Official 2018 Recruiting Updates Thread: Links, Tweets, Videos, Stories, Rumors, etc.

But you also say they don't matter when most teams have 15-20 commits. Just trying to get some consistency out of you. Have a good day!

My point was even folks that think they matter at the end know they don't in March. Even a company that makes money off of folks who think they matter knows they don't in March. All relevant to the article that was posted about where our rankings are now and not inconsistent with what I have said in the past. I hope you have a good day as well.


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I'm not a recruiting fanatic but my understanding is the rankings are very heavily influenced by number of players committed rather than simply their average star or proprietary score. So unless we can project with accuracy how many players each team will sign (we can't) wouldn't it be better to just look at average stars or score of players committed? After signing day the final rankings could be released that take into account class size.

It's just a little misleading to say team X is ranked in the top 20 simply because they have signed a lot of players, regardless of talent. Rant off.

I think each site has an equation that takes number of recruits times some randomly-determined value in which stars pay a role but not the whole role and then spit out a number. I follow recruiting (and enjoy following it), but realize a successful program is built on getting good high school athletes and turning them into good players at the college level. Both raw talent and coaching enter into it.
 

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Go Gophers!!
 

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Go Gophers!!
 

I think each site has an equation that takes number of recruits times some randomly-determined value in which stars pay a role but not the whole role and then spit out a number. I follow recruiting (and enjoy following it), but realize a successful program is built on getting good high school athletes and turning them into good players at the college level. Both raw talent and coaching enter into it.

I agree that it is way too early to determine where this class ranks...fun though. I really only look at the AVG rating at this point to get some sense of where Gophs are sitting. Doing that, Rivals puts Gophs with 20+ other teams with a theoretical rank somewhere between 30-55 when sorted by AVG rating.
 


Big picture: rankings in March for February do mean nothing. But, your team ranking top 20 anytime is fun! And compared to one or no recruits heading into June the last couple years it's also a little reassuring everything is moving along nicely to have a handful of guys saying they want to be Gophers in March!
 

I know I'm the contrarian on this subject, but all of the star ratings and rankings do nothing for me. It all seems like a scam, designed to get people to pay for the "inside information."

It still amounts to someone else assigning these star ratings and rankings to HS kids - whom they may or may not have ever seen play live.
What are their standards and criteria for issuing these ratings?

Look, if the so-called experts say the Gophers have a good recruiting class, that's all well and good. But, last time I checked, you still have to put on the pads and play the game. I don't think other teams are going to fall over and play dead because the Gophers have this great recruiting class.

I see the whole recruiting rankings game like a pinball machine. "For amusement purposes only."
 

The best teams have the highest rated recruiting classes it's as simple as that. There are a few anomalies either way but Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn state have the best recruiting in the Big Ten and they are the best teams.
 

Big picture: rankings in March for February do mean nothing. But, your team ranking top 20 anytime is fun! And compared to one or no recruits heading into June the last couple years it's also a little reassuring everything is moving along nicely to have a handful of guys saying they want to be Gophers in March!

+1 Nobody is saying we will be there on signing day. Just that it is fun to follow for those of us who like such things.
 



If we want to be a winner, we have to think like one, act like one, and recruit like one.

Fleck combines all these exciting elements. It is hard not to like what he brings.
 

I'm a fan of recruiting stars, but the team rankings don't mean much in February/March. Once the big recruits start signing, we'll start to tumble down the list. I've angrily seen Wisky get pegged in the top 10 in the past year or 2 only to drop into the 30s or 40s by the time everything ends.

If you have quality 3-stars sign early, you rank pretty high, but the fall is probably coming for a school that isn't loading up on 4s and 5s. This isn't to say that I'm not encouraged by some nice pickups early in the cycle, though.
 

Bitch because no one has committed at this point in 2017. Bitch because we're ranked too high in 2018 with 6 recruits in. Huh...ok.
 

Bitch because no one has committed at this point in 2017. Bitch because we're ranked too high in 2018 with 6 recruits in. Huh...ok.

For the record, I'm not bitching. I'm just saying unless Fleck is the greatest recruiter ever, we're going to fall back to [slightly above] our usual landing place in the 40s. That's not bad but I think it's disengenuous when the news sources are pumping out excitement over a top 15 class, when, if you're one that cares about recruiting rankings, we won't be top 15 when it matters.
 



It's true, it's a little early to feel like we've fully turned the corner on recruiting until we get later on in the process. I would say, however, that it's a nice sign to see us elevating our presence in the recruiting world by getting earlier and better commits and even being mentioned for top players is important...regardless of getting them or not.

Fleck has a small advantage right now in that I think he truly feels he has playing time available for freshman and sophomores.....two years from now he may not have that part of the sales pitch available.
 

My point is this:

In the 2017 rankings, Penn State is #15 on 247. They had 11 4-star recruits contributing to that with several high 3-stars. #20 UCLA has 2 5-star players and 5 4-stars.

