Blue chip (sports)

Blue chips are athletes, particularly high school players, targeted for drafting or signing by teams at the college level. Collegiate players being scouted by professional franchises may also be referred to as blue chips.

Blue chip players are those who have proven themselves to be among the best at their positions in their respective sports and are more sought after and wanted than other players. They are typically perceived as "can't miss" prospects who are desired by most organizations. Blue chip athletes are likely to have an immediate impact on teams that acquire them and have proven skills rather than speculative or untapped potential. Many top recruits eventually go on to be successful at the professional level, especially in basketball and baseball.

Blue-chip ratio in college football

In college football, the term "blue chip" is synonymous with four-star and five-star recruits. In 2013, sports writer Bud Elliott created a concept known as the "Blue-Chip Ratio" (BCR), which calculates which college football teams have enough talent to win the national championship in any given season. Essentially, the Blue-Chip Ratio is the ratio of blue chips to non-blue chips a team signs over the previous four recruiting classes. Furthermore, Elliott posits that teams need to sign more four-star and five-star recruits (blue chips) than two-star and three-star players (non-blue chips) over the previous four recruiting classes (in other words, having a BCR of at least 50%) to be able to win a national championship. Since 2011, every national champion has had a BCR of 50% or higher.

According to Elliott, the Blue-Chip Ratio has been referenced by all major broadcast networks and closely monitored by head coaches and administrators. It has also been covered by other sports writers, lending credibility to the concept.

Blue-chip ratio by year

The following are lists of all the teams that had enough talent to win the national championship (BCR of 50% or higher) in recent seasons. Teams that won the national championship are highlighted in bold.

2019

LSU won the national championship in 2019 with a BCR of 64%

• Ohio State – 81%
• Alabama – 80%
• Georgia – 79%
• LSU – 64%
• Florida State – 61%
• Clemson – 60%
• USC – 60%
• Penn State – 60%
• Michigan – 60%
• Texas – 60%
• Oklahoma – 60%
• Auburn – 58%
• Washington – 54%
• Notre Dame – 54%
• Florida – 53%
• Miami – 51%

2020

• Alabama – 83%
• Georgia – 82%
• Ohio State – 80%
• Texas – 64%
• LSU – 63%
• Oklahoma – 63%
• Clemson – 63%
• Florida – 63%
• Michigan – 59%
• Auburn – 59%
• Penn State – 59%
• Notre Dame – 56%
• Washington – 54%
• USC – 50%
• Texas A&M – 50%

2021

Georgia won the national championship in 2021 with a BCR of 80%

• Alabama – 84%
• Georgia – 80%
• Ohio State – 79%
• Clemson – 67%
• LSU – 66%
• Oklahoma – 66%
• Texas – 66%
• Florida – 66%
• Texas A&M – 61%
• Michigan – 58%
• Auburn – 56%
• Oregon – 56%
• Penn State – 56%
• Notre Dame – 55%
• Miami – 55%
• USC – 53%

2022

• Alabama – 89%
• Ohio State – 80%
• Georgia – 77%
• Oklahoma – 71%
• Texas A&M – 70%
• Texas – 68%
• LSU – 66%
• Clemson – 63%
• Notre Dame – 62%
• Florida – 60%
• Oregon – 60%
• Michigan – 59%
• Penn State – 55%
• Miami – 55%
• Auburn – 54%

2023

Michigan won the national championship in 2023 with a BCR of 54%

• Alabama – 90%
• Ohio State – 85%
• Georgia – 77%
• Texas A&M – 73%
• Clemson – 72%
• LSU – 71%
• Texas – 70%
• Oklahoma – 70%
• Oregon – 67%
• Notre Dame – 65%
• Florida – 64%
• Miami – 61%
• Penn State – 55%
• Michigan – 54%
• USC – 52%
• Auburn – 51%

2024

• Ohio State – 90%
• Alabama – 88%
• Georgia – 80%
• Texas A&M – 79%
• Oregon – 76%
• Oklahoma – 73%
• Texas – 72%
• LSU – 70%
• Notre Dame – 67%
• Clemson – 64%
• Florida – 63%
• Miami – 61%
• Penn State – 61%
• USC – 59%
• Michigan – 56%
• Auburn – 53%

See also

• Recruiting (college athletics)
• Draft bust