Around the Big Ten

[iam416]

I'm liking this year's B10 recruiting class. You have the obvious top dog with the Year of HARBAUGH!!!! rolling on, and then UFM has quietly put together a solid class. But beyond that, some other teams are nabbing some really good players. Iowa has Esperenza and Illinois will, I think, get Jeff Thomas. Maryland is pulling in some surprisingly quality guys, too, though losing Kaindoh is a blow -- an unsurprising blow, but still. And Penn State should finish with a pretty strong class -- Lamont Wade, I think is in (sadly, though, I think Kaindoh is not) -- and I really like Sean Clifford for that program. Nebraska has done a great job in California and is probably in a 2-team race for two really good Cali players. Unfortunately it's against USC, but if they could pull either of Joe Lewis or Greg Johnson that would be huge. Great job by Reilly, IMO. Even if they lose the battles, that's the first step toward winning them down the road.

The only class that is a little off is Sparty, but we'll see how the finish. Also worth mentioning is that Wisconsin is Wisconsin and has Paul Chryst. It's hard to imagine them deviating from the bell curve too much, so they should always be a ginormous pain in the ass to play.

I think the B10 could end up with near 25 of the top 100 players which has to be a clear best for the past 10 years. When you factor in that the SEC probably gets 30-35, the 25 becomes all the more impressive vis-a-vis the other 3 P5 conferences.

When UFM was hired he more or less said the B10 sucked and it needed to get better. I think it's on its way.

[AlabamAlum]

Let's be honest, Sparty's last few classes haven't been great. At least not commensurate with their status.

[iam416]

They're recruiting has improved by a point in the 247 Composite AVERAGE the past 4 seasons. 85.5 to 86.7 to 87.7 to 88.9. The last score is commensurate with a borderline top 10 class if there was sufficient quantity.

This year they will be around 86, so a definite step back, IMO.

[iam416]

Sparty also lived off of Connor Cook for two seasons. He was a solid 3*.

They really need a QB. I liked Messiah DeWeaver a lot for them. We'll see if he comes along in the next season or two.

[AlabamAlum]

They're recruiting has improved by a point in the 247 Composite AVERAGE the past 4 seasons. 85.5 to 86.7 to 87.7 to 88.9. The last score is commensurate with a borderline top 10 class if there was sufficient quantity.

This year they will be around 86, so a definite step back, IMO.

Interesting. I was going by their last 5 class places as opposed to the averages: national ranks of 33rd, 35th, 25th, 22nd, and 17th.

I can see logic in doing it both ways. You prefer average number to ascertain class worth?

[Wild Hoss]

Sparty probably needs to improve on that 29ppg they gave up in BIG play as well.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[iam416]

I can see logic in doing it both ways. You prefer average number to ascertain class worth?

I absolutely do in terms of macro-tracking a school's performance. The practical numbers will be within a range that makes the Average a good benchmark (say, 17-25 commits).

As for any given class, I don't have a single metric. I value quality over quantity in most cases, but there's obviously a certain quantity requirement for football. Further, the latter may be more important to a team doing a complete gut job, but for a more established program it's more about quality.

I think last year's Houston's class is a really interesting example. They signed 19 kids. Let's say they had room for 5 more. Would you trade Ed Oliver for 5 more low-to-mid 3* kids? On the one hand -- Ed Oliver. On the other hand, with 3* kids it's about quantity to increase your chances of finding a "diamond in the rough" for your class.

Anyway, I think most sites do a nice job of balancing quantity/quality and I'm a fan of the 247 Composite.

[AlabamAlum]

As you said, I think you definitely walk a line with quantity vs qualiity, but as a rough barometer over years I have always used the last five years of class rank in that the numbers (big class vs small) usually balance out over time. Going back and compiling those rankings over the last 5 years usually gives a good look at a program's recruitment health. Or at least it seems so.

And agreed: I'm a big fan of 247. I always hated the thieves at Scout, but 247 is better than Rivals or any of the others, imo.

[iam416]

Yeah, so MSU isn't as aggressive at roster management as, say, Alabama, OSU and M. They're not going to sign 25 kids every year. The kids they bring in stick. So, you can take MSU's 5-yr class, use the cumulative average, and have a really good idea of what the roster looks like in terms of pre-Dantonio talent and development.

Also, you need to know what the 5-yr avg looks like for other schools. Yeah, you may have a 5-yr avg of, say, #20, but my guess in terms of 5-yr averages, that may actually rate #15 or higher. Nothing you didn't know.

But, yes. 247Composite is genius as is the Crystal Ball feature. They've blown away Scout and Rivals, IMO, with their aggregation and added layer of mostly useless information about a recruit. But, hey -- when Texas guys start CB'ing Texas players...pay attention! When a random Florida dude CB's a kid from Oregon, ummm....yeah.

[iam416]

The essential point, however, is that HARBAUGH!!!! has elevated the B10 as a whole while pissing on Sparty in particular. That's life in the shadow.

[AlabamAlum]

Exactly. Average Sparty's 5-year average of #26 and compare it to the rest of the B1G. Of course, you can use 247's total team talent feature: http://247sports.com/Season/2016-Foo...alentComposite which had them a bit higher at #22 - which lends itself to your supposition that they have held onto the kids they pulled in.

[AlabamAlum]

Harbaugh is a natural recruiter. A Bama recruiting expert I trust has the M-Bama race for Najee at 50-50 now.

He needs to go to the Rams.

[froot loops]

The Spartans have been good at keeping attrition low and using the guys. It worked out pretty good for seasons like 2015, they were using a lot of 5th year guys who up until then, didn't get a lot of playing time. It really helped when the injuries hit, it allowed them to duct tape themselves to a big ten title. The flipside is this year, a lot of the 5th year guys they were hoping to bridge the gap with didn't perform.

Aggressive roster management is something Dantonio might not do even if rivals are bringing in 25 players a year. He stubborn is his ways that way and has 3 big ten titles to bolster his cause, but I'm not sure it will be as effective.

[entropy]

froot.. his approach does work. TO made is work for years leveraging experience over having the best athletes. The problem is there are years where that experience just isn't that good.

I'd bet you see MSU move to a hybrid model.

[hack]

Yeah. Probably nobody in EL has experience throwing girlfriends down flights of stairs. Then again probably nobody in Lincoln knows how to properly burn a couch. That's why neither program is headed for the playoff next year.