked two standout classes (No. 25 in 2019 and No. 33 in 2020). Those classes are weighted down a bit by the No. 80 haul in ’16.

* Utah checks in at No. 35 nationally in roster rankings prior to 2020. That’s a significant jump after ranking No. 45 prior to 2017.

* Minnesota has moved to No. 43 in roster talent after reeling in three consecutive classes ranked inside of the top 45.

* Arizona signed the No. 43 class in 2016 and the No. 45 haul in ’17. However, the Wildcats have ranked No. 56 or worse in three consecutive classes.

* New Arkansas coach Sam Pittman deserves credit for salvaging his first class in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks finished No. 30 nationally, which isn’t too far of a drop from the No. 23 rank in 2019.

* North Carolina’s 2020 class finished No. 19 overall. That’s the best haul by the Tar Heels since a No. 19 finish in 2011.

* Only five teams – Washington State, BYU, Northwestern, Wake Forest and Kansas State – have an overall winning record since 2016 outside of the top 50.