Football is a game of strategy, energy and effort. But, when it comes down to it, the old coaching phrase rings true: It’s about who you got.

Recruiting, and in extension, talent, is the name of the game in college football. With that in mind, 247Sports introduces the College Football Team Talent Composite for 2017. The rankings are a way to quantify talent on each FBS roster based on a team’s recruiting results – and if you don’t think that matters, you’re just wrong.

The Top 5: No Real Surprises

Shocker here, but the four of the five most talented teams in the country are the same four teams that sit atop the AP Preseason Top25. Alabama is No. 1, followed by No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 USC. Georgia surged from No. 6 a year ago to fourth. Florida State, a popular ACC pick, sits at fifth.

Alabama has earned seven straight top-ranked recruiting classes, so its place at No. 1 is no surprise. Neither are the Crimson Tide’s results during that period: three national titles, four national title game appearances and seven double-digit win seasons. The Tide has a whopping 18 former five-stars on their roster and totals out at 995.81 points, 13 points better than their 2016 Team Talent Composite score.

A look at the 3-year trend of the Team Talent Composite's Top 10.

Ohio State is not much different. The Buckeyes have recruited at another level since Urban Meyer arrived at the school, and they have a national title, two College Football Playoff appearances and a 61-6 overall record to show for it. The Buckeyes, with total 955.51 points, have more four-star recruits on their roster than anybody (56).

In the three-year history of the Team Talent Composite, the USC Trojans have always been in the top-3. Based on that, they've been underachievers, but things appear to be changing. They won 10 straight games to finish the 2016 season, and quarterback Sam Darnold is a Heisman Trophy favorite. USC has 934 points, a two-point decrease from their 2016 score.

The Bulldogs have 11 former five-star recruits on their roster, more than anybody not named Alabama. Kirby Smart & Co. added three such prospects to their team this offseason.

As for Florida State, the Seminoles grade out with 924.97 points and 10 five-star recruits; the latter mark is more than No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 USC. Despite slipping in the Team Talent Composite rankings, Florida State in fact has a much higher score than it did in 2016 (902.46).

Trending Up

- Mark Richt always recruited well at Georgia, but Kirby Smart showed an ability to do so at a different level last year, inking the nation’s third-ranked class. That group has jumped the Bulldogs to the Top 4 of the overall talent rankings. It's interesting to note that Georgia has three former five-star running backs on its roster (it added De'Andre Swift in 2017), but just two total five-star linemen (DT Trent Thompson and OL Isaiah Wilson).

Scoring two TDs vs. Rice, 2017's No. 1 TE Colby Parksinson is already impressing

- Stanford should be a hard place to recruit to because of its academic rigors. But David Shaw has had no issues acquiring talent. Last year, the Cardinal signed two five-star tackles, the nation’s top-ranked QB and TE to go along with a small but quality group of 14, which incidentally ranked No. 14 overall. With those additions, Stanford’s team talent ranking has jumped from No. 17 to No. 14. Stanford's total points jumped from 778 to 810.

- D.J. Durkin has done some good at Maryland. The Terps reached a bowl a year ago and also signed a Top 25 class. The result? Maryland is now No. 28 in the Team Talent Composite rankings after sitting at No. 34 a year ago.

Trending Down

- There will likely be a more dramatic drop represented next year, but Ole Miss is trending down. It signed the nation’s No. 31 overall class last year, which is a significant drop from what Hugh Freeze did early in his tenure. The Rebels ranked No. 15 a year ago in team talent but sit at No. 17 this season.

- 2016 was a rough year for Michigan State on and off the field, and that’s reflected in the Team Talent Composite. The Spartans signed one of their worst classes in recent memory (36th nationally) and saw a number of talented players booted from the program. The result is a drop from No. 22 to No. 30 in the Team Talent Composite.

Overachievers

- The Nittany Lions won the Big Ten a year ago at No. 20 in the Team Talent Composite ranking. Up incrementally to No. 19 in 2017, the underachiever label won’t last much longer for James Franklin and company. But, at least for now, Penn State is doing more with less compared to its Big Ten East rivals Ohio State (second) and Michigan (seventh).

Few have mastered the "more with less" thing better than Mike Gundy

- Oklahoma State and Oklahoma both belong on this list. But at 37th, which ranks fifth in the Big 12, the Cowboys get the nod. Mike Gundy has shown a penchant for developing talent that fits his system, and that’s very much the case heading into 2017. For instance, James Washington is a preseason All-American. He also ranked as a three-star recruit in the industry rankings (247Sports did peg him as a four-star).

- Washington made the College Football Playoff a year ago, and their team talent ranking slotted them at 25th this year. Chris Peterson lands his share of stud recruits, but he might do more with less than any coach in the country dating back to his Boise State days.

- A shoutout to Louisville. Yes, it helps when you have a Heisman winner under center — and in the College Top247, we do rank Lamar Jackson as the No. 1 player in America. But the Cardinals' 2016 team ranked just 32nd in the Team Talent Composite. Louisville might have finished slow – three straight losses – but this is still a team that won nine games, including a decimation of Florida State.

- Finally, Wisconsin has to make this list. Entering 2017 the Badgers are a trendy pick to win the Big Ten, but they rank just 38th in the Team Talent Composite. Last year, Wisconsin ranked 37th. The Badgers have been to the Big Ten title game four times in six years.

Underachievers

- Despite a Top 10 talent-ranking each year, the Auburn Tigers have won eight or fewer games each of the last three seasons. Can Jarrett Stidham help Gus Malzahn turn things around?

- LSU has national-title level talent at No. 6 overall. But the Tigers also haven’t won more than 10 in a single season since 2011. Ed Orgeron impressed in his interim stint a year ago. Now it’s time to see if he can turn premium ingredients into a championship product.

- And continuing in our stop through the SEC, Georgia has plenty to prove at in its fourth slot. Smart got a bit of a pass in Year 1 as the Bulldogs went 8-5. But with as much talent as they have returning, that type of performance won’t cut it in Year 2.

- Let’s just lump a few other teams together: No. 10 Notre Dame, No. 11 UCLA and No. 13 Texas. Those three teams have one thing in common from a year ago – a losing record. Teams with as much history and talent as those three shouldn’t have losing seasons. But here we are.