NCAA football team rankings based on 3-star recruits
Scouting isn’t exact. It’s far from perfect; frequently touching on baseball numbers where three hits out of 10 misses is considered a remarkable effort. And in the high school football world, you only need to look back to 2010 to see the proof—when a prospect named Aaron Donald was given a 3-star rating.
The rating came about due to Darnold’s build not fitting an interior lineman or defensive end. But Pitt signed the local product, and he made next-level efforts to become a 3-tech behemoth.
And now, he leaves NFL quarterbacks and defensive coordinators seeing thousands of stars…
With that in mind, we’re looking at 247Sports’ 2023 Recruit Football Team Composite Rankings and breaking down the latest update to see which programs have received the most 3-star commits from the class.
Diamonds in the rough? The cliche of work ethic and growth spurts abound, these are the tops in NCAA D-1 football.
(Note: Ties have been separated by overall ranking. Updated as of May 17, 2022.)
Related: Early USA TODAY High School Sports Recruiting Rankings: Top 50 of 2023
1. Texas Tech — 13
(John Moore/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal via AP)
Overall Ranking: 2nd
2. Northwestern — 10
(Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports)
Overall Ranking: 10th
3. Colorado — 10
(Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)
Overall Ranking: 13th
4. Penn State — 8
(USA TODAY Network)
Overall Ranking: 3rd
5. Arkansas — 7
(Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports)
Overall Ranking: 6th
6. Baylor — 7
(Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports)
Overall Ranking: 11th
7. Iowa — 7
(USA TODAY Network)
Overall Ranking: 17th
8. Wake Forest — 7
(Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union)
Overall Ranking: 21st
9. Minnesota — 7
(Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports)
Overall Ranking: 22nd
10. Virginia Tech — 7
(AP Photo/Barry Reeger)
Overall Ranking: 25th
11. Louisville — 6
(USA TODAY Network)
Overall Ranking: 9th
12. Cincinnati — 6
(USA TODAY Network)
Overall Ranking: 12th
13. West Virgina — 6
(Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports)
Overall Ranking: 27th
14. Boston College — 6
(Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)
Overall Ranking: 28th
15. Oklahoma State — 6
(USA TODAY Network)
Overall Ranking: 29th
Notable programs with 5
(USA TODAY Network)
Tennessee — Overall Ranking: 7th.
Kentucky — Overall Ranking: 24th
UCF — Overall Ranking: 26th.
Nebraska — Overall Ranking: 34th.
Notable programs with 4
(USA TODAY Network)
Michigan — Overall Ranking: 20th.
Miami (Fla.) — Overall Ranking: 31st.
Wisconsin — Overall Ranking: 40th.
