It is a new era of college football, yet one coach claims winning to still be the ultimate reason in luring top-rated recruits.

Even though Ryan Day and his fourth-ranked undefeated Ohio Sate Buckeyes are comprised of a roster that is being compensated “around $20 million”, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule doesn’t believe it’s the NIL and dollar signs that are attracting the country’s top players to Columbus.

Ohio State’s athletic director, Ross Bjork, claimed players received ‘around $20 million’ in totalOhio State Athletics

He believes it’s good old fashioned winning.

Speaking to the media this past week, Rhule credited Ohio State’s long history of winning to be the reason why the cupboard is never bare with talent in Columbus.

“I want to first give credit to Ryan Day in that those guys are at Ohio State because Ohio State wins,” Rhule said.

“Players want to go to a winner. While there is an NIL component to everybody, Ryan’s won. Urban won. Jim Tressel won.

“Ohio State’s won a ton, so kids want to go be a part of one of the best programs in the country.

“Best receiving corps over the last however many years. All first-round quarterbacks.

While Rhule notes NIL is certainly a factor, he isn’t buying that it’s the only factor.

The Nebraska head coach believes if they start winning like Ohio State has, then they will start to see elite-level talent come to Lincoln.

“To me, Ohio State’s roster is not about NIL,” Rhule said.

“It’s about guys saying, ‘Hey, I want to go play at a place that competes for championships.’

Nebraska’s starting quarterback, Dylan Raiola, has an NIL valuation of $1.3 millionGetty

“For us to get to that point, we’ve got to win enough to justify players taking a chance on us until we’re at the top of the mountain and then everyone wants to come.”

Luckily for Rhule, the Cornhuskers’ starting quarterback, Dylan Raiola, did take a chance on them.

The five-star freshman arrived on campus amidst a tidal wave of hype, while rocking an eerily Mahomes-esque look to him.

The results so far have been uneven, as it is with most freshman.

Raiola has Nebraska sitting at 5-2 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

While Rhule believes winning will attract the top players, Raiola’s NIL valuation according to On3, is a whopping $1.3 million.

Not bad for a freshman.

Not bad for a program that has been largely irrelevant for the better part of a decade and was able to pull off the unexpected feat of landing such a highly touted talent from under the noses of another winning programme – Georgia.

That probably has more to do with the dollar signs, than the winning at Nebraska.

Or lack thereof.

No matter what Rhule believes, because at the end of the day, everybody has a price.