Ohio State and Clemson are meeting once again in the College Football Playoff semifinals in a rematch from last season, when the Tigers beat the Buckeyes 29-23. The two will play on Friday in the Allstate Sugar Bowl at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN and on the ESPN App.
These two teams consistently find themselves in the playoff picture and national championship hunt, and a big reason for that is how successful both have been on the recruiting trail. They regularly rank in the top 10 in recruiting rankings and routinely sign some of the top prospects in the country.
Recruiting plays a big role in whether a team has a shot at making the College Football Playoff and ultimately winning a national championship. Every team that has won a national championship in the playoff era has had at least one top-five recruiting class in the four years prior to winning, and every winner has averaged better than a top-10 class ranking for those four years.
Clemson and Ohio State are looking to continue that statistic this year, and since the two are facing off, here is a look at how both teams have been built through recruiting.
Clemson Tigers
ESPN 300 recruits
Clemson signed 60 ESPN 300 recruits from 2016 to 2020, which is third among this year's playoff teams, behind Alabama and Ohio State. Interestingly, half of those ESPN 300 recruits were ranked in the top 100, so Clemson was adding a lot of elite talent to its classes.
Trevor Lawrence was the highest-ranked recruit, at No. 2 overall, and is one of six commitments ranked as five-stars in those five classes. Lawrence is joined by defensive ends Xavier Thomas, K.J. Henry and Myles Murphy and defensive tackle Bryan Bresee as the five-stars still on the Tigers' roster (defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence is the only five-star not still in the program).
Of Clemson's 105 recruits from 2016 to 2020, 57% of them have been ranked in the ESPN 300. Clemson's staff is known for hitting on its evaluations and is getting a lot of production out of its signees outside the ESPN 300 as well, which we will get to below.
Class rankings
Because Clemson has had such a large number of top-ranked prospects, the staff has been able to sign some of the top classes overall in the past five recruiting cycles.
Clemson has averaged a class ranking of 6.8 by signing the No. 1 class in the 2020 cycle, which had two five-stars. The staff hasn't had a class ranked outside the top 10 over the past five classes, and because the coaches do a great job evaluating players -- both in terms of how they fit on the field and how they fit into the culture -- there is typically less attrition at Clemson than at other programs.
Quarterbacks
One of the more notable areas where the coaches have seen success is at quarterback. With this team it starts with Lawrence, who was the No. 1 pocket passer and No. 2 overall prospect in the 2018 class. He unseated Kelly Bryant in the 2018 season after Bryant led Clemson to the playoff the season prior.
In his career, Lawrence, the No. 1 NFL draft prospect on Mel Kiper Jr.'s big board, has completed 66.5% of his passes for 9,698 yards, 88 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He has 2,753 yards, 22 touchdowns and four interceptions in nine games this season.
He missed two games this year after testing positive for COVID-19, but the staff has done such a good job recruiting at the position that true freshman D.J. Uiagalelei, the No. 43-ranked recruit overall and top pocket passer in the 2020 class, stepped in right away, accounting for 342 passing yards and three touchdowns (one rushing) against Boston College and 439 yards and three touchdowns (one rushing) against Notre Dame.
Stat leaders
Lawrence's consistency has a lot to do with why Clemson is in the playoffs once again. The Tigers' offense ranks fourth in points scored per game, 10th in total yards per game, 14th in yards per play and seventh in passing yards per game.
Lawrence isn't doing it all on his own, though, as he has gotten a ton of production out of running back Travis Etienne, who was the No. 114-ranked prospect in the 2017 class. The run game has three former ESPN 300 prospects contributing in Etienne, Lyn-J Dixon and Chez Mellusi, who combined have scored 18 touchdowns this season.
Of Clemson's top seven leaders in receiving yards, four were ESPN 300 prospects and three were ranked as three-stars. Cornell Powell was the No. 81-ranked wide receiver in the 2016 class and has the second-most receiving yards this season for the Tigers, behind former ESPN 300 receiver Amari Rodgers.
