Biggest college football underachievers based on 5-star recruits over last six cycles

We are firmly in the heart of the college football offseason. The College Football Playoff is in the rearview mirror and spring practice is several weeks off in the distance. This is the time of the year where college football diehards find new and creative ways to entertain themselves. Fortunately, they always do a great job of this. All it takes is one article or one social media message to get us going.

I came across Grant Hughes' article from 247Sports about what college football programs have landed the most five-star signees since 2020. Upon seeing the list, I started to wonder of the 10 teams Hughes had listed which ones got the most out of their talent, and who all underachieved. Keep in mind we have only crowned five national champions since the 2020 recruiting class signed.

Here are the top 10 college football programs who have signed the most five-star players since 2020.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide: 29
2. Georgia Bulldogs: 25
3. Ohio State Buckeyes: 19
4. Texas Longhorns: 17
5. Texas A&M Aggies: 15
6. Clemson Tigers: 13
7. LSU Tigers: 10
8. Oregon Ducks: 8
9. Miami Hurricanes: 7
10. Oklahoma Sooners: 6

As you can see, teams like Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State who have all won national titles since 2020 are right at the top of this list. While Alabama has not won one since 2020, it is hard to argue that they are an underachiever. Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State have all made the playoff multiple times since the 2020 college football season. But what about the other seven teams on this list?

I will now try to identify what college football programs have squandered the most amount of talent.

What college football programs have wasted the most five-star talent?

Of the teams ranked No. 4 to No. 10, only Texas, Clemson and Oregon have made the playoff since 2020. Texas has made it the last two years. Clemson made it in 2020 and this past season. Oregon ended a decade-long playoff absence by making it this past year. Texas A&M and Miami have never made it. LSU and Oklahoma both last made it in 2019, which was the only time LSU has ever made it.

So I think we really need to look at the last four teams I rattled off in terms of being the greatest five-star underachievers when it comes to the last six recruiting cycles. Between LSU, Miami, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, I would pound the table that Texas A&M has been the biggest five-star underachiever since 2020. It is not even close. The gap between them and the team I have at No. 2 is gargantuan!

For the time being, here is how I would rank these 10 teams based on five-star underachievement.

1. Texas A&M Aggies: 15
2. LSU Tigers: 10
3. Oklahoma Sooners: 6
4. Miami Hurricanes: 7
5. Oregon Ducks: 8
6. Clemson Tigers: 13
7. Texas Longhorns: 17
8. Alabama Crimson Tide: 29
9. Ohio State Buckeyes: 19
10. Georgia Bulldogs: 25

Texas A&M is an obvious choice for being the biggest five-star underachiever. The Aggies have landed the fifth most five-stars with 15, but have not even come close to making the playoff. As far as No. 2 is concerned, I went with LSU with 10 five-stars because outside of the magnificent 2019 season that predates this talent accumulation period, LSU has been a bit too chaotic for my taste.

At No. 3, I went with Oklahoma, who has fallen on hard times in the wake of Lincoln Riley's exodus to USC. Like LSU, this is a traditional power, but has largely been passed by other more well-run programs of late. Miami comes in at No. 4 because recruiting has never been the issue. This program has largely been a disappointment ever since leaving the Big East for the ACC two decades ago.

After that, Oregon comes in at No. 5 because while the Ducks land a fair amount of five-stars, the playoff sucess has not been there. For as much praise and notoriety Oregon gets as a program, the Ducks are 1-2 in three playoff games in program history. The Ducks have never won a national title before. They need to prove they belong with the teams who have made the playoff multiple times.

As far as having Clemson, Texas, Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia rounding out the list, it is hard to argue that any of them have really underachieved. Clemson probably needs to win another national championship soon. The same principle applies to Texas. Nobody should be complaining about Ohio State or Georgia. As far as Texas is concerned, the Longhorns have really come on. They are up next.

It is also interesting that great programs like Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State are not listed here.