College football’s version of the Final Four have outlasted the holiday season and found their way into January because they have balanced rosters with talent everywhere.

But Texas, Ohio State, Penn State and Notre Dame still carry national championship dreams because they also have plenty of star power.

They have elite playmakers who are difference-makers, and they’ll have the grandest stage come next Thursday and Friday when the College Football Playoff semifinals kick off in Miami and Arlington, Texas. These standouts fill all 4 rosters, but who are the elite among the Final Four elite?

We’re going to really narrow it down and give you our top 10 players in the CFP semifinals, and we’ll go in descending order right down to the very best one:

10. Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame running back

Look, there could be a host of other quality running backs from the other 3 semifinal teams in this very spot. For Ohio State, either Quinshon Judkins or TreVeyon Henderson. For Penn State, either Kaytron Allen or Nick Singleton. For Texas, either Quintrevion Wisner or Jaydon Blue. But we’re going to give Love the love, with his 1,076 yards rushing on just 148 carries because he’s shared the backfield with the equally electrifying Jadarian Price, who had almost as many carries with 110.

And when you factor in that Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard has 149 carries this season, 1 more than Love, well, you can only imagine the numbers Love could’ve put up without being in such a crowded (and talented) backfield. Despite all that and a knee injury that flared up again against Georgia, Love has made the most of his moments. He’s averaged a whopping 7.3 yards per carry. And he’s got 16 touchdowns, including that 98-yard TD gallop that got the Irish’s Playoff push off and running in the 1st quarter against Indiana.

9. Caleb Downs, Ohio State safety

It’s incredible to think that Downs is only a sophomore, because he has accomplished so much in so many places in so little time, right? At about this time last season, Downs was trying to will Alabama into the national title game, and he darn near did as a freshman. After heading north to Columbus, Downs has had a similarly huge impact, and here he is again as a defensive centerpiece of 1 of the last 4 teams standing for the 2nd time in his 2 collegiate seasons.

Pretty amazing, right? Downs has 71 tackles (39 solo) and counting this season, and he was named Ohio State’s 34th unanimous All-American last month after being a 2nd-team All-American selection as a freshman at Alabama in 2023.

8. Anthony Hill Jr., Texas linebacker

Another sophomore sensation (and another defensive player), Hill has quickly developed into a tackling machine for one of the best defenses in the country. He has a whopping 107 tackles this season, 55 of them solo, and that ridiculous number will certainly rise next Friday when the Longhorns square off with Ohio State in the semifinals. Hill stuffs the run, he swallows the quarterback (7.5 sacks this season) and he creates turnovers, too, with 4 forced fumbles and 1 interception.

He does it all, and Hill was named a Freshman All-American in 2023 before coming this past fall and adding 40 tackles (so far) to the 67 he piled up as a freshman in Austin. He’s in the middle of everything, literally, for a defense that has handled everybody except Georgia this season. And Georgia isn’t around anymore.

7. Xavier Watts, Notre Dame safety

Just like Carter is a difference-maker in the trenches for Penn State’s defense, Watt is exactly that on the back end of Notre Dame’s elite defensive unit. He captured the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s best defensive player — last season, as a junior. That’s how good Watts is, and he followed that up with a sensational senior year that raged on into early January with him being named the Defensive MVP of the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal victory over Georgia.

Watts was an All-American last season and again this season. He’s the leader and backbone of a relentless defense that helped author Notre Dame’s biggest statement victory in a generation. Watts has 42 solo tackles from the safety position, which tells you how impactful he is, and he has 6 interceptions this season (so far, at least) after having 7 in 2023.

6. Will Howard, Ohio State quarterback

Finally, another offensive player on this list, which tells you how lethal all 4 of these defenses are. And ranking Howard in this spot is also a result of how lethal he’s playing right now, as the ringleader of an offense that has suddenly caught fire during this Playoff run, hanging 41 on top-seeded Oregon after putting up 42 against Tennessee. Howard toiled for years at Kansas State without a sniff of a stage like this one, so he transferred to Ohio State for exactly this chance, and he is making it count in the biggest of ways.

