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4th in AAC

4th?.....yikes.

Top four all pretty close. Basically statistically tied. Excellent year coming off of two wins.

Lol

I guess losing DM bumps you down to 4th from 2nd lol

ALEX LIFESON wrote:4th?.....yikes.

Just being sarcastic. It's a nice step up, but we've got a long way to go.

Stallion wrote:http://www.rankbyoffers.com/2016fbteams/

Just to compare with the previous few years on this one:

2016: 52
2015: 61
2014: 74
2013: 89

ALEX LIFESON wrote:4th?.....yikes.

That is nothing to worry about. Just like we won't really know if FSU, Bama, Texas, ND, etc had the "best" recruiting class for 3-4 years, we won't know who had the best recruiting class in the AAC for 3-4 years.

Coming of 3 wins in two seasons, our recruiting class is substantially the "same" as the top programs in the AAC. For years from now, the "best" class is going to be determined by which school can keep players in school, keep them motivated & injury free, and coached them up.

I haven't been one of the people banging the drum about how this is the best class since the DP or anything like that.

But what is really great about the class is the breadth. In the past, even that 74 and the 61 ranking were buoyed by a couple of players who got a ton of offers or had a high ranking by certain services.

This is the most balanced class we have had in quite a while in terms of how players are regarded by various services and the offers the kids received. It is a foundational class - it isn't top heavy, it is strong all the way through. When is the last time we had a recruiting class that is full from top to bottom of guys who will actually end up contributing to the team? It is the football version of getting Ben Moore and Sterling - we got a bunch of good college football players. When you get a class like this and then sprinkle in a couple of 4 star players, that is when we will be at the top of the AAC rankings. And it will happen once we start winning.

This class significantly improves our roster. And that is the most important thing we should be worried about right now. Recruiting players that would be considered our top or top 2 recruits at CB, DE, DT, LB, OL, and RB in a single class s a massive improvement.

JasonB wrote:I haven't been one of the people banging the drum about how this is the best class since the DP or anything like that.

But what is really great about the class is the breadth. In the past, even that 74 and the 61 ranking were buoyed by a couple of players who got a ton of offers or had a high ranking by certain services.

This is the most balanced class we have had in quite a while in terms of how players are regarded by various services and the offers the kids received. It is a foundational class - it isn't top heavy, it is strong all the way through. When is the last time we had a recruiting class that is full from top to bottom of guys who will actually end up contributing to the team? It is the football version of getting Ben Moore and Sterling - we got a bunch of good college football players. When you get a class like this and then sprinkle in a couple of 4 star players, that is when we will be at the top of the AAC rankings. And it will happen once we start winning.

This class significantly improves our roster. And that is the most important thing we should be worried about right now. Recruiting players that would be considered our top or top 2 recruits at CB, DE, DT, LB, OL, and RB in a single class s a massive improvement.

Plus: from what I have read, a number of our players had "unofficial" offers as some very good (P5) teams tried to get them interested in flipping.
--- I would bet serious money that Shelmire would have had a lot more offers if he had played the game. From what I can tell, he made no effort to market himself once he was committed.
--- Our "last guy," Freeman, if he had been willing to switch positions, would have had offers from very good P5 teams.

Yeah, I think Freeman is very similar to Colbert (except en even better athlete potentially). Would have been recruited by everyone if they wanted out of the QB position, but stuck to their guns. Personally, I love the concept of trying to get the all around QB, but having a running athlete as your backup, because it allows you maintain offensive efficiency even if you lose your starter. And they can be more effective earlier in their career.

While SMU is 4th in the AAC I would point out we had a full class at 25.

#43 USF 16 commits
#48 UCF 20 commits
#49 UH 19 commits

We have almost 30% more commits on average than our AAC competitors. Makes me wonder where everyone would have landed if each school took 25.

The rule of thumb is that approximately half of your recruits never see significant playing time, if at all, due to academic problems, injuries, off-the-field issues, transfers, etc. That's why I am happy with 25 prospects that are all capable of starting at some point.

I'm no expert, but I think the class looks great. Can't wait.