Ranking College Football's Rosters for 2021

Ranking the college football rosters for the 2021 season provides a unique window into the talent level for all teams and how that compares to win totals, conference championships, and success on a national level. 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 six 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 2021, 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 2021

Rk	Team	Conf	21	20	19	18	17	Avg	W/L	Conf.
1		SEC	1	2	1	5	1	2.0	65-5	39-3
2		SEC	4	1	2	1	3	2.2	52-14	32-9
3		Big Ten	2	5	14	2	2	5.0	56-7	38-3
4		SEC	3	4	5	15	7	6.8	47-16	29-13
5		ACC	5	3	10	7	16	8.2	65-6	38-3
6		Big 12	11	12	6	9	8	9.2	56-10	39-5
7		SEC	7	6	4	17	13	9.4	41-21	25-16
8T		SEC	13	9	9	14	11	11.2	42-20	28-14
8T		Pac-12	6	11	7	13	19	11.2	36-23	22-19
8T		Big 12	17	8	3	3	25	11.2	37-25	25-19
11		Big Ten	10	14	8	22	5	11.8	39-19	28-14
12		Ind	9	18	15	10	10	12.4	47-16	9-0
13		SEC	27	7	11	12	9	13.2	41-23	25-16
14		Big Ten	21	15	12	6	15	13.8	46-16	32-13
15		ACC	12	16	27	8	12	15.0	40-23	27-14
16		SEC	16	10	13	21	17	15.4	29-31	14-28
17		ACC	22	22	18	11	6	15.8	31-29	17-23
18		Pac-12	8	64	20	4	4	20.0	39-19	31-10
19		Big Ten	20	20	17	23	23	20.6	25-32	18-26
20T		ACC	14	13	30	20	29	21.2	28-33	18-24
20T		Pac-12	35	17	16	16	22	21.2	43-15	29-11
22		SEC	25	28	24	27	24	25.6	33-30	17-25
23		SEC	18	34	22	32	31	27.4	25-33	12-29
24		Pac-12	30	33	40	19	20	28.4	20-36	16-27
25		Big Ten	19	31	47	28	18	28.6	20-34	11-30
26		Pac-12	50	21	19	40	14	28.8	36-22	26-16
27		SEC	24	30	23	45	27	29.8	18-41	7-35
28		Big Ten	15	26	29	46	39	31.0	46-16	31-11
29		SEC	78	19	21	18	21	31.4	28-33	17-25
30		SEC	33	25	34	37	30	31.8	37-26	20-22
31		Pac-12	31	29	42	33	33	33.6	39-20	25-16
32		Big 12	61	24	31	25	28	33.8	35-27	23-22
33		Pac-12	53	23	28	36	32	34.4	29-26	19-21
34		Big Ten	23	36	41	39	41	36.0	41-19	27-17
35		Big Ten	43	44	33	31	36	37.4	29-29	19-24
36		ACC	34	43	32	26	53	37.6	37-26	22-20
37		Big 12	39	40	38	34	38	37.8	43-20	27-18
38		ACC	45	76	26	24	26	39.4	38-26	25-17
39		Big 12	44	50	35	29	40	39.6	28-33	18-27
40		SEC	29	51	37	43	43	40.6	30-30	18-24
41		ACC	26	45	55	48	37	42.2	34-29	23-19
42		ACC	38	42	70	30	34	42.8	31-31	19-23
43		ACC	47	27	50	44	48	43.2	27-32	18-23
44T		Big Ten	37	38	45	38	59	43.4	35-23	20-23
44T		Big 12	40	37	48	35	57	43.4	36-24	25-19
46		Pac-12	28	39	43	42	70	44.4	26-28	14-26
47		Pac-12	64	35	44	53	35	46.2	29-27	18-22
48		ACC	32	49	39	59	58	47.4	30-32	18-23
49		Big Ten	73	32	25	52	72	50.8	22-34	15-27
50		Big Ten	49	47	51	58	50	51.0	36-25	27-16
51		Big 12	59	46	46	55	52	51.6	35-28	26-19
52		Big Ten	54	57	36	50	62	51.8	30-28	19-24
53T		Big Ten	41	61	65	56	42	53.0	12-45	6-39
53T		SEC	48	53	58	41	65	53.0	20-39	8-33
55		Pac-12	60	55	67	47	44	54.6	35-21	24-16
56		ACC	57	58	57	51	54	55.4	24-36	13-29
57		ACC	58	63	49	63	47	56.0	26-35	11-31
58T		Pac-12	77	59	56	61	45	59.6	19-35	12-29
58T		Big 12	56	52	63	66	61	59.6	34-27	23-22
60		Big 12	68	48	62	72	49	59.8	24-35	14-31
61		ACC	36	62	64	71	67	60.0	33-29	19-23
62		Big 12	51	56	71	60	71	61.8	9-48	3-41
63		Big Ten	74	88	53	54	46	63.0	17-40	10-34
64		ACC	65	60	59	64	68	63.2	34-27	17-22
65		Pac-12	109	54	52	70	51	67.2	14-41	10-33
66		Ind	72	81	84	78	66	76.2	38-25	-

 

* Four teams – Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson and LSU – have won the national championship during the CFB Playoff era. None of those four teams rank outside of the top five in roster talent going into 2021.

