Alabama and Cincinnati are playing in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at 3:30 p.m. ET on Friday (ESPN and the ESPN App) in the College Football Playoff semifinal.
The matchup of the No. 1-ranked and No. 4-ranked teams might be one of the most polar-opposite playoff games yet. The Crimson Tide are in the playoff hunt nearly every single season, and Nick Saban adds five-stars and ESPN 300 prospects to the roster annually.
Cincinnati, which has fought for playoff consideration for multiple years, is just now getting a spot. Luke Fickell and his staff aren't signing five-stars and rarely get ESPN 300 recruits, but they have their own system of unearthing and developing talent that has gotten them to this point.
There is a stark contrast between these two teams in how they have been put together and how they have gotten to this point. Here is a look at how each team was built through recruiting and how their rosters were constructed.
Alabama
ESPN 300 recruits
The fact Alabama has been recruiting at an elite level is a major reason the Crimson Tide are in the playoff discussion every single year.
Nick Saban and his staff signed 99 ESPN 300 recruits in the five classes from 2017 to 2021. Within those numbers, 69 of the 99 were ranked in the top 150 of the rankings and 12 were five-stars.
Among the 12 five-stars who originally signed, six are left on the team, whether that's because of graduation, moving on to the NFL or transfer. Offensive linemen Evan Neal, Tommy Brockermeyer and JC Latham, quarterback Bryce Young, and linebackers Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell are still on the roster and contributing.
An important factor in those numbers is not just landing highly sought-after or highly ranked recruits, but maximizing their potential. In the 2017 class, all three five-stars -- Alex Leatherwood, Najee Harris and Dylan Moses -- went on to play in the NFL.
From the 2018 class, Pat Surtain II is now in the NFL, while defensive end Eyabi Anoma transferred. Of the two 2019 five-stars, Neal is still on the roster, but Pierce Quick is transferring. The five remaining five-stars from the 2020 and 2021 classes are still on the roster.
In those five classes, the Crimson Tide also had 45 commitments ranked in the top five of their respective positions -- more than half of their ESPN 300 recruits.
Class rankings
Over the past five recruiting classes, Alabama has signed the No. 1 class three times (2017, 2019, 2021), the No. 3 class in 2020 and the No. 6 class in 2018.
Georgia was the only other team that finished in the top six all five years outside of Alabama. That paints a good picture of how consistent the recruiting has been and how it has stayed at a high level over the past five years.
Quarterback recruiting
A big part of Alabama's success has been consistency at quarterback and building up quality depth. After Mac Jones went on to the NFL, Saban had Bryce Young ready to play as a redshirt freshman.
Young was a five-star in the 2020 class and the No. 1 quarterback in that cycle. He originally committed to USC, but Alabama flipped him and signed Young out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California.
That flip became an important recruiting win. The staff didn't have an ESPN 300 quarterback in the 2018 class, then landed two in 2019 with Taulia Tagovailoa (who has since transferred to Maryland) and Paul Tyson. Young is now a Heisman-winning starter with Tyson and 2021 ESPN 300 quarterback Jalen Milroe backing him up. Having three capable quarterbacks on the roster is an important aspect of making it this far in the season.
Transfer portal
Even though Alabama has recruited at a high level every year, Saban is still using the transfer portal to supplement the roster and fill immediate needs. The Crimson Tide have two players in particular who have filled needs and made an immediate impact in linebacker Henry To'o To'o and wide receiver Jameson Williams.
To'o To'o, a former ESPN 300 prospect, transferred in from Tennessee, and now he leads the team with 101 total tackles. He also has four sacks, eight tackles for loss and a forced fumble. He has made a huge impact this season and is now one of the defensive leaders for Alabama.
Williams transferred from Ohio State and has led the offense with 1,445 receiving yards. He had 15 receiving touchdowns and also had two kickoff returns for touchdowns and had 337 return yards all season. Williams averaged 21.25 yards per reception and seemed to make big play after big play along with John Metchie III, who tore his ACL in the SEC title game.
Stat leaders
Outside of Williams and To'o To'o, some of the other stat leaders who will make an impact on this season's playoff were former top prospects in high school.
Brian Robinson Jr. leads the team in rushing yards with 1,071 and 14 touchdowns on the ground. Robinson was the No. 198 recruit in the 2017 class out of Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was the No. 18 running back in the class and was listed at 6-foot-2, 216 pounds as a prospect. The staff has three other ESPN 300 running backs who have contributed this season, with Roydell Williams scoring once, Trey Sanders scoring twice and Jase McClellan with a rushing touchdown, as well.
The deep lineup of backs on this team is a norm, and it makes it difficult to try to wear down the Tide when they can rotate so many big names in throughout a game.
Will Anderson Jr. has become one of the leaders on defense for Alabama, with 92 total tackles, 32.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks. Anderson was the No. 49 prospect in the 2020 class out of Georgia. He started as a true freshman in 2020, and has been a leader on the team ever since.
