What team in the playoff spent a ton in NIL and got significantly better as a result?
Boise is performing about as well as always.
Arizona State spends almost exactly the same amount that we do.
Indiana spends a surprisingly large amount (more than Oregon, even), but I question how much of their success this year is a result of NIL and how much of it is a result of the fact that they have yet to beat a ranked opponent (at any point) this season. In fact, they have 1 win over a team that finished above .500.
SMU is a giant unknown, since they don't publish much about their NIL. All we know for certain is that the Boulevard Collective pays all SMU athletics 3.5 million. However, nearly every single key player SMU has playing for them this year, they recruited and developed.
Penn State, Oregon, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Clemson, Texas, etc all wouldn't be surprising to see in the playoff, NIL or no NIL.
My point is that we have got to stop just assuming that because a team spends more, they're going to get better and perform better. There's still so much at play here, including developing that talent and coaching it during the season. Proof? We paid a substantial bag to a lot of players this past season and we lost 7 more games than the year prior.