Recruiting Parity

University of Alabama

26 recruits

4,977 points

University of Georgia

16 recruits

3,082 points

University of Texas

13 recruits

2,236 points

Auburn University

12 recruits

2,196 points

Texas A&M University

13 recruits

2,192 points

Louisiana State University

12 recruits

2,028 points

University of Oklahoma

11 recruits

1,902 points

Clemson University

12 recruits

1,891 points

University of Oregon

10 recruits

1,800 points

University of Florida

12 recruits

1,798 points

University of Michigan

13 recruits

1,787 points

The Ohio State University

10 recruits

1,783 points

University of Tennessee

11 recruits

1,782 points

Florida State University

10 recruits

1,430 points

Pennsylvania State University

9 recruits

1,373 points

University of Notre Dame

12 recruits

1,139 points

University of Washington

7 recruits

923 points

University of South Carolina

6 recruits

854 points

University of Southern California

8 recruits

839 points

Stanford University

7 recruits

817 points

Arizona State University

3 recruits

640 points

University of Arkansas

4 recruits

586 points

University of Illinois

3 recruits

573 points

University of Wisconsin

2 recruits

566 points

Michigan State University

2 recruits

526 points

University of Mississippi

5 recruits

516 points

University of Miami

3 recruits

396 points

Purdue University

3 recruits

326 points

University of Nebraska

5 recruits

291 points

University of North Carolina

3 recruits

277 points

North Carolina State University

2 recruits

276 points

Oklahoma State University

2 recruits

234 points

Baylor University

2 recruits

232 points

University of Virginia

1 recruit

226 points

University of Maryland

2 recruits

214 points

Virginia Polytechnic University

3 recruits

201 points

Brigham Young University

1 recruit

192 points

University of California, Los Angeles

1 recruit

167 points

University of Louisville

1 recruit

143 points

University of Indiana

2 recruits

135 points

University of Missouri

2 recruits

127 points

Kansas State University

2 recruits

105 points

University of Arizona

1 recruit

100 points

University of Iowa

2 recruits

90 points

Boston College

1 recruit

81 points

Northwestern University

1 recruit

72 points

Boise State University

2 recruits

58 points

West Virginia University

1 recruit

37 points

University of Minnesota

1 recruit

15 points

University of Kentucky

1 recruit

11 points

Remaining Starting Spot

The main assumption for the remaining starting spot method was that a recruit would go to the highest ranked school (based on AP rankings at the end of the 2018-2019 season) that did not already have a recruit at the same position in the 2019 class. Each school can have: 1 quarterback, 1 running back, 1 center, 2 offensive guards, 2 offensive tackles, 1 tight end, three wide receivers, 2 defensive tackles, 2 defensive ends, 3 linebackers, 2 safeties, and 2 cornerbacks. As a result, the top recruit "went" to Clemson, and the number nine recruit was the first player to "go" to Alabama being the fourth Offensive tackle on the board.

Another key assumption made was that some positions are similar enough for players to switch if a higher ranked school still had that postition. For example, athletes regularly switch between offensive guard and offensive tackle.

Clemson University

22 recruits

6,277 points

University of Alabama

22 recruits

5,846 points

The Ohio State University

22 recruits

5,303 points

University of Oklahoma

22 recruits

4,800 points

University of Notre Dame

22 recruits

4,223 points

Louisiana State University

21 recruits

3,656 points

University of Florida

21 recruits

3,210 points

University of Georgia

21 recruits

2,637 points

University of Texas

20 recruits

2,134 points

Washington State University

20 recruits

1,671 points

University of Central Florida

20 recruits

1,195 points

University of Kentucky

14 recruits

900 points

University of Washington

12 recruits

642 points

University of Michigan

8 recruits

474 points

Syracuse University

5 recruits

381 points

Texas A&M University

5 recruits

271 points

Pennsylvania State University

3 recruits

205 points

California State University, Fresno

2 recruits

180 points

United States Military Academy

2 recruits

167 points

West Virginia University

2 recruits

158 points

Northwestern University

2 recruits

155 points

Utah State University

2 recruits

146 points

Boise State University

2 recruits

136 points

University of Cincinatti

2 recruits

104 points

University of Iowa

1 recruit

81 points

Appalachian State University

1 recruit

68 points

Mississippi State University

1 recruit

48 points

University of Utah

1 recruit

40 points

University of Alabama at Birmingham

1 recruit

36 points

Iowa State University

1 recruit

6 points

Remaining Scholarship

The remaining scholarship method began by looking up how many scholarships the top ranked schools (based on AP rankings at the end of the 2018-2019 season) had available for the 2019 recruiting class. The method assumes that the top recruit will go to the top school with a scholarship remaining. So for example, Clemson presumably has 23 full scholarships for the 2019 recruiting class, so the top 23 recruits "went" to Clemson.

