You can throw out all these numbers, but if you compare BCS Championships, not to mention head to head match ups, big games, these all clearly favor LSU. The recruiting rankings I have always thought were pretty arbitrary. Tyrann Mathieu was maybe a two star prospect and ended up being a Hesiman Finalist. LSU does a very good job developing talent that goes on and excels at the next level. Sadly, this means that the school has sort of turned into the Kentucky of college football.
But back to ohio state...
Ohio State has 6 BCS wins, and that doesn't include the taken away beat-down of a 1-loss Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. How many does LSU have? Ohio State has the record for most players taken in the draft in 2004, with 14 picks. I'm not saying LSU isn't prestigious, their draft class last year was insane, but Ohio State is no slouch. Again, Tressel had the most players picked in the NFL draft over his tenure at tOSU. The NFL is the ultimate judge of talent...they're saying Ohio State is pretty good at collecting and developing it.
Unfortunately, OSU dipped off in 2012 and 2013 as they worked through the Tressel mess, player attrition, and just an overall decline in defensive production. Meyer has recruited the hell out of the country though, better than LSU according to "recruiting experts" and we'll be right back in the mix for NFL talent.