Ranking college football's top brands, according to high school recruits
Brand recognition is the name of the game in any business, and college football is no different.
Over the last 150 years, a few schools have stood out from the crowd in establishing championship legacies and winning reputations.
Recently, the website Official Visit went around asking 1,000 high school football recruits what they thought the best brands were in the college football market.
The results make up which schools the average prospect finds the most attractive to play their NCAA careers.
Which schools come into the 2022 season as the best, most respected brands?
Ranking college football's top brands, according to high school recruits
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10. Miami
However "down" the Hurricanes may be from their glory days of the 1980s through the early 2000s, this is still a destination for recruits, especially those from south Florida.
The atmosphere around Miami is hard to beat, and now the program is looking at a potentially brighter future under first-year coach Mario Cristobal, a Miami native and alum who steps into what looks like a more open ACC.
9. Oregon
Mario Cristobal helped turn Oregon into a national contender by building a recruiting machine to help the Ducks unseat USC as the perennial favorite out west.
Even as he departs the program, it's still in a position to dominate West Coast football, winning two Pac-12 titles in the last three seasons.
8. Texas
Texas has won 10 games just once in the last decade and placed in the Top 25 college football rankings just four times and in the Top 10 only once, but Austin is still very popular among recruits looking for a school. In fact, Texas is the third-biggest riser in this poll over the last four seasons.
7. Texas A&M
One school that shot up the rankings in the eyes of high school football players, as evidenced by the recruiting class A&M signed this offseason.
A could-be contender in the SEC West, Texas A&M is coming off a season in which it upset No. 1 Alabama and is being talked about as a possible College Football Playoff team.
6. LSU
Strategically placed in the SEC West and sitting in a state rich on recruiting talent, LSU will always be considered an elite landing spot for recruits.
Even after its two-year downturn since winning the national championship, high-quality prospects are still choosing the Tigers, who are looking ahead to a new era under Brian Kelly, who arrives as the winningest coach in Notre Dame history.
5. Clemson
One of the two first dynasties of the College Football Playoff era, the perennial ACC favorites won two CFP national titles and played for two more under Dabo Swinney, who has built a recruiting machine at Clemson rivaled only by Alabama. Before 2021, the Tigers finished in the Top 10 for six straight years. Clemson is one of the few real powerhouses outside the SEC in the modern game.
4. Oklahoma
Lincoln Riley inherited a program built over the last generation by Bob Stoops and got the Sooners in three straight College Football Playoffs before handing it off to Brent Venables.
In the process, OU also produced two straight Heisman-winning quarterbacks and two No. 1 NFL Draft picks. If you're a quarterback or skill player, Oklahoma is always near the top of your list.
3. Georgia
Kirby Smart has lived up to his end of the bargain in recent seasons, finally inching past Alabama and winning a national championship. Is that enough to finally unseat the Tide as kings of the SEC? Time will tell, but Georgia has more than proven itself as a national contender worthy of signing and developing the top talent in the nation.
2. Ohio State
One of the few programs outside the SEC that can really contend for championships each year, Ohio State has expanded its recruiting base outside Ohio (itself a traditional hotbed of high school football talent), and has been a fixture in the College Football Playoff since winning the first CFP national title in 2014-15.
1. Alabama
Nick Saban is still the king of college football and Alabama is his kingdom. No other program has come close to dominating the sport as the Tide has in the 21st century.
Alabama has won six national championships under Saban, and is far and away the most successful program of the College Football Playoff era. It's also the biggest riser among recruits in the last four years, jumping 18 spots in their rankings.
You can see the entire college football brand rankings for 2022 here
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