Wetzel: All of college football ought to cheer for Texas Tech

Last week, conscionable days aft assemblage diversion programs were capable to straight stock gross with their athletes, Felix Ojo, a five-star violative lineman from Mansfield, Texas, announced his assemblage decision. He held offers from Ohio State, Texas, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia and conscionable astir everyone else.

He chose Texas Tech.

One of the reasons was a affluent revenue-share woody with the Red Raiders that a Texas Tech root said is worthy astatine slightest $2.3 cardinal implicit 3 years but that Ojo's cause says volition warrant him astatine slightest $5.1 million.

It was a cannon changeable crossed the satellite of assemblage shot recruiting.

Guys similar Ojo, who is 6-foot-7, 285 pounds and tin move, thin to motion with prime programs. Texas Tech hasn't traditionally been 1 of them, though with wealth present connected the array to offset immoderate built-in hurdles (Lubbock's distant West Texas determination and deficiency of a nationalist rubric tradition), the Red Raiders are seemingly present to play.

This is simply a bully thing.

Not conscionable for Tech fans, but for fans of truthful galore teams similar them, not to notation assemblage shot arsenic a whole, which welcomes the caller inclination of a leveling playing tract to continue.

The champion part, astatine slightest frankincense far, is that the Red Raiders aren't unsocial arsenic an upstart programme attracting top-tier endowment retired of the Class of 2026.

Zion Elee, an borderline rusher from Baltimore who is the nation's No. 2 wide enlistee successful the 247Sports composite rankings, is staying location astatine Maryland.

Keisean Henderson, a QB from Spring, Texas, and No. 3 nationally, is committed to Houston.

Calvin Russell, a wideout from Miami, who is ranked No. 21, is pledged to Syracuse.

There is besides Ryder Lyons, a QB ranked 13th nationally, who is headed to BYU, though his Mormon religion was apt a important factor.

It is simply a continuation of the unregulated NIL epoch that saw endowment statesman to disseminate, astatine slightest a little, distant from the aforesaid fistful of teams that dominated the sport. Alabama erstwhile signed the No. 1 people successful 10 of 13 seasons.

"We decidedly saw [talent dispersion] amended since 2021. It dispersed out," said Andy Schwarz, an economist with a specialty successful assemblage athletics and a spouse astatine OSKR. "I don't deliberation we volition spot a large alteration from that satellite to this world. In the abbreviated term, we volition spot athletes attracted to the Texas Techs more. I deliberation we volition spot an betterment successful the dispersed of this year's recruiting class."

There are caveats, of course. Recruiting is an inexact science. Rosters are progressively built via the transportation portal. Oh, and the Alabamas and Ohio States volition inactive get the bulk of the champion players.

Schwarz doesn't privation to oversell this. The principles of economics suggest the interaction volition beryllium constricted and accepted schools volition larn to decently allocate their money. In presumption of really winning games, aft all, it is amended to walk connected tons of bully players than conscionable 1 oregon 2 large ones.

However, successful the past, astir each the large ones each went to the aforesaid teams arsenic well. Now, nether the House settlement, schools tin allocate up to $20.5 cardinal to their athletes successful immoderate mode they spot fit. (They could technically springiness it each to 1 player.)

That allows coaches to prioritize a circumstantial enlistee and outbid the competition. Money is seldom the lone origin successful recruiting, but it definite doesn't hurt.

In the past, schools spent a passive dollar connected things specified arsenic facilities, unit and different bells and whistles. Now it's an progressive dollar -- straight into the pouch of the player. It makes a waterfall successful the locker room, oregon an aged Heisman Trophy successful a show case, substance less.

"It makes consciousness for an up-and-comer to effort to marque a splash," Schwarz said. "It's a accidental for now, astatine slightest temporarily, for the have-nots to summation connected the haves."

Any betterment is an improvement. It whitethorn not let 50 schools to person a changeable astatine winning the championship, but it mightiness mean 10 successful a fixed year.

It doesn't adjacent mean Texas Tech is 1 of those 10. Each elite subordinate that goes to Lubbock, however, oregon determination different than Alabama and Georgia, is 1 little subordinate stocking those rosters.

Consider that from 2018 to 2025, the Tide and Dawgs fundamentally priced themselves retired of recruiting three-star players. Bama signed an mean of conscionable 2.9 a year. UGA was astatine 3.5. This year, Georgia already has 7 three-stars committed, and Alabama six. They volition inactive apt fertile among the apical 5 classes nationally overall, but the spread is smaller arsenic they dip deeper into the precocious schoolhouse rankings.

The NCAA spent millions successful ineligible fees warring this, shouting astir the ruination of the crippled by claiming "competitive balance" would beryllium destroyed. What is playing retired is thing rather different, if not wholly other of the predictions.

Texas Tech conscionable landed a five-star violative lineman. You don't person to beryllium a Red Raiders instrumentality to cheer for that.