Ohio State Has Nearly Double the Amount of Five-Star Talent As Any Other Big Ten Team in 2025

Rebuild. Reload.

It's what the Buckeyes are used to. And after losing so much talent following the national championship run, Ohio State is once again prepared to defend its title with plenty of talent donning the scarlet and gray this season. Or, as Ryan Day put it, attack its shot to win a new national championship.

In 2025, the Buckeyes will have 11 five-stars (five on offense, six on defense). OSU had 14 last season, but JT Tuimoloau, Jack Sawyer, Emeka Egbuka, Donovan Jackson and TreVeyon Henderson took their talents to the NFL while adding the likes of five-star freshmen Tavien St. Clair, Devin Sanchez and Quincy Porter. (All recruiting rankings referenced are via 247Sports' composite rankings.)

Ohio State's 973.69 247Sports team composite rating is third-best in the country, behind Georgia (1,002.98) and Alabama (993.55). The Buckeyes have the fourth-best average among players (92.39) behind the Crimson Tide (92.59), Texas (92.50) and Georgia (92.47).

While Ohio State has 11 five-star players on the 2025 roster, the rest of the Big Ten has 21 combined five-stars, with Oregon (six), Penn State (four) and Michigan (four) leading the way behind the Buckeyes.

Some interesting tidbits:

• Ohio State has more five-stars than the teams with the second- and third-most five-star prospects in the Big Ten combined.
• The Buckeyes have as many five-stars on defense (six) as Oregon does total, and the Ducks have the second-most in the conference.
• OSU has more five-star wide receivers (three), cornerbacks (two) and linebackers (two) on its roster than 12 Big Ten teams have total five-star players.

Outside of the Big Ten, Ohio State is still among the best teams in the country based on team composite score alone. If stars matter, here's a look at how many five-star players each of the top 10 teams in the AP Poll has:

Examining the overall team composite ratings, one thing is clear: parity, at least among the top 10 or so teams in the country, seems to be more prevalent now than in recent memory, likely due to the impact of NIL and the transfer portal.

This season, only one team (Georgia) has a team composite score in the thousands (1,0002.98), and 11 teams have a rating of at least 900. Before this new era of college football, there would only be four or five programs per season that had a composite rating of at least 900.

Like it or not, the talent is more dispersed now than ever. That said, the Buckeyes remain among the best, both in terms of their ranking and the depth of talent on the roster.

With Ryan Day becoming the Buckeyes’ head coach in 2019, here's how this year's version of Ohio State compares to years past on the gridiron in terms of their composite team rating:

Looking ahead to Saturday's No. 1 vs. No. 3 matchup in the shoe, Texas and Ohio State are evenly matched in terms of stars.