On basketball, there are 5 guys on the court at a time. Realistically, teams have a 9 guy rotation or so. Can those guys punch above their weight? Absolutely, especially if the P4 team has a bad night. What’s more, if you have an underrated guy that’s actually good, he has way more of an impact on the court.

In football, there are 22 starters, let alone backups. Will a Marshall type team have a legit starter or two who could play at Ohio State? Sure. But there are still 20 other crappy guys playing against Ohio State’s blue chip recruits. Because there are so many positions to fill, it’s harder for one outlier to make a difference.