"Last week I previewed National Signing Day. As I said then, it is college football`s version of the draft except in this case the player gets to pick where he will play.
If you wonder why the SEC dominates the college football landscape you need only look at the rankings for the answer.
The consensus rankings are determined by combining the rankings of four rankings services, Rivals, Scout, 24/7 and ESPN. This averages out the extremes.
For instance Florida was second in the ESPN ranking, eighth in Scout and fourth in the other two. Why so low in Scout`s ranking? Hard to say for sure, but Florida always seems to be rated much lower by Scout. Personally, I think it has to do with Gatorcountry.com (the premier Gator fan site) leaving Scout`s network a few years ago. But that is just a hunch.
At any rate the proof is in the pudding with the consensus rankings. There are seven SEC teams in the top twelve classes.
Alabama landed the top class once again. Anyone who thinks that recruiting is overrated needs to pay attention to who is signing the top classes.
Ohio State is number two which is not surprising with Urban Meyer`s well noted recruiting prowess.
The top five is rounded out by Notre Dame, Florida and Michigan. Notre Dame clearly capitalized on their appearance in the BCS Championship game. Florida coach Will Muschamp is a relentless recruiter evidenced by back to back highly ranked classes. Michigan is a slight surprise at five but not nearly as surprising as Ole Miss at number six.
Accusations and insinuations have run rampant around recruiting circles regarding Ole Miss`s sudden rise to the recruiting elite. However, I think it is more of case of many factors coming together at the right time. It helps when the brother of the top ranked player in the country is already on your team. Mom doesn`t really want to miss one son`s game to go to the other son`s game.
Texas A&M proved what most of us already suspected. That the Texas Longhorns` stranglehold on the Lone Star state`s recruiting came to an end the moment the Aggies joined the SEC. A&M can now offer the one thing that the Longhorns cannot, the opportunity to play in the best league in all of college football. That was enough to land the Aggies the eighth ranked class. Texas meanwhile was way down at nineteen.
Georgia finished in the twelve spot even though eleven of the top thirteen players in the Peach State left the state to go play college ball. That shows just how much talent is in the state of Georgia.
Of course, none if this means much until these guys contribute on the field. Many will fall short of their lofty predictions. Some because of talent. Some due to poor work ethic and some because they cannot stay out of trouble.
One thing history has taught us is that the teams holding the crystal trophy at the end of the year each year will almost certainly be programs that recruited well consistently."
Mark Miller
|
Linear Mode