Yeah, Howard has thrown for almost 3,500 yards this season with 32 touchdowns. But in the Playoff blowouts of Tennessee and Oregon, the senior completed a combined 41-of-55 passes, threw for mor than 300 yards in both games and tossed 5 touchdowns with just 1 interception. His QBRs in those 2 games were 98.7 and 97.7. He’s playing elite ball at the biggest time, and he can smell the finish line in Atlanta.

5. Abdul Carter, Penn State defensive end

This is a complicated one, as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and All-American is as elite as it gets. But he’s also hurt now. Carter suffered an apparent right arm injury in the first half of the Nittany Lions’ Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal win on New Year’s Eve. He didn’t return to the game, and there will be endless speculation about Carter’s status for the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame until we hear otherwise from James Franklin.

Carter is a 6-foot-3, 259-pound creator of havoc in the backfield, and assuming he gives it a go as is the hope in Happy Valley, then he absolutely belongs firmly on this list. Of Carter’s 63 tackles this season, an eye-popping 40 of them are solo, and Carter has piled up 11 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in an absolutely dominant season. Look, if he were injured badly enough against Boise State, Carter would’ve already been ruled out for the semifinals by now. But he hasn’t been, so we’re going to cling to the belief that he’ll suit up in Miami.

4. Jahdae Barron, Texas cornerback

Barron was born in Austin, so he truly bleeds burnt orange, and now as a 5th-year senior he achieved the ultimate last month by winning the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back. Barron led the SEC in interceptions in 2024 with 5 in his 1st season as an SEC player, which further validated his status as not only one of the elite defensive backs but one of the best players in the country.

The Longhorns’ defense has dominant playmakers at every level, and Barron is a beast of a shutdown corner who was named the Peach Bowl Defensive MVP in Texas’s double-overtime quarterfinal victory over Arizona State. Barron had 11 total tackles, 7 of them solo. He’ll be tested way more severely in the semifinals against Ohio State, and nobody should bet against him.

3. Tyler Warren, Penn State tight end

The 6-foot-6 senior bulldozer is going to make some NFL team very happy this spring. For now, he’s got the Nittany Lions 2 wins from their 1st national title since 1986, as Big Ten defenses were helpless in trying to contain him this season. Warren combined for 10 catches in Penn State’s 2 Playoff wins, and he found the end zone twice in the quarterfinal victory over Boise State.

Warren is the personification of Penn State toughness, and he’s got a list of school and Big Ten records from his historic season to prove it. In an overtime victory at USC on Oct. 12 that probably saved the Nittany Lions from ultimately being left out of the Playoff, Warren went wild with 17 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown grab on a trick play that began with him snapping the ball. His talent knows no bounds.

2. Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas offensive tackle

Banks is a really big man who needed a really big trophy case to fit all the hardware he earned this season. The mammoth left tackle who has been a rock for Steve Sarkisian for the past 3 seasons brought it all together in 2024, capturing the Lombardi Award, the Outland Trophy and the SEC Jacobs Blocking Trophy while being named a unanimous First-Team All-American. The Humble, Texas, native stayed in his home state and has become a Longhorns legend, and he’s not quite done yet.

The 6-foot-4, 320-pounder has seen his NFL Draft stock go through the roof, one dominant performance and one award at a time. But right now, it’s all about the Playoff, and Banks’ ability to influence a game is probably as great as anyone lining up for the 4 remaining teams. He’s that special.

1. Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State wide receiver

Yes, we’re allowed to have a freshman who just turned 19 a little over a month ago be the top dog on this list of stars. Because Smith has already become a star during 1 record-shattering season in Columbus that is still very much alive. The South Florida native started strongly in 2024 and never took his foot off the gas, and the pressure cooker that comes with being an Ohio State player at Playoff time hasn’t made Smith flinch one bit.

Instead, after catching 57 passes and 10 touchdowns during a remarkable regular season, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound phenom has taken his game to a whole different level during Playoff wins over Tennessee and Oregon. In the 2 games with everything on the line, all Smith has done is catch a combined 13 passes for 290 yards and 4 TDs, scoring twice in each game. He’s a true freshman who has grabbed college football’s full attention, and at this moment he belongs at the top of this prestigious list.