Retaining rosters is more expensive than portal and high school combined.
If you’re going to pursue productive, proven players from the portal, you need plenty of capital. That said, LSU is doing okay in the portal and they’re relatively poor. When you get below the very elite in the portal, the numbers appear to come off pretty quickly
Some programs are betting more on projects or failing pedigree or G5 and FCS players. That route isn’t expensive at all.
As in high school recruiting, some idiot with a lot of money can impact various recruitments. The DT from UCF is a good player, just like Damonic Williams was a good player. Neither guy is worth $1M+ and there are others near their replacement values or that can be combined to get to replacement value who cost a fraction of their numbers.
Oregon spent big on positions of need last year, wiping everyone else out. Some of those guys hit and will be high draft picks. That’s a level above what the idiots at Tech and LSU and OU have tried.