ESPN Top 10 2009 recruiting classes

Crimson Surfer · July 9th, 2008, 09:44 PM

ESPN's Tom Luginbill updated his team recruiting rankings Top 10. He did not put Auburn in the Top 10, but he did move them into 1st place (11th overall) in the ... On the cusp: Auburn, South Florida, Alabama, Michigan, North Carolina, Penn State and Texas A&M. I guess he must have heard about Donald 'Dee' Ford's commitment.

Top 2009 recruiting classes (July update)

bamafan99905 · July 9th, 2008, 09:50 PM

	Quote:	Crimson Surfer
	ESPN's Tom Luginbill updated his team recruiting rankings Top 10. He did not put Auburn in the Top 10, but he did move them into 1st place (11th overall) in the ... On the cusp: Auburn, South Florida, Alabama, Michigan, North Carolina, Penn State and Texas A&M. I guess he must have heard about Donald 'Dee' Ford's commitment. *Top 2009 recruiting classes (July update)*

That should bump the barn to the top

BEATtutorsee · July 9th, 2008, 11:21 PM

That guy is such a clown!

BigEasyTider · July 9th, 2008, 11:27 PM

Believe it or not, Auburn is going to have a fairly highly-rated recruiting class. There is no way they are a top 10 class like this goob says, but they will be a top 20 class, and may even have a shot at a top 15 class.

The thing of it will be, though, it will all boil down to size. At the rate they are going, they are going to sign between 27-30 players in this class, and as long as you sign that many, as long as the kids you are signing have a pulse, you'll have a top 20 class.

But that's a good thing for us. Them loading up on a ton of players in this class will only make future classes -- where they could legitimately get some quality players -- small as hell. Long story short, it's like stuffing your face with wheat crackers and then you have no more room when the ribeye steak comes along.

crmzn · July 10th, 2008, 04:14 AM

"Them loading up on a ton of players in this class will only make future classes -- where they could legitimately get some quality players -- small as hell. Long story short, it's like stuffing your face with wheat crackers and then you have no more room when the ribeye steak comes along."

Excellent point.

ncbama · July 10th, 2008, 08:38 AM

	Quote:	crmzn
	"Them loading up on a ton of players in this class will only make future classes -- where they could legitimately get some quality players -- small as hell. Long story short, it's like stuffing your face with wheat crackers and then you have no more room when the ribeye steak comes along." Excellent point.

I would like to think that that was what we did last year vs. this year. Last year the in-state cupboard was replete with talent, and we loaded up. This year the cupboard isn't so full so we are creaming off the top in-state, taking a few out-of-staters and ending up with a small class (necessitated by the big class last year).

Looks like a plan to me! You would think a smart coach might be at the helm.

Bama323 · July 10th, 2008, 09:23 AM

Right now, Auburn is rated that high simply due to sheer number of commitments. Once everyone else is up to 20 + recruits, their ranking will likely fall big time. Especially if they keep bringing in players nobody has heard of before.

BAMA504 · July 10th, 2008, 09:37 AM

I do not see BAMA getting into the top 10 on any list until Febuary and if we can pull the top 7-8 in state we could easily be close to top 5~!~

BigEasyTider · July 10th, 2008, 11:30 AM

	Quote:	BAMA504
	I do not see BAMA getting into the top 10 on any list until Febuary and if we can pull the top 7-8 in state we could easily be close to top 5~!~

That sounds about right.

We are most likely going to get both Kirkpatrick and Kelly, but those guys may very well wait until NSD. If that's the case -- and several of our big dogs walk late -- then we won't be highly-rated 'til the end.

Just as in the games, though, the second quarter score really doesn't matter. It only matters when the final clock reads 0:00, or in this case when the dust has settled on NSD.

Crimson Cat · July 10th, 2008, 11:33 AM

	Quote:	BAMA504
	I do not see BAMA getting into the top 10 on any list until Febuary and if we can pull the top 7-8 in state we could easily be close to top 5~!~

Yeah, I agree. I think we'll have a top ten class but not until closer to NSD. We'll be just fine.

BigEasyTider · July 10th, 2008, 11:48 AM

The dirty little secret to recruiting rankings is that huge classes can throw off the system. Long story short, if you sign a very big class, you are going to have a fairly well ranked class regardless of whether or not you sign quality players.

Let's go back to 2003 and look at things via the Scout.com rankings.

North Carolina State finished 9th overall after a big class saw them sign 29 players. The problem was the average star rating was very low, and it just didn't have many good players -- sans Mario Williams. No major shock, three of the next five seasons were losing campaigns, including the classes' senior campaign, and Chuck Amato ended up being fired.

Washington finished 18th that season after signing 28 players, but against the average star rating was very low. It was a class ranked relatively high because of sheer size. Not surprisingly, the Huskies haven't had a winning season since, got one coach fired, and look destined to get another fired shortly.

MSU finished 20th after signing 32 players, but their average star rating was a pathetic 2.50. No major shock, aside from a couple of decent players, the class was filled with non-SEC caliber players, and they barely won 10 games combined in their entire career.

Again, you can trick the recruiting rankings by bringing in a huge class. It happens every year... a huge class with only a handful of quality players gets ranked relatively high, but the class itself never does anything because they don't have enough quality players. Any time you ever see a huge class ranked fairly high, all the while sporting a very low average star rating, that should set off a mental alarm for you. And that is exactly what Auburn is getting here.