Oklahoma football talent among very best in country, according to 247Sports
By Chip Rouse
The Oklahoma football program will enter the 2023 season as one of a select group of teams that are capable of competing for a national championship.
That’s according to 247Sports, which bases the determination on a measurement tool it calls the “Blue-Chip Ratio.” The BCR, as defined by 247Sports, is a “recruiting metric that measures the overall talent of a team’s roster by determining the percentage of five- and four-star recruits signed over a four-year period compared to two- and three-star signees.”
Transfers are not factored into the Blue-Chip Ratio formula, only junior-college and high-school recruits are considered. The Blue-Chip Ratio was created a decade ago by Bud Elliott, a 247Sports analytical expert. The theory behind it is fairly simple: the teams that consistently acquire the best talent are the one in best position to contend for conference championships and the even higher prize of the national championship.
Applying this formula, Elliot lists Oklahoma as one of 16 teams that can actually win the national championship in 2023. The Sooners are tied for 7th with Texas, both with 70 percent of their roster over the past four years made up of five and/or four-star recruits, per the 247Sports Player Composite, which combines the player talent rating provided by 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN.
The top-five teams for 2023, based on the BCR, are Alabama (90 percent), Ohio State (85), Georgia (77), Texas A&M and Clemson. LSU (71) is 6th, just ahead of the Sooners and Longhorns.
The composition of this year’s BCR list offers some perspective on the talent wars OU and Texas are getting into when they join the SEC in 2024. Four of the top seven are SEC teams.
As a disclaimer, Elliott points out that while the “Blue-Chip Ratio threshold does not guarantee a national championship, a team not meeting it is almost certainly guaranteed not to win it all.”
Transfers are not included in the BCR, but if they were, Oklahoma’s ratio for 2023 would fall to 61 percent, which would drop them to No. 11.