Scholarship data is from 247 sports 2019 scholarship distribution database

Clemson University

23 recruits

6,647 points

University of Florida

25 recruits

5,800 points

University of Texas

26 recruits

4,797 points

University of Georgia

22 recruits

4,587 points

Syracuse University

26 recruits

3,679 points

University of Oklahoma

13 recruits

3,393 points

Louisiana State University

10 recruits

2,495 points

Pennsylvania State University

25 recruits

2,400 points

Texas A&M University

20 recruits

2,370 points

University of Alabama

8 recruits

2,188 points

Northwestern University

23 recruits

1,656 points

University of Washington

9 recruits

1,431 points

University of Central Florida

8 recruits

1,340 points

Boise State University

27 recruits

999 points

Utah State University

10 recruits

555 points

The Ohio State University

2 recruits

537 points

Universit of Cincinatti

16 recruits

248 points

University of Iowa

7 recruits

28 points

Remaining Money with Limitations

The limited money method of dividing the top recruits into specific colleges required the most assumptions. The main starting point was this article by Joe Nocera by the New York Times which suggests a way to start paying student-athletes. First, each team would have a salary cap of $3 million. Nocera also suggests there is a minimum salary of $25,000 per player.

Even more assumptions were made. First, the $3 million is for the whole team so each team actually only has $750,000 to spend on the 2019 recruiting class. However, it also had to be assumed that with the limitation, teams would attempt to spend this money intelligently. This lead to a few assumptions: each school would only spend half of their budget on the top 100 recruits, a school would only spend $100,000 on one recruit, a school would only spend $90,000 on one recruit, a school would only spend $80,000 on one recruit, a school would only spend $70,000 on one recruit, a school would only spend $60,000 on one recruit, a school would only spend $50,000 on one recruit, and no school would pay for more than 20 recruits from the top 300.

The last assumption was to figure out how to break down how much each player would get paid. Salaries were assumed using NFL Draft data from sportrac. The percent change in NFL draft salaries based on draft order was applied to the college athletes based on ranking starting with the assumption of a $25,000 minimum salary for the 300th recruit and then ending with a maximum salary of $100,000 for all of the recruits at or above that number.

University of Oklahoma

19 recruits

3,579 points

Clemson University

16 recruits

3,512 points

University of Notre Dame

19 recruits

3,508 points

Louisiana State University

20 recruits

3,439 points

University of Alabama

16 recruits

3,386 points

The Ohio State University

17 recruits

3,378 points

University of Florida

20 recruits

3,350 points

University of Georgia

20 recruits

3,136 points

University of Texas

20 recruits

3,076 points

Washington State University

20 recruits

2,998 points

University of Central Florida

20 recruits

2,812 points

University of Kentucky

20 recruits

2,620 points

University of Washington

20 recruits

1,181 points

University of Michigan

20 recruits

819 points

Syracuse University

19 recruits

457 points

Texas A&M University

1 recruits

285 points

Pennsylvania State University

1 recruits

284 points

Northwestern University

1 recruits

283 points

Boise State University

1 recruits

282 points

University of Iowa

1 recruits

281 points

Stanford University

1 recruits

280 points

Mississippi State University

1 recruits

279 points

University of Utah

1 recruits

278 points

University of Tennessee

1 recruits

277 points

University of Auburn

1 recruits

276 points

University of Wisconsin

1 recruits

275 points

Michigan State University

1 recruits

274 points

Florida State University

1 recruits

273 points

University of Oregon

1 recruits

272 points

Remaining Percent of Revenue

Relatively few assumptions were made for the percent of revenue method, however, it is likely the least realistic. The schools were ranked by football revenue according to data from Equity in Athletics. From here, it was assumed that schools would spend 15 percent of their football revenue on paying student athletes. The salaries were determined based on the percent differences in the NFL Draft signing bonuses according to sportrac. Beginning with the 300th recruit receiving a salary of $25,000, the large increases in NFL bonuses based on higher draft rounds means that the top recruit would be paid $7.9 million. From here, the top schools would be willing to spend on the highest remaining recruit they could afford.

The problems here include: the top salary is clearly way to high, teams would almost definitely spend their money wiser instead of spending their entire budget on the very top recruits, and the 15 percent came drastically close to profit numbers in many cases.

The Ohio State University

20 recruits

4,951 points

Florida State University

20 recruits

4,510 points

Louisiana State University

20 recruits

4,110 points

University of Florida

20 recruits

3,710 points

Pennsylvania State University

20 recruits

3,286 points

Auburn University

12 recruits

2,998 points

University of Washington

20 recruits

2,850 points

University of Wisconsin

20 recruits

2,441 points

University of Georgia

9 recruits

2,123 points

University of Arkansas

20 recruits

2,018 points

University of Oklahoma

7 recruits

1,843 points

University of Notre Dame

7 recruits

1,787 points

Texas A&M University

20 recruits

1,597 points

University of Michigan

5 recruits

1,418 points

University of Nebraska

20 recruits

1,166points

University of Texas

5 recruits

1,139 points

University of Alabama

4 recruits

1,132 points

University of Tennessee

4 recruits

943 points

University of Oregon

20 recruits

750 points

Michigan State University

20 recruits

350 points

University of Mississippi

7 recruits

28 points

Return to Home Page

How Would Parity in Recruiting Change if Student-Athletes Could be Paid?

Actual 2019 Signings

Remaining Starting Spot

Remaining Scholarship

Remaining Money with Limitations

Remaining Percent of Revenue