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The Ultimate ESPN 300 is RecruitingNation's ranking of the best prospects since our evaluation of high school athletes began in 2006. Within that list are five players who came up big when it mattered most in championship games. Here are the Ultimate ESPN 300 championship heroes. 1. Ezekiel Elliott | Ohio State
Reggie Jackson earned the nickname Mr. October for his heroics in Major League Baseball's postseason, and after Elliott sparked Ohio State's magical run to the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T, maybe he should be called Mr. January. Elliott, who comes in at No. 286 on the Ultimate 300, rushed for 220 yards in the Big Ten title game against Wisconsin and then had 230 yards against Alabama in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, but he saved his best for last in the championship game against Oregon. Elliott was unstoppable against the Ducks, finishing with 246 yards and four touchdowns. He made Oregon's fast defense look like it was standing still, and when speed didn't work, he bowled over them like a wrecking ball. It was a sight to see and a performance for the ages. 2. Tim Tebow | Florida
Tebow, who comes in at No. 2 in the Ultimate ESPN 300, has been called a lot of things over the years, but the most fitting description has to simply be -- winner. Few were better when it mattered most in the college game than Tebow, and his championship résumé speaks for itself. Even though he wasn't the starter in the 2006 BCS national championship game against Ohio State, Tebow threw for a touchdown and also rushed for another score. In the 2008 SEC title game against Alabama, Tebow threw for three touchdowns, including a 5-yard strike to Riley Cooper to ice the game with 4:37 left. He followed that up with an MVP performance in the 2009 BCS title game against Oklahoma. After the game teammate Percy Harvin said, "Tebow, just call him Superman." Then at the 2010 Sugar Bowl, Tebow went 31-of-35 for 482 yards and accounted for four touchdowns in a 51-24 blowout of Cincinnati. Tebow became a polarizing figure when he went on to the NFL, but he will always be known as one of the most clutch college football players ever. 3. AJ McCarron | Alabama
McCarron was surrounded by some of the best talent assembled in the modern era of college football, but he still had to make the plays when it counted while handling the pressure created by one of the most intense fan bases in all of sports. And boy did McCarron, who is No. 60 on the Ultimate 300, deliver. McCarron became the first quarterback to win back-to-back consensus national championships in the BCS era and the first to do it since Nebraska's Tommie Frazier in 1994 and 1995. McCarron was named offensive MVP in the 2012 BCS national championship game, but he was probably at his best in the 2013 championship game against Notre Dame. Against the Fighting Irish, McCarron threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns.  4. Jameis Winston | Florida State
Much like Tebow, Winston, who is No. 10 on the Ultimate 300, is one of the most polarizing figures in recent college football history. Rival fans heckle him for the number of off-the-field issues he faced while at Florida State, but when he stepped on the field he produced big win after big win, two ACC championships and a national championship. Oh yeah, he also became the youngest ever to win the Heisman Trophy. An example of Winston's greatness in big games came against Auburn in the 2014 BCS national championship game. He was named offensive MVP after throwing for 235 yards and two scores. While things didn't go so well in the 2015 playoff game against Oregon, it's hard to leave a guy who went 27-1 as a starter off a list like this. 5. Nick Fairley | Auburn
Nothing can slow down a high-flying offensive attack more than a dominant defensive tackle. And that's exactly what happened when Auburn's Nick Fairley took over the 2011 BCS national championship game against Oregon. The Ducks entered the game averaging 49 points, and LaMichael James was one of the most potent rushers in the country, but Fairley was unstoppable that night. Fairley, who ranks No. 145 on the Ultimate 300, had five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. However, his impact went well beyond the stat sheet. Early in the game Fairley pressured Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas into an interception, and then with the Tigers clinging to a 19-11 lead in the third quarter he came up with a monumental stop of Kenjon Barner just shy of the goal line.
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