Blue-Chip Ratio 2021: The 16 teams who can win a national title

Texas A&M is a big riser

As predicted last year, the Aggies rose quite a bit in the most recent edition, going from 50 percent to 61 percent. This is thanks to continued good recruiting and also to the 2017 class rotating off the slate.

Who could be next?

Washington, as it is only a percentage point away.

Outside of that, the only other schools who are even on the radar are the Tennessee Volunteers, Florida State Seminoles and the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Tennessee sits at 48 percent, but with a new coach and uncertainty about its NCAA future, it might be tough to sign enough blue chips to get over the hump.

Florida State has great recruiting momentum as of this writing, but is almost certainly two classes away even if things go well with the 2022 cycle.

North Carolina at 35 percent is probably two classes away, as the 2019 class serves as a bit of an anchor on its number.

The drop-off from the schools close to the rest of the programs is steep

There just aren’t any teams threatening to crash the party.

The days of discussing whether teams like South Carolina, Ole Miss, Michigan State, or TCU can make a jump into the upper tier of talent have been shelved. Those teams were winning a lot and scoring some wins against the college football goliaths in the early and mid-2010s, which left us to wonder if they could turn wins into a few more elite recruits.

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Here is how 2020 looked.


Here is how each team faired.
Alabama: 13-0, #1
Georgia: 8-2, #7
Ohio State: 7-1 #2
Texas: 7-3, #19
Lsu: 5-5, NR
Clemson: 10-2, #3
Florida: 8-4, #13
Michigan: 2-4, NR
Auburn: 6-5, NR
Penn St: 4-5, NR
Notre Dame: 10-2, #5
Washington: 3-1, NR
Southern Cal: 5-1, #21
Texas A&M: 9-1, #4

Biggest overachiever = A&M followed by Notre Dame
Biggest underachiever = UM followed by Lsu & Penn St