In the CFP era, one of college football’s oldest proverbs has continuously come to pass: five-star recruits win championships.
The Michigan football team that won the championship in 2023 undoubtedly possessed a wealth of skill, but the Wolverines were, at least on paper, a bit of an anomaly among postseason winners.
Michigan’s overall roster talent ranking of 14th, according to 247Sports’ Composite recruiting criteria, is the lowest of any national winner since 2015.
It turns out that Michigan’s player development and talent assessment were sufficient for them to emerge as the top team in college football this year.
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With a perfect 15-0 record at the end of the season, Michigan won all but three of its games by a margin of double digits.
This includes their 34-13 victory on Monday in the College Football Playoff national championship game against No. 2 Washington (14-1, 9-0 Pac-12).
Only two former five-star recruits, defensive back Will Johnson and quarterback J.J. McCarthy, were on the Wolverines’ roster when they accomplished this feat.
In contrast, Alabama’s talent ranking for the 2023 season was #1 according to 247Sports. Alabama defeated Michigan 27-20 in overtime at the Rose Bowl.
Of the 56 players on the Crimson Tide, 18 were four-stars. The Wolverines, in contrast, boast 45 players with four stars.
This is a comparison of Michigan’s talent metric with that of other national winners since 247Sports began collecting data on this topic in the 2015–16 season.
More: Where are the Wolverines ranked for the upcoming season in the early 2024 Michigan football rankings?
