You'll end up being ranked lower than some teams, but that's going to happen when the classes are ranked by the point totals. Depending on how much attrition we see at Bama this year will determine how we end up being ranked next year as well. Understand, while I don't put a lot of value in the rankings they are very fun to watch. It's just another *season* in this 365 day passion we all share. FWIW, if you'll surf around Scout some there was an article published in the last 2 weeks about how they rank teams/players. I knew Rivals only counted 20 and thought Scout did the same until the article said they counted 25 in their team rankings.
It is way too early to see how things shake out, but I look forward to seeing Les Miles be able to recruit with a National Championship ring and not have to spend an entire football season with the media and other coaches sending the message to the nation's top high school seniors that Les Miles is Michigan bound and they should scratch LSU off of their list. I can't help but wonder if LSU's recruiting class this past year would have been top 5 had Miles and LSU not had every so-called media expert predicting his near immediate departure for Michigan.
Wow, the top 20 to 25 is all that is ranked? Now that is something that I did not know. Tiger Forums is such a stockpile of great information that sometimes I can't handle it.. I guess the extra 5 or so recruits that Florida, Miami, Alabama & Georgia had was loaded with 4-5 stars which gave them the edge over everyone else including LSU. Just means our (LSU) coaches have to be better judges of talent & also better football coaches if we are to continue to beat them on the field. Which I think we will do. Now let me get this straight - with several of you experts predicting that LSU's star rating will be very high this year & only the top 20 or so being counted why are we not being considered for at least the top five?? If we recruit 20 top rated players (4-5 stars) then LSU should easly be in the top five of Rivals class this year. Now, I understand the problem with last year & the coaching (michigan) insecurity & the lack of Louisiana players being rated very high. That should not be a problem this year, Right?? Remember - I WANT THEM ALL!!!:geaux::huh:
If LSU signs 20 players this year & only the top 20 are ranked by Rivals I think LSU will finish in the top five. See,, Sometimes I am optimistic!!:geaux::grin:
It's not quite that simple. Rivals only counts the top 20 players in a class, thus a class like Bama's last year has only their very best recruits counted towards their points, while a class like LSU's this year will have some lower-rated recruits drag the class down. I would have to look up the formula again to be sure of more specifics, but I believe there are other ways that it skews the data.
If we sign, say, 19 recruits this year, then only those 19 will count for us while other teams have one additional recruit count, thus putting us at a disadvantage by lowering our total point potential. See Miles' first class of only 13, when we were ranked like 19th or something even though we had one of the highest average star ratings.
USC only signed 19 this year and we still have a few open schollies. The average rating per recruit was #2 overall though (I think) so as it's been discussed before, total points don't represent the best talent nor take into account how the team filled it's needs. I know the services say they consider it but really, the only ones who can say whether needs were met are the coaches IMO.
What really matters most is how many signees, and in what mix, make it to their junior and senior years with all-conference or even all-american potential. Xavier Carter and Xavier Lee - two big footnotes (if that) in NCAA football's recent past. IMO, and as been said before, the coaches play a huge role: Coaches pick talent with the guts/brains/work ethic to stick it out. Coaches mold talent, smooth rough edges, hone the pointy parts. Coaches keep kids (with $$ in their eyes and girlies after their privates) focused. Coaches surround them with talent, help them lead, shield them when necessary. I'm not a big fan of retrospective recruiting rankings. But honestly, it seems about as important as the Spring Game - a good preview, but there's so much else going into it, that you cannot make any conclusions.
Rivals only considers the filling of needs by a class by class basis, meaning that it isn't based on what the team actually needs, but that teams don't get credit for signing a bunch of prospects at the same position.
