I guess this playoff makes you rethink star rankings.

michigan guys looked big and fast

washington guys were small and had heart and great chemistry

Washington had an outlier at QB that made up for a lot.

Michigan has a stout D and is well coached. They have above average talent to go along with it and a vicious mentality that comes from Harbaugh.

Also, JJ was a 5 star QB. They have a 5 star CB and Corum was a high 4 star. HS rankings are right more often than not.

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Are we seeing effects of poor evaluation by the services and better evaluations by these programs?

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Washington is loaded with seniors, that's why they are good

next year, they will be the next TCU

Here is something I posted in another thread:

What you aren't considering is the amount of players trying to leave their SEC teams after 3 years versus guys going to other programs expecting to be there for 4-5 years. Also a lot more cutthroat at an SEC school. I don't have numbers but I bet turnover is higher. What this means is amount of talent at any given time will be higher in the SEC, but it might be less experienced and less developed than in other programs.

Basically, these non-SEC schools don't have the impetus and need to compete for a national title every year, so their ability to develop talent is on a longer timetable. It helps them develop.

There's also the fact that the entire west coast has like 6-8 serious FBS programs. They have a lot of talent to horde.

Last 4 champions

LSU
Bama
UGA
UGA

Of those 4 LSU has been the worst in recruiting and they typically stay inside the top 10

This is the outlier year and all of a sudden rankings don’t matter.

Top end coaching and development.
Transfer portal isn't included in the hs recruiting rankings. No Penix=no Washington
You don't need 85 blue chippers to be a champion. You need 45-50 that develop and play on gamedays.
Experience. Can't recruit it.
Anamolies happen. Name the last champion that wasn't a major recruiting program. I'll grant Clemsons Boyd title.

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I guess this playoff makes you rethink star rankings.

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Yes

I believe both Michigan and Washington have many players who have been in the program for four and five years. They developed.

Cool, Maybe if we look at history it will bolster your argument. Let's see. 247 offers a team talent composite based on rankings of scholarship players on the team that season.

Here are the participants in the finals

Michigan #14
Washington #24



Here are the CFP champions and where they were ranked

2015 Alabama #1
2016 Clemson #9
2017 Alabama #1
2018 Clemson #6
2019 LSU #5
2020 Alabama #2
2021 Georgia #2
2022 Georgia #2


Hmmm

Michigan has 15 seniors or graduates (out of 22) on its combined first teams. 15 out of 22! and only 4 of those have transferred in.... What they have are a bunch of home grown kids that have been forged in fire for 4 to 5 years, and it makes a huge difference. This is what BK wants to get to...