It has been a balanced effort this season for Clemson from the defense as well. The team ranks third in points margin per game and first in yards margin per game, and is in the top 10 in yards allowed per game, yards allowed per play and rush yards allowed per game.
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables has been with Clemson for so long, he knows exactly what he looks for in recruiting. He and the defensive coaches get a lot of production out of both elite prospects and lower-ranked recruits.
The team's top two leaders in tackles this season were both ranked outside the ESPN 300. Linebacker Baylon Spector was a three-star in the 2017 class and safety Nolan Turner wasn't even ranked. In fact, four of the team's top seven tacklers were not in the ESPN 300, including linebacker James Skalski, who leads the team with 39 total tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss.
That doesn't mean the team hasn't gotten a lot out of its elite prospects, though. Clemson has had a ton of success up front along the defensive line, landing 14 ESPN 300 defensive linemen, five of whom were ranked as five-stars from 2016 to 2020.
Among the top six leaders in sacks this season for Clemson, four were five-stars in high school. Only one in the top six (Spector) was ranked outside the ESPN 300. The Tigers rank second among all FBS teams with 44 sacks, two behind Pittsburgh.
Freshman contributors
A big part of that defensive success this season has been an influx of outstanding freshmen who have been able to contribute from day one.
Linebacker Trenton Simpson, who was the No. 92-ranked recruit in 2020, leads the team with four sacks and is seventh on the team in total tackles. Myles Murphy and Bryan Bresee, two five-star prospects last year, have both stood out along the defensive line.
Murphy is fourth on the team in tackles and is tied with Simpson for the lead in sacks. Bresee is not far behind with three sacks on the season, as well as a blocked field goal.
Wide receiver E.J. Williams, the No. 130 recruit in 2020, has hauled in 19 receptions for 261 yards and two touchdowns this season, as well.
This is a veteran team for the most part, but any holes that existed or areas where Clemson needed young players to step up have been filled thanks to contributions from these first-year players.
Ohio State Buckeyes
ESPN 300 recruits
Ohio State has had more ESPN 300 commitments from 2016 to 2020 than Clemson has with 73, and is second to Alabama (92) among the final four teams.
The Buckeyes have signed 34 top-100 prospects in that span, which is also second to Alabama among these four teams. The staff has had seven five-stars sign from 2016 to 2020, but defensive end Nick Bosa and cornerback Jeff Okudah have both moved on to the NFL.
Three of the five-stars have come in the past two classes, with freshman wide receiver Julian Fleming and offensive lineman Paris Johnson Jr. in the 2020 class, and defensive end Zach Harrison, the No. 10 overall recruit in the 2019 class.
Sixty-three percent of Ohio State's 115 recruits in those five classes were in the ESPN 300, and 29% of them were in the top 100.
Class rankings
The Buckeyes have similar numbers in the class rankings to Clemson, with an average class ranking of 6.0 over the past five cycles.
That includes two No. 2-ranked classes and two No. 5-ranked classes. The No. 2 rankings came in 2017 and 2018, and unsurprisingly, the staff has gotten a lot of production out of those classes. The anomaly came from the 2019 class, which was ranked 16th overall.
That number is deceptive, though, because Ohio State had only 18 total prospects in the class who factored into the ranking. No team in the top 10 of the class rankings that year had fewer than 24 commitments. Half of that Ohio State class was ranked in the ESPN 300, and that does not include quarterback Justin Fields, who transferred in from Georgia in 2019.
Fields was the No. 1-ranked recruit overall from the 2018 class, so if he were factored into Ohio State's ranking and the total number of recruits wasn't weighed in, that class would probably have ranked higher than it did.
Stat leaders
Fields came at the perfect time for Ohio State, as Joe Burrow had transferred to LSU when Dwayne Haskins won the job, and Haskins had just left for the NFL. Outside of Fields, the Buckeyes had only transfer Gunnar Hoak and sophomore Chris Chugunov on the roster.
Coach Ryan Day's luring Fields to Ohio State was one of his biggest recruiting gets since taking over the Buckeyes. Fields led the offense in 2019 and again this season, when he completed 72.6% of his passes for 1,521 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions in six games.
