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Notre Dame vs Ohio State: Recruiting Comparison

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Trevor Trowbridge | Last updated Jan 13, 2025 12:16 PM ET

Notre Dame and Ohio State will square off in the College Football National Championship next Monday in Atlanta, Georgia. These two mid west power houses have been going back and fourth on the gridiron over the past decade to establish who is the more dominant midwestern powerhouse. As of right now, that advantage sways to the Buckeyes, as they have won their last three head to head matchups in 2015, 2022, and 2023. Now, the Irish have the opportunity to change that narrative on the biggest stage you can reach in college.

In addition to their battles on the football field, these two illustrious programs battle it out on the recruiting trail as well, fighting for who will get the best recruits to come to Indiana or Ohio. The Buckeyes year over year have held the overall recruiting advantage on Notre Dame, especially when it comes to wide receivers, but Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman are closing the gap, and the playing field is becoming more even.

Let's take a look at their recruiting comparison, using the On3 Consensus rankings to compare.

Notre Dame Offense vs Ohio State Defense

Notre Dame has eight four-stars, two three-stars, and an unranked player in their projected starting lineup. Four-star true freshman Anthonie Knapp has been ruled out of the national title game due to an ankle injury. Four-star right guard Rocco Spindler is currently questionable for the game as well. We went with the offensive line lineup that finished the Orange Bowl.

Ohio State has four five-star players, six four-star players and one three-star player in their projected starting lineup for the National Championship. The Irish have five players in their lineup who were former Top 100 recruits coming out of high school which include Jeremiyah Love (No. 77), Beaux Collins (No. 97), Tosh Baker (No. 94), Charles Jagusah (No. 53) and Aamil Wagner (No. 80). Notre Dame has a total of nine players ranked as former Top 300 recruits coming out of high school.

The Buckeyes have six former Top 100 players in their projected starting lineup: Jack Sawyer (No. 4), JT Tuimoloau (No. 5), Sonny Styles (No. 4), Cody Simon (No. 61), Jordan Hancock (No. 58), and Caleb Downs (No. 5). These players are all former five-star recruits as well outside of Hancock, their nickelback.

On paper, this matchup favors Ohio State. Every single one of their starters is a former Top 300 recruit outside of their nose tackle Ty Hamilton (No. 751), the llone three star recruit in their projected starting lineup. Their top reserve players are also former Top 300 recruits with Kenyatta Jackson Jr (No. 46) and Jaermaine Mathews Jr (No. 48) being former Top 100 players.

Notre Dame Defense vs Ohio State Offense

Notre Dame has eight four-star players and three three-star players in their projected starting lineup. Ohio State has three five-star players, five four-star players and three three-star players int heir projected starting line up.

The Irish have five starters and four reserves ranked as former Top 300 recruits highlighted by linebacker Drayk Bowen (No. 103), cornerback Christian Gray (No. 112), defensive end Joshua Burnham (No. 108), defensive end Bryce Young (No. 56), linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (No. 42), and linebacker Jaylen Sneed (No. 35). Xavier Watts (No. 341) is a key player that is playing significantly higher than his rating coming out of high school.

Ohio State's offensive rankings are strongly carried by their skilled positions on offense. Two of their three starting wide receivers, Jeremiah Smith (No. 1) and Emeka Egbuka (No. 5) are former five-star recruits. Running back TreVeyon Henderson (No. 19) and converted left tackle Donovan Jackson (No. 14) are the other five-star caliber players on the offensive side of the ball for the Buckeyes. Will Howard (No. 961) and running back Quinshon Judkins (No. 488) are two players who are also playiing above their rating coming out of high school.

On paper, this matchup is more even on this side of the football than it was on the offensive side of the ball for Notre Dame. Ohio State holds the advantage of five-star rated athletes but Notre Dame has more four-star athletes and the same amount of three-star athletes as the Buckeyes.