This is just not true, man. Look at how much Texas has spent. Not trying to talk shit here, UT fans, y'all are just the most pertinent example right now.
Like yes, obviously paying a premium for top talent is important, but it's only one piece of the puzzle. Talent evaluation, roster construction and cohesion are extremely critical and Tech seems to have hit on all 3.
We identified the holes in our roster and filled pretty much all of them with very good players, by all reports there are zero locker room issues and this team really enjoys playing with each other. No one's ego is getting in the way.
For all the flak Joey McGuire gets around here, and I certainly have had a number of issues with him (mainly focus and discipline, penalties continue to be a problem at times), the one thing he is really good at is getting all of his players to buy in and put the team ahead of themselves. Everything you hear out of the program is team, team, team.
None of that happens simply by throwing money at the problem.