The two teams set to play for the College Football Playoff national championship could not have built their rosters in more different ways. No. 1 Indiana is an upstart program led by a coach who maximizes the production of former overlooked recruits. No. 10 Miami, by contrast, is stocked with some of the most highly touted prospects from recent recruiting cycles.
The common thread between the Hoosiers and Hurricanes is extensive use of the transfer portal over the past two years. Even then, the approaches diverged. Curt Cignetti brought with him a wave of former Group of Five standouts from James Madison, while Mario Cristobal invested heavily in the top end of the transfer market, including $4 million quarterback Carson Beck.
Such is the modern reality of college football, where two teams can reach the sport’s summit with vastly different roster-building philosophies. The transfer portal has become such an equalizer that Indiana stands one win away from becoming the first team to defy the Blue-Chip Ratio — and could do so against one of the nation’s premier recruiting powers.
Here is how the two remaining CFP teams constructed their rosters.
Indiana Hoosiers
247Sports Team Talent Composite: No. 72
Composite five-star recruits: 0
Meets Blue-Chip Ratio? No
Every modern national champion signed more four- and five-star recruits than non-blue-chip prospects over the four-year span prior to winning a title. By the Blue-Chip Ratio’s conventional wisdom, Indiana has no business contending for a national championship. Yet the Hoosiers are favored by more than a touchdown despite rostering just seven former four-star prospects. When Fernando Mendoza refers to himself and his teammates as a “band of misfits,” he is not exaggerating.
Curt Cignetti and his staff have built a program so rooted in culture and schematic precision that the talent gap between Indiana and the rest of the playoff field has appeared nonexistent. At times, it has even looked as though the Hoosiers possessed the clear advantage.
Continuity has played a major role in Cignetti’s ability to hit the ground running during back-to-back, remarkable seasons. He brought 13 players with him from James Madison, many of whom remain among the most important contributors on the roster. Elijah Sarratt, Aiden Fisher, D’Angelo Ponds, Mikail Kamara and Kaelon Black are all former Dukes.
For the most part, Indiana added unheralded transfers and developed them into All-Big Ten standouts. The program also made significant financial commitments over the past two years, paving the way for several high-end additions. Winning a recruiting battle for an eventual Heisman Trophy winner in Mendoza — particularly against quarterback-needy programs — is not a cost-free endeavor. Indiana’s willingness to invest in the NIL and revenue-sharing era has positioned the Hoosiers to remain relevant beyond 2025.
Player development has also allowed the Indiana staff to elevate inherited talent from the Tom Allen era. Rolijah Hardy, an unranked high school recruit, now leads the Hoosiers with 98 tackles and ranks among the conference’s most disruptive defenders with 15 tackles for loss and eight sacks.
Everything must align for a program to achieve this level of dominance without an elite recruiting pedigree. What is unfolding in Bloomington is rare.
Three key Indiana players as recruitsOL Carter Smith (2022): 4-Star, No. 207 overall, No. 19 OTLB Rolijah Hardy (2024): UnrankedLB Isaiah Jones (2022): 3-Star, No. 56 LBThree key Indiana players as transfersQB Fernando Mendoza (2025): 4-Star via California, No. 22 overall, No. 4 QBWR Elijah Sarratt (2024): 4-Star via James Madison, No. 165 overall, No. 32 WRLB Aiden Fisher (2024): 3-Star via James Madison, No. 800 overall, No. 64 LB
Miami Hurricanes
247Sports Team Talent Composite: No. 15
Composite five-star recruits: 5
Meets Blue-Chip Ratio? Yes (64%)
Miami fits the profile of a more conventional national championship contender, with a long-standing reputation as one of the sport’s premier talent acquirers. Since Mario Cristobal arrived ahead of the 2022 season, the Hurricanes have not signed a recruiting class ranked lower than No. 16 nationally, nor have any of their transfer classes finished outside the top 12. More often than not, Miami has operated as a top-10 program on the recruiting trail.
In hindsight, it was only a matter of time before the Hurricanes broke through and re-established themselves as legitimate title contenders. Many of Cristobal’s early top-end recruits developed as hoped and now rank among the best players at their positions nationally. That group is led by All-Americans Francis Mauigoa and Rueben Bain Jr., both of whom were top-75 prospects when they signed early in Cristobal’s tenure.
What has further separated Miami from other recruiting powers — and proved critical in its run to the national championship game — has been its early and aggressive usage of the transfer portal as a tool for acquiring elite playmakers. The Hurricanes invested heavily in the portal immediately upon Cristobal’s arrival and have continued to do so. With top-tier resources, Miami has consistently addressed roster needs with the best available talent, most notably last offseason when it overhauled its defensive backfield with additions such as Keionte Scott, Xavier Lucas and Zechariah Poyser, along with several rotational pieces — all four-star transfers.
Addressing the roster’s most glaring weakness in a single portal cycle allowed Miami to pair a veteran core along both lines of scrimmage with a lineup that features few, if any, obvious deficiencies.
The result is the most complete team Cristobal has assembled during his tenure in Coral Gables.
Three key Miami players as recruitsOL Francis Mauigoa (2023): 5-Star, No. 6 overall, No. 2 OTDL Rueben Bain Jr. (2023): 4-Star, No. 71 overall, No. 10 EDGERB Mark Fletcher (2023): 4-Star, No. 100 overall, No. 6 RBThree key Miami players as transfersQB Carson Beck (2025): 4-Star via Georgia, No. 4 overall, No. 2 QBDL Akheem Mesidor (2022): 4-Star via West Virginia, No. 31 overall, No. 3 DLDB Keionte Scott (2025): 3-Star via Auburn, No. 715 overall, No. 85 CB