These things have been said in one form or another, but:
1. Being showcased on the first night of college football, on ESPN, as the #2 team in the country, with the 24 hours leading up to the game being all about the fact that we were going to be on TV as the showcased first primetime game, is the recruiting plus, not really winning or losing. I don't know how many times ESPN mentioned that LSU had 4 first round draft picks last night, but I want to say at least 5. Conversely, last night was probably in some sense good for MSU even with the loss, just b/c of the exposure.
2. Winning or losing probably doesn't do a whole lot. Showing off your scheme, the players, the coaches, the attitude of the fans, does. We were expected to thump MSU, and we did. The win does very little for recruiting, other than it continues to keep us on track for the NC and keeps us in the limelight. Losing when you're probably expected to win hurts.
3. I don't know how many of our recruits are also considering MSU (not a lot I'd guess, but a few), but in that case where the schools are both recruiting the same players maybe it helps a little. But, remember, recruits largely want to go to a school where they'll get playing time and exposure. A highly regarded LA or MS recruit who may not get the PT at LSU, will consider going to MSU for the PT. Seeing the win on TV, just points out how deep LSU is vs how needy MSU is. So, it all depends on the mindset of the particular recruit looking.
4. Coaching exhibition. Recruits want to see what kind of systems schools play and whether that will highlight their abilities. To me, last night, LSU's defense showed why if you're a defensive player, you want to go to LSU. It's an aggressive, smothering defense that just produces NFL quality players year in and out, and Bo knows defense. On offense, I think we still have a ways to go, and that showed last night. However, I think recruits saw a team with talented skill players running a relatively conservative offense. I don't think last night's win was particularly impressive, for example, for a high flyer QB recruit, seeing Flynn tuck the ball and run so many times, and only racking up 129 yds in the air, but give it a few games and I think by the end of the season, things will be different. Clearly, recruits saw two teams with vastly different levels of schemes and coaching, which benefits LSU in recruiting.
I guess I'd add, that if recruits are interested in the schools, they are definitely watching these games, so they're watching and the game matters. But for various reasons above, it may matter more or less.
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