Fields has had outstanding receivers to throw to this season, led by sophomore Garrett Wilson and junior Chris Olave. Wilson was the No. 17 overall prospect and No. 2 wide receiver in 2019, and Olave was a three-star in the 2018 class.
Among Ohio State's top six leaders in receiving yards this season, only Olave was not an ESPN 300 prospect. Day was recruiting Olave's high school quarterback, Jack Tuttle, when he was made aware of Olave. Both of them landed in Columbus, Ohio.
Jameson Williams was ranked 103rd in 2019, tight end Jeremy Ruckert was No. 31 in 2018, freshman Julian Fleming was the No. 1 overall prospect in 2020 and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, another freshman, was ranked No. 91 overall in the past cycle.
Similar to Clemson, Ohio State is stout in the front seven and has had a ton of consistency. The staff has not only identified the right talent, but has also been able to secure elite prospects on defense, so it's no surprise to see the Buckeyes rank seventh in rush yards allowed per game (96.7).
Among Ohio State's top nine leaders in total tackles, only two -- linebackers Pete Werner (four stars) and Tuf Borland (three stars) -- were not ranked in the ESPN 300. They are Nos. 1 and 2 with 37 and 26 total tackles, respectively.
Linebacker Baron Browning was the No. 26-ranked prospect overall, and Justin Hilliard, who has had an increased role late in the season, was a five-star ranked No. 17 overall. The linebacking corps is formidable and has a great defensive line in front of it.
All but one of Ohio State's top five sack leaders are former ESPN 300 prospects. Defensive tackle Tommy Togiai leads the team with three sacks and was the No. 52 recruit out of high school.
He has teamed up with senior defensive end Jonathon Cooper, the No. 57-ranked prospect in high school; Zach Harrison, a former five-star; and Haskell Garrett, who was the No. 102-ranked recruit.
Transfer market
Ohio State has not relied on transfers, but has supplemented its roster in key areas, which has benefited its current team.
Fields is the biggest name and helped fill the void at quarterback, which is proving effective, as Ohio State has now made the playoff in both seasons Fields has been with the Buckeyes.
The staff also added defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson prior to the 2018 season. He initially signed with Auburn out of high school, then transferred to Blinn Junior College and eventually to Ohio State.
Prior to this season, there was a need at running back after J.K. Dobbins opted for the NFL. Factor in that Master Teague III was recovering from an Achilles injury and Marcus Crowley was trying to recover from a 2019 ACL injury, and the staff added help in the form of former Oklahoma running back Trey Sermon.
Teague had been the Buckeyes' leading rusher, but Sermon finished the season with his best two games and is surging as Ohio State heads into the playoff. He ran for 112 yards on 10 attempts against Michigan State with one touchdown, then broke the Big Ten championship rushing record against Northwestern by running for 331 yards and two touchdowns.
Sermon's finding a groove late in the season could be instrumental against the talented Clemson defense as Ohio State will need a balanced attack to try to exploit any opportunities.
Recruiting across the map
It's no secret Ohio State has erected a fence around the state of Ohio and kept most of the top in-state prospects home. Of the 115 recruits signed by the Buckeyes from 2016 to 2020, 34 were from Ohio.
That's only 29% of them, though, and what has been most impressive is the number of other states where the Buckeyes have been able to recruit to supplement their roster and how far-reaching their net is.
The staff has signed prospects from 22 other states in those five classes, ranging from Washington and Hawaii to Florida, New Jersey and Idaho.
After Ohio, the staff has signed its most prospects from Florida (14), Texas (9), Maryland (6), New Jersey (6), New York (5) and Indiana (5). California, Missouri and Georgia have each supplied four prospects as well.
It's one thing to land recruits from other states, but taking a deeper look, Ohio State has signed 46 players in those five classes who were ranked in the top five of their respective states. That includes 23 who were either the top prospect in their state or the No. 2 recruit in their state.
With all of these numbers combined, it's easy to see why these two teams are consistently in the playoff picture and why they will be vying once again for a spot in the national championship.