DeMarcco Hellams is third on the team in total tackles with 74, and also has three interceptions on the season. Jordan Battle has similar numbers with 73 tackles and three interceptions, and both were ESPN 300 recruits in the 2019 class.
Alabama's roster is loaded from top to bottom with former high-end high school recruits. It's not just the fact that the team has so many contributors who were so highly sought-after, it's that the depth across the board makes the Tide so difficult to beat this time of year.
Every team deals with injuries and fatigue this time of year, but there aren't many teams that can deal with it the way Alabama can.
Cincinnati
ESPN 300 recruits
In a stark contrast to its opponent, Cincinnati has signed two ESPN 300 prospects over the past five recruiting classes. Tight end Leonard Taylor was the No. 181 prospect in the 2018 class and quarterback Evan Prater was the No. 296 recruit in the 2020 class.
The staff has signed six four-stars over the past five classes, and most of the recruits have been ranked as three-stars. Those numbers show that Cincinnati has done an outstanding job evaluating talent and developing those players into contributors.
Recruiting rankings are not an exact science, but past College Football Playoff teams have typically held top recruiting classes and signed elite high school prospects. There have been some exceptions, such as Michigan State in 2015 and Washington in 2016. Outside of that, it has been traditional powerhouses that have recruited the stars.
Cincinnati went 11-2 in 2018, 11-3 in 2019, 9-1 in 2020 and is 13-0 this season, earning the first non-Power 5 CFP berth. No matter the level of competition, that is impressive.
Class rankings
Because Cincinnati hasn't had a ton of stars, its place in the class rankings has not been in the top tier, either. The Bearcats had the No. 75 recruiting class in 2017, No. 41 in 2018, were ranked outside the top 75 in 2019, had the No. 49 class in 2020 and the No. 48 class in 2021.
The staff has averaged a class ranking of 57.8 over the past five classes, compared to Alabama's average ranking of 2.4.
Stat leaders
Despite those numbers, Cincinnati is not short on talent, starting with quarterback Desmond Ridder. He is a four-year starter and amassed 6,905 passing yards, 57 passing touchdowns, 1,825 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns over his first three seasons.
This year, Ridder has thrown for 3,190 yards and 30 passing touchdowns, to go along with 371 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground. Ridder is the epitome of what Cincinnati's coaches have been able to do with the right high school prospects.
He was a three-star out of Louisville, Kentucky, in the 2017 class and he didn't have much interest from college programs. In-state Power 5 schools Kentucky and Louisville decided not to offer a scholarship, and Cincinnati was one of the few teams to give him a shot.
Ridder is the Bearcats' second-leading rusher behind Jerome Ford, who has 1,242 yards and 19 touchdowns. Similar to Alabama, Cincinnati has used transfers to help supplement the roster, and Ford has been a big help in that category.
He transferred from Alabama after the 2019 season and had 483 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 games during the 2020 season. His numbers have improved this season and he has been a big part of the offense along with Ridder.
In terms of receiving, Alec Pierce was an unranked 6-foot-3, 191-pound receiver in the 2018 class with offers from Army, Ball State, Bowling Green and a few others. He has averaged 17.3 yards per reception this season with 867 total yards and seven touchdowns.
On defense, Curtis Brooks and Joel Dublanko lead the team in sacks with 13 combined sacks. Dublanko was a three-star out of Florida, while Brooks wasn't ranked in the 2016 class.
The Bearcats' secondary has had a lot of success this season with 18 interceptions. Deshawn Pace, Coby Bryant, Arquon Bush and Ahmad Gardner account for 13 of those interceptions. None ranked higher than a three-star, and Gardner is now considered a highly ranked NFL prospect after accumulating nine total interceptions in three years at Cincinnati.
Sticking to what works
None of these numbers is meant to be an indictment of Cincinnati for not recruiting well; it's actually the contrary. Sure, having more highly ranked recruits typically leads to teams having more success.
But recruiting rankings also serve as a projection for a prospect's potential; they aren't the end-all, be-all. Some teams and coaches are excellent at developing prospects into high-end players.
Luke Fickell and his staff are in that category. Fickell has built a system and culture at Cincinnati that works. He found and developed a quarterback, built an excellent defense and has laid the foundation to sustain success at a high level based on his way of recruiting.
There have been teams in the past that gained some level of success, then tried to pivot in their recruiting strategy to recruit higher-ranked prospects than they had pursued in the past. Cincinnati has not veered from its plan, however, and has continued to use the blueprint for what has made it successful in the past.
It would be easy to take in a prospect who could make an immediate impact, who might now be interested in the program based on its success, but if that player doesn't fit the culture, the locker room and what the coaches have won with in the past, it might not translate into results.
Fickell has stuck with what works, and if the Bearcats continue to stick with that system, there should be no reason they can't become a perennial top-25 team.