A Look Ahead in College Football

[Sea Ray]

It was a good showing by the Big Ten this year but don't get used to it unless they pick up recruiting. Let's look at some things in regard to 2010 recruiting. I know these things are fluid and subjective but you do see a correlation between this and results on the field. It's no accident that Alabama and Texas are top five in recruiting.

In the top ten they show 5 SEC schools, 2 Big Ten schools and 1 PAC 10 school (Wash #7). If you look at the top 25 the Big Ten only gains OSU at #19; the PAC 10 gets USC and Stanford. I would argue USC has a top ten class because they have 7 top 100 players coming in. They're ranked low because their total number of recruits are low but what they're getting are top notch. Only Texas (#2) had more top 100 recruits with 8.

The fact is the recruits are going to the warmer climates and not to Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, Mich St or Minnesota. Recruiting is just as competitive as play on the field in the SEC. Tennessee is ranked #16 but that's only good enough for #6 in the SEC

http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=14&yr=2010

[Puffy]

There is an old saying - Rivals for football and Scout for basketball. And ESPN ratings for laughs

http://rivals100.rivals.com/teamrank.asp?SID=880

[Hoosier Red]

Meh. Wisconsin never has been a force in recruiting but they managed to take a top 15 team out to the woodshed.
tOSU, Michigan and tPSU will always carry the water in recruiting for the Big 10.

I actually believe that the Big 10 isn't losing a ton of talent and the middle of the conference will be better than this year. (Bad news for my Hoosiers.)

[texasdave]

Back-to-back BCS Bowls and UC ranks 60th. Not good.

[Sea Ray]

Meh. Wisconsin never has been a force in recruiting but they managed to take a top 15 team out to the woodshed.
tOSU, Michigan and tPSU will always carry the water in recruiting for the Big 10.

I actually believe that the Big 10 isn't losing a ton of talent and the middle of the conference will be better than this year. (Bad news for my Hoosiers.)

No doubt PSU, OSU and UM will lead the Big Ten in recruiting but how does that keep Wisconsin and Illinois from breaking into the top 25?

IMO Michigan is all screwed up regardless of its recruiting because of their coach. Until they get RichRod out of there, all this recruiting is for naught.

[jimbo]

Are you claiming this is just a recent trend? Because from taking a look back through the conference rankings to 2006, it's been pretty much the same as it is today. The SEC ranks first and the Big 10 consistently comes in 4th or 5th. I also think it has less to do with the climates, and more to do with the styles of play.

I think these recruiting ranking a bunch of fluff anyways, way too subjective and speculative. More entertaining than anything.

[Hoosier Red]

No doubt PSU, OSU and UM will lead the Big Ten in recruiting but how does that keep Wisconsin and Illinois from breaking into the top 25?

IMO Michigan is all screwed up regardless of its recruiting because of their coach. Until they get RichRod out of there, all this recruiting is for naught.

Illinois is kept from the top 25 by virtue of the fact their coach sucks.

Also Wisconsin and Iowa right or wrong don't tend to recruit the types of players who are going to wow recruiting lists. They tend to get linemen who may redshirt a year, will start seeing action as freshman and sophomores and by their junior years are ready to crack some skulls. They build the team around that philosophy.

Recruiting top 10 level talent works for top level SEC schools along with tOSU and tPSU because they are able to incorporate those players into a system and win every year.

Teams like Tennessee and Georgia, and to a more extreme example Michigan will recruit the top 25 talent, don't get to develop it in the way top schools do and then have to replace it because talented players will bolt from mid level or worse schools and go to the NFL.

Think of it this way;
Top level schools:
Alabama
Florida
LSU
The Ohio State University
Texas
Oklahoma
USC

These schools can have their cake and eat it too, they get top level talent which can play right away and can offer the incentive to stay around(a chance at a heisman or a chance at a(nother) national championship.

Next level down:
Penn State
Iowa
Wisconsin
Georgia
Tennessee
Auburn
Oregon
Cal

These schools probably have little to no chance at a national title(Penn State perhaps is the exception) I guarantee you every year Tennessee will have a better recruiting class than Iowa. Georgia will have a better class than Wisconsin. But Georgia and Tennessee will have to replace talent on a faster schedule and will not be able to fully integrate the replacements into the lineup as well as Iowa and Wisconsin. Sometimes talent wins out, sometimes not.

[KoryMac5]

This thread should be renamed "A Look Ahead in College Football, and Why I think the Big Ten Still Sucks Based on Recruiting".

I mean c'mon we know where you stand on what conference is the best but the backhanded compliments to the Big Ten after this bowl season is ridiculous. The Big Ten didn't just have a good showing they had a great showing with several games on national TV. These games will no doubt help to boost recruiting for the next couple of years.

[bucksfan2]

The difference between OU and OSU right now are 13 commits. I wouldn't take too much stock in recruiting rankings until the class is complete. Also note the disparity in rankings between schools who have big recruiting classes vs schools that have smaller recruiting classes due to graduation and early NFL declarations.

[Scrap Irony]

Yeah, recruiting is one way of checking the future, but it's neither the best way nor is it complete. At all.

And there's really no way at this point to tell who's going to look good next season and beyond.

[dsmith421]

Yeah, recruiting is one way of checking the future, but it's neither the best way nor is it complete. At all.

Unless it fits the poster in question's preconceived narrative, in which case it's the most important thing ever.

[Chip R]

Unless it fits the poster in question's preconceived narrative, in which case it's the most important thing ever.

I closed a thread before the holidays because of stuff like this. I don't want to have to do it again.

[Sea Ray]

Yeah, recruiting is one way of checking the future, but it's neither the best way nor is it complete. At all.

It's a very inexact science to be sure and that's what makes it a provocative subject to bandied about by us college football fans in the off season.

[Sea Ray]

Are you claiming this is just a recent trend? Because from taking a look back through the conference rankings to 2006, it's been pretty much the same as it is today. The SEC ranks first and the Big 10 consistently comes in 4th or 5th. I also think it has less to do with the climates, and more to do with the styles of play.

Oh it's not a recent trend at all.

You think it's schemes? What's so exciting about Alabama's scheme? They looked like the Bengals last night...yet they're at the top of the recruiting heap and have been under Nick Saban.

[gonelong]

Oh it's not a recent trend at all.

You think it's schemes? What's so exciting about Alabama's scheme? They looked like the Bengals last night...yet they're at the top of the recruiting heap and have been under Nick Saban.

Alabama plays Tressel-ball, which works nicely when you have the trio of Defense, Offensive Line, and running backs to make it work.

GL