 

* The SEC has five of the top 10 rosters in college football. Alabama leads the way with a narrow (2.0 to 2.2) edge over Georgia in the five-year average. LSU, Texas A&M and Florida round out the SEC classes in the top 10.

 

* 12 of the SEC’s 14 teams rank inside the top 30 in roster talent going into 2021.

 

* None of Alabama’s classes have ranked outside of the top five since 2010. During that span, only two hauls (2018 and ’18) ranked below No. 2 nationally.

 

* The lowest team in the roster rankings to make the CFB Playoff was Michigan State. The Spartans rank No. 35 in roster talent going into the 2021 season. Additionally, Washington (tied for No. 20) is the only other team to rank outside of the top 17 in roster talent to make the playoff since 2014.

 

* Georgia (No. 2) is the only team in the top five of roster talent without a national title during the CFB Playoff era.

 

* When Athlon Sports posted this article back in 2014, Clemson rated No. 17 nationally in roster talent. Coach Dabo Swinney’s team has climbed to No. 5 going into 2021.

 

* Notre Dame ranks No. 12 nationally in roster talent. Only six teams – Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma have more wins from 2017-20.

 

* The Big 12 has just two teams ranked inside of the top 25 in roster talent. Oklahoma ranks No. 6, and Texas is tied for eighth going into 2021. TCU is next in the conference at No. 32.

 

* While the Big 12 has only two teams in the top 25 of roster talent, the next group is clustered together in a small window. TCU is No. 32, followed by Oklahoma State (37), Baylor (39), West Virginia (tied for 44^th) and Iowa State (51).

 

* Oregon is the only Pac-12 team inside of the top 15 nationally in roster talent. USC is No. 2 in the conference and 18^th nationally. The Trojans’ five-year average is weighed down by the No. 64 class signed in 2020.

 

* When Athlon Sports posted the 2017 version of this article, Florida State ranked No. 1 in the ACC and No. 4 nationally in roster talent. The Seminoles have tumbled to No. 3 within the conference and No. 17 nationally.

 

* Wisconsin’s classes have trended up since finishing No. 46 in 2018. The Badgers climbed to No. 29 in 2019, No. 26 in ’20, and No. 15 in ’21.

 

* To illustrate the depth of recruiting within the SEC, take a look at Kentucky. The Wildcats rank No. 12 within the conference but rank No. 30 nationally. Kentucky’s five-yard average ranks higher than eight teams in the Big 12 and would be fifth-best among teams in the ACC.

 

* Nebraska’s classes have rated between No. 20-24 nationally every year since 2016. However, the Cornhuskers are just 18-26 in the Big Ten from 2017-20.

 

* Ole Miss’ No. 18 ranked class in 2021 was the program’s highest finish since No. 6 in ’16.

 

* North Carolina has inked back-to-back top-15 classes after just one top-20 haul from 2010-19.

 

* Washington’s 2021 haul rated No. 35 nationally. That’s the lowest mark for the Huskies since their 2016 class ranked No. 29.

 

* Maryland ranked No. 38 nationally in roster rankings in 2017. However, the Terrapins have climbed No. 25 nationally going into ’21.

 

* UCLA did not finish lower than 20^th nationally in a signing class from 2010-18. The Bruins have ranked 30^th or lower over their last three classes.

 

* Oregon State’s 2021 recruiting class ranked No. 109 overall and is the lowest of any Power 5 team over the last 10 years. However, that’s largely due to the Beavers signing only 10 players. Also, the average player rating (85.18) was better than the total at Washington State, Arizona and Colorado.

 

* From 2013-15, Utah’s classes ranked between No. 45, No. 67 and No. 47, respectively. However, the Utes have just one class below No. 36 nationally since that span.

 

* Oklahoma State did not have a class rank lower than No. 32 from 2010-14. The Cowboys have not finished higher than No. 34 since 2015.

 

* Iowa tied for No. 53 nationally in roster talent going into the 2017 season. The Hawkeyes have climbed to No. 34 for the ’21 campaign.

 

* After recording finishes of No. 26, No. 24, and No. 26 from 2017-19, Virginia Tech's most recent class have ranked 76th (2020) and 45th (’21).

 

* Missouri’s No. 29 haul in 2021 was the program’s first top-30 class since ’15.

 

* Colorado’s No. 64 class in 2021 was the program’s lowest since a No. 69 class in ’16.

 

* Virginia’s No. 32 haul for 2021 was the best of coach Bronco Mendenhall’s tenure.

 

* Rutgers’ 2021 class (No. 41) was the best for the program since a No. 24 finish in ’12.

 

* Illinois ranked No. 56 in roster talent in 2017. The Fighting Illini have slipped to No. 63 going into ’21.

 

* Boston College signed its best recruiting class (No. 36) since its 2011 haul (No. 41).

 

* Five ACC teams – NC State, Louisville, Pitt, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech – are ranked between No. 36 and No. 43 nationally.

 

* South Carolina’s No. 78 haul for 2021 is the lowest of any SEC team over the last five seasons.

 

* Texas Tech’s roster ranked No. 42 nationally going into the 2017 season. The Red Raiders have fallen to No. 60 going into ’21.

 

Podcast: Ranking the Rosters, Trends and Signing Day Recap