We are #14 right now for 2018 with some good 3-stars. Are we in on/confident that we're going to get 5+ 4-star recruits the rest of this cycle? Even if we get 1 or 2, they'll probably get bumped down to 3 stars.

Things will greatly change when the big dominos fall. A lot of the other "solid" programs that don't have a ton of commits right now will catch us with a class of 20 3-stars as well.
 

The best teams have the highest rated recruiting classes it's as simple as that. There are a few anomalies either way but Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn state have the best recruiting in the Big Ten and they are the best teams.

The 2012 class (seniors last year):
Ohio State
Michigan
Rutgers
Nebraska
Michigan State
Maryland
(Wisconsin was in last)

The 2013 class (juniors last year):
Ohio State
Michigan
Nebraska
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Maryland

The 2014 class (so last year):
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Maryland

Meh - - Statistically, it kind of doesn't show much outside of the elite recruiting classes (Michigan and Ohio State). Maryland recruited well and they weren't good. Rutgers? Michigan State last year?

Team rankings are simply not a good barometer.
 


Based on what?

I don't know, that might have not been totally accurate, but I've seen us have guys get their rating dropped for committing so that they can bump the rating up of an Ohio State guy it seems.

Wasn't the main point of my post. I'm just saying that when the dust settles, we'll have somewhere around the #40 class in the country.
 

For the record, I'm not bitching. I'm just saying unless Fleck is the greatest recruiter ever, we're going to fall back to [slightly above] our usual landing place in the 40s. That's not bad but I think it's disengenuous when the news sources are pumping out excitement over a top 15 class, when, if you're one that cares about recruiting rankings, we won't be top 15 when it matters.
I don't disagree with the fact the class ranking will regress. My comment is a generalization. Aka, it's always bad in Gopherville. One way or another and I don't subscribe to that notion.
 

The 2012 class (seniors last year):
Ohio State
Michigan
Rutgers
Nebraska
Michigan State
Maryland
(Wisconsin was in last)

The 2013 class (juniors last year):
Ohio State
Michigan
Nebraska
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Maryland

The 2014 class (so last year):
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Maryland

Meh - - Statistically, it kind of doesn't show much outside of the elite recruiting classes (Michigan and Ohio State). Maryland recruited well and they weren't good. Rutgers? Michigan State last year?

Team rankings are simply not a good barometer.

You really don't think from looking at those rankings that they are a pretty good barometer of team success? I don't see Purdue, Illinois, and Indiana listed on there each year. Maryland is the lone outlier that appears consistently but hasn't lived up to their rankings. Rutgers one good showing was an anomaly, they don't normally recruit that well. The other teams that show up at least 2 years: Michigan, Ohio St., Michigan St, and Wisconsin.
 

The 2012 class (seniors last year):
Ohio State
Michigan
Rutgers
Nebraska
Michigan State
Maryland
(Wisconsin was in last)

The 2013 class (juniors last year):
Ohio State
Michigan
Nebraska
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Maryland

The 2014 class (so last year):
Ohio State
Michigan
Penn State
Michigan State
Wisconsin
Maryland

Meh - - Statistically, it kind of doesn't show much outside of the elite recruiting classes (Michigan and Ohio State). Maryland recruited well and they weren't good. Rutgers? Michigan State last year?

Team rankings are simply not a good barometer.

You can't just pick one year either. Over time recruiting rankings are absolutely a predictor of success, it's simple statistics. I posted it on here a number of times specifically for the Kill/Claeys era. Since 2011, the top 6 B1G teams in average recruiting ranking, also averaged out to finish in the top 6 of the standings over that same period of time.
 

To summarize the last two or three pages:

“Yay we are ranked in top 20 nationally!”
“It’s a little misleading if you ask me.”
“Yeah it doesn’t matter in January of February so what’s your point”?
“Well even you think its silly right?”
“Give it a rest”.
“Why his post was directed at me so I have to reply right”?
“Just trying to get some consistency have a good day”!
My point was even folks that think it matters don’t think it matters!”
“Guys, each site has its own equation”!
“Star ranking do nothing to me! It’s a scam”!
“The best teams have the highest rated classes. Its simple”!
“Stop bitching”!
“I’m not bitching”!
 

I don't know, that might have not been totally accurate, but I've seen us have guys get their rating dropped for committing so that they can bump the rating up of an Ohio State guy it seems.

Yeah, that doesn't happen.
 


Guys get bumped down in the rankings all of the time. Again, maybe I was going too far being facetious, but that wasn't the point of my post.

Sure, they do - but they don't get bumped down because they commit to Minnesota.
 




Look at the Twitter header pic of Chatman...that's four guys on a high school football team. How many Minnesota High Schools have four guys built like that?
 

PJF needs a breakthrough four-star commit, and I hope it happens sooner.
 




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