No. 2 – Ohio State
What The Athletic Says
Ohio State is one of the few programs in college football that has the significant recruiting advantage of being the only Power 5 program in an incredibly deep state for high school talent. Ohio State has 10 elite-level prospects in the Midwest who are automatic commitments once they get offers, plus its national brand makes it relevant in every high school hallway from coast to coast.
That combined with a crazy-passionate fan base, an iconic stadium, an intense rival and an athletic director willing to give the coach all the resources under the sun to be successful, and you have the reason why the Buckeyes are the only program in college football that has never had a prolonged era of being down. While college football staffers had a wide variety of opinions on which schools belonged in the top two, the two jobs that received the most total votes were Alabama (98) and Ohio State (97).
One Group of 5 recruiting staffer said they look at the “best” destination as the school where it’s easiest to build a dynasty and put Ohio State atop their list. The Buckeyes’ current control of the Big Ten — they’ve won four consecutive conference titles — is another obvious edge. “The only reason Ohio State is so high,” one SEC assistant argued, “is because, in my opinion, they have one of the biggest competitive advantages in their opportunity to win their conference every year.”