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Rankings,Ratings and Polls

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Rankings,Ratings and Polls

From Orlando Sentinel
Recruiting rankings: A closer look


Posted January 30, 2005


The Sentinel looked back at the recruiting rankings of five leading analysts (Bobby Burton, Max Emfinger, Tom Lemming, PrepStar magazine and SuperPrep magazine) during the past five years and came up with the consensus top-five classes for each of those years. Here's the breakdown:

2000
1. Florida
2. Tennessee
3. Florida State
(tie.) Texas
5. Alabama
2001
1. Florida State
2. LSU
3. Michigan
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma
2002
1. Texas
2. Ohio State
3. Tennessee
4. Miami
5. Florida State
2003
1. LSU
2. Florida
3. USC
4. Oklahoma
5. Notre Dame
(tie) NC State
2004
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Florida State
4. Miami
5. Michigan

FSU had a consensus top-five class four times, the most of any school. The Seminoles were 9-3 this season and played in the Gator Bowl.


Texas had a consensus top-five class three times. The Longhorns were 11-1 this season and played in the Rose Bowl.


Tennessee had a consensus top-five class twice. The Vols were 10-3 this season and played in the Cotton Bowl.


Florida had a consensus top-five class twice. The Gators were 7-5 this season and played in the Peach Bowl.


Miami had a consensus top-five class twice. The Hurricanes were 9-3 this season and played in the Peach Bowl.


Michigan had a consensus top-five class twice. The Wolverines were 9-3 this season and played in the Rose Bowl after winning the Big Ten title.


Oklahoma had a consensus top-five class twice. The Sooners were 12-1 this season and played for the national title in the Orange Bowl after winning the Big 12 title.


USC had a consensus top-five class twice. The Trojans were 13-0 this season and won the national title in the Orange Bowl after winning the Pac-10 title.


Auburn didn't have a consensus top-five class, and just six times in the five years did the Tigers even have a class ranked in the top 10 by any analyst (8th by Emfinger in 2000; tied for 9th by PrepStar and 9th by Emfinger in 2001; 6th by Rivals, 10th by PrepStar and 10th by Emfinger in 2002; and 8th by Emfinger in 2003). The Tigers were 13-0 this season and played in the Sugar Bowl after winning the SEC title.


Virginia Tech didn't have a consensus top-five class, and only twice in the five years did the Hokies even have a class ranked in the top 10 by any analyst (tied for 9th by PrepStar and 9th by Emfinger in 2001). The Hokies were 10-3 this season and played in the Sugar Bowl after winning the ACC title.


Utah didn't have a consensus top-five class, nor did the Utes have even one class ranked in the top 10 by any of the analysts. The Utes were 12-0 this season and played in the Fiesta Bowl after winning the Mountain West title.


Pittsburgh didn't have a consensus top-five class, nor did the Panthers have even one class ranked in the top 10 by any of the analysts. The Panthers were 8-4 this season and played in the Fiesta Bowl after winning the Big East title.


No non-BCS school finished in any analyst's top 10 in any of the five years. In 2000, a combined 15 schools made the various top 10s; in '01 and '02, it was 16; in '03, it was 17; and in '04, it was 13.


Here's a breakdown by league of the schools that finished in at least one analyst's top 10 at any time in the five years. The second number refers to how many times a league school received mention in only one year; those schools are denoted by asterisks. ACC (6/4)–FSU, Miami (most as a member of the Big East), North Carolina*, NC State*, Virginia*, Virginia Tech*; Big Ten (5/3)–Michigan, Michigan State*, Ohio State, Penn State*, Wisconsin*; Big 12 (5/1)–Colorado*, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M; Pac-10 (5/3)–Arizona State*, Oregon*, UCLA, USC, Washington*; SEC (7/1)–Alabama*, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee. Independents (1)–Notre Dame.

Mike Huguenin

of the Sentinel staff
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Rankings,Ratings and Polls

As you can see, It's not always about "Stars" by players name. It's not about how high he is rated on a certain website. There are some great players out there who get overlooked by bigger more established schools because they're not too famous.

The ratings class articlle only covers about 30 schools. There are about 90 more D1-A schools out there who are not LOSING all of their games because they're not ranked. They are winning with the talent which they recruited.

FAU seems to have another good class of athletes. The GREAT coaching staff we have in place, will bring out the best in these guys. The exciting part! These guys still have to take a spot from returning players and RS…!!!!!!

Let's not worry about the amount of players who are not on anybody's ratings,rankings or polls.

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I qgree O.G. and I told kids don't worry about the stars by your name just play with heart and never quit. So many kids get over looked because they don't have a star by some poll ranking. FAU has had several kids throughout these short years of the program that were well deserving of stars bt there names. IMO to much emphasis is place on camp performance and not the field of play. Last years recruits and so far this year are going to turn some heads. You are correct the coach's have to know what the hell they are doing and FAU has a great staff. The better high school coach's can play a tremendous part in helping build college programs. Look at a high school with continous winning records! the recruit needs to stop by and get a list of who he has and then the college can pick through the pile.

There are several schools in the state that do a good job at getting kids to the next level.

The kid that does'nt get the star a lot of time will bust his but, just to prove those sport writers wrong. The one that kills me is the kid that is an 1" or 2"'s out of the radar and buddy he is struggling for his life.

Sorry did'nt mean to get carried away, I just think the ranking give a true picture and has to many pitfalls and the BCS itself is a HUGE JOKE. I would love to see what the BCS would do if next couple of years there are about 30 Utah's and Boise teams. FAU may very well be one of the next along with several others right on the verge of kicking som serious Butt.
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If the pro scouts can't figure out who is good and who is bad (see Ryan Leaf #2 pick, and Tom Brady 6th round pick), then I pay no attention to what the classes are ranked as.
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It's like anything else really - the system is not full prove, how well does the high school coaches prepare the players for the next level is important as mentioned above and some do a better job and are more consistant then others, so their athletes will get more recognition then others. Plus, they are a bunch of them so it hard to evaluate all of them - the coaches again play a part in representing the program and players.

I'm sure its a hard and tedious process to evaluate so many palyers.


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