If football is indeed about the Jimmy’s and Joe’s more so than the X’s and O’s, then Ohio State has already won the first-ever College Football Playoff championship.
According to the two leading recruiting rankings services — Rivals.com and 247Sports — the Buckeyes have significantly betted the Oregon Ducks in attracting the top talent.
Conversely, Oregon has averaged a 15.5 finish at 247Sports with a 17.2 closing figure on Rivals.com. The two services agree across the board that the Ducks’ best classes ranked from 2011, 2010, 2012, 2013, and then 2014.
The players on the field bear out that the recruiting industry has it correct.
A breakdown of the rosters on NationalHSFootball.com shows that Ohio State will be starting seven players from both the Class of 2012 and 2013.
Having a roster reliant on sophomores was something Meyer said that he was able to work in his favor this season, especially with motivating them to continue in pursuit of this opportunity. “We had a young team and we utilized that,” Meyer said. “When we lost the second game of the season, the furthest thing I ever thought was that we could get there this year. I thought, as we grew up, maybe next year we’ll be there with a lot of guys coming back. But as we started to play better, I would throw that nugget out there every once in a while on Sunday, because everybody watches it. I actually was like – if we lose another game, you probably wish you would hear about it.”
Oregon will be leaning more heavily on its Class of 2010 and 2011 for 11 of its 22 starters.
The only two true freshman starters from Oregon are offensive lineman Tyrell Crosby and running back Royce Freeman – the only five-star starting for Oregon on either side of the ball – breaking into the Ducks upperclassmen-heavy roster.
Mark Helfrich took the opposite approach with a veteran team and ignored the build up for the playoffs. “We didn’t talk about it that much for whatever that’s worth,” he said. “Just in terms of the direct comparison, I think it’s very similar to the BCS days, and now the question was prefaced by a College Football Playoff. So it is very similar in terms of degree of distraction.”
With just days in advance of the January 12 Championship and the recruiting dead period ending on January 15, the game could have a future impact as well.
Prospect have proven over time that they will want to play for winners and whether the Buckeyes or Ducks hoist the trophy, they both should see a boost in recruiting.
This could start a cycle of Jimmy’s and Joe’s heading off to play for a pair of the best X’s and O’s minds in the country.
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