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Notre Dame’s Talent is Title Caliber per Blue-Chip Ratio List

Extensive research has found Notre Dame can win a national title this year but also suggests it’d take a ton of luck.

If you’re like me you hear the word ratio and you immediately start to wonder who said something dumb on Twitter this time.  It’s probably a sign I need to delete that app from my phone sooner rather than later.

However, Bud Elliott has been doing his Blue-Chip Ratio project for years and released his 2020 version this week.  The research Elliott puts in finds the amount of elite talent, or four and five star recruits who are on the current rosters versus the three star or lesser talents that are also getting scholarships.

It’s worth noting that walk-on’s are not included.

These ratings provide both good news and bad news for Notre Dame fans.

The good?

Notre Dame makes the list, even if it is at twelfth.  The research essentially finds that if a team doesn’t make this list in the pre-season that they’ll have no chance at winning a national championship so clearly just getting on it is an important note.

However, further examination of the list and the numbers that go along with it tell the rest of the story and that’s that Notre Dame still has a ways to go in order to catch up to the truly elite.

54% of Notre Dame’s talent this year is of the four or five star caliber which might seem great and compared to the vast majority of college football it is.

However, when you see Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State all at 80% or above it really opens your eyes.

The biggest surprise to me is how Clemson is “just” seventh on this list and 20% behind Alabama and is significantly closer to being on Notre Dame’s level than on that of the Tide, Bulldogs or Buckeyes, at least on this list.

Texas checking in at four came as a surprise to me, too.  Maybe they are closer to taking over the Big 12 than we think?

So what does this all mean for Notre Dame?

Brian Kelly and the Irish could win a national championship but I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting this fall.  The Irish still have a long ways to go in order to close the depth issues they have compared to the best programs going right now, something Kelly has spoken on time and time again.