Homegrown Talent Matters in College Football

In an era dominated by the transfer portal and annual roster reconstruction, homegrown talent still matters in college football. Building from within state borders is no longer a realistic blueprint for everyone, especially when proven starters can be acquired overnight and recruiting footprints stretch nationwide. However, for programs planted in talent-rich areas with abundant resources, protecting the backyard remains one of the clearest paths to sustained success.

The teams with the most in-state players on their rosters have turned familiarity into an advantage, stacking local prospects who understand the program, the rivalry stakes, and what winning means in that region. Some benefit from geography, while others have simply recruited their own states better than everyone else.

According to a preseason data study by Rotowire across all 138 FBS programs, 2026 rosters are 32.2% homegrown on average. For this exercise, ‘homegrown’ refers to players whose identified hometowns are in the same state as their school. This includes transfer acquisitions.

College Football’s FBS Leaders in Homegrown Talent

1. San Jose State (Mountain West) – 64.8% homegrown

2. TCU (Big 12) – 72.6% homegrown

3. Texas Tech (Big 12) – 64.8% homegrown

4. Baylor (Big 12) – 62.1% homegrown

5. Houston (American Athletic Conference) – 61.9% homegrown

6. North Texas (Conference USA) – 61.3% homegrown

7. Louisiana (Sun Belt Conference) – 60.9% homegrown

8. Georgia (Southeastern Conference) – 85.3% homegrown

9. Texas State (Sun Belt Conference) – 59.1% homegrown

10. Fresno State (Mountain West) – 58.5% homegrown

11. San Diego State (Mountain West) – 57.4% homegrown

12. Sacramento State (Big Sky Conference) – 56.3% homegrown

13. Oregon (Pac-12 Conference) – 13.6% homegrown

14. Notre Dame (Independent) – 10.6% homegrown

15. Boise State (Mountain West) – 56.2% homegrown

Other notable teams in the top 15 include Alabama (Southeastern Conference) at 12th with 55.6% homegrown and Florida (Southeastern Conference) at 21st with 54.1% homegrown.

Homegrown Talent by FBS Conference

Conference brand doesn’t necessarily correlate to a local roster, but geographical significance plays a role. The newly formed Pac-12 leads nationally in localized recruiting, with 36.3% of all rosters consisting of homegrown talent.

Part of the reason the Mountain West is at the bottom of the homegrown rankings is that Air Force, Hawaii, and Wyoming bring down its average. Hawaii is 138th nationally in homegrown talent at less than 1%, while Air Force comes in tied at No. 131 at 8.5% of its roster and Wyoming at No. 129 (9.8%).

Another service academy, Army, ranks second-lowest with an average at 1%, given its recruiting extremes.

The Big Ten sits at the bottom of college football in homegrown roster talent, averaging 30.3% per school. The league’s footprint stretches from coast to coast, and several programs operate in states that do not produce enough Power Four prospects to fill elite-level rosters.

Even blue-blood brands like Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State routinely build beyond their borders because their reach allows it. The conference’s recent expansion creates a misleading comparison, combining wildly different recruiting regions under one umbrella.