Playoff Teams Recruiting Stats: Bama Should Never Lose a Single Game; Michigan State Overachieves

[BusSport]

That thread about Florida's #1 recruiting got me curious, so I decided to look up how all the Playoff teams have done in recruiting over the last few years.

Since the advent of the College Football Playoffs, 7 teams have made it to the playoffs (only 7, not 8, because Alabama has done so twice).

Here are their average Rivals recruiting rankings over the last 5 years, from 2011 to 2015 (in parentheses are their respective recruiting ranking per year):

01.2 (01, 01, 01, 01, 02) Alabama
05.0 (02, 06, 10, 04, 03) Florida State
05.6 (11, 04, 01, 03, 09) Ohio State
10.6 (08, 14, 14, 13, 04) Clemson
13.8 (14, 11, 15, 15, 14) Oklahoma
18.0 (09, 16, 22, 26, 17) Oregon
31.2 (31, 41, 40, 22, 22) Michigan State

It's a wonder that Alabama ever loses a single game considering how recruiting rankings suggest their talent completely overwhelms that of any other team. The gap in recruiting rankings between them and every other team isn't even close; it's huge (#1 in 4 of the last 5 years, and they were #2 in their "off" year).

At the opposite end is Michigan State, who is overachieving for their talent level.

 

[4down20]

We tell you we only beat ourselves all the time.

 

[TexasExes98]

Bama has made the playoff both years, so those recruiting classes have paid off so far....

 

[7Samurai13]

I do find it amusing that of the other 6 teams to have made a playoff, only one recruiting class is worse than Michigan State's best class.

 

[outofyourmind]

Alabama might never lose a game if they didn't run that leather helmet offense.

 

[bamabear82]

We tell you we only beat ourselves all the time.

Seriously. It's like we're taking to our damn selves.

 

[BusSport]

More stats: Here are the Top 25 schools in recruiting, based on Rivals, over that same 5-year 2011-2015 period, compared against their CFP ranking this year:

RctRnk RctAvg School CFPRnk
01 01.2 Alabama 2
02 05.0 Florida State 9
03 05.8 Ohio State 7
04 07.2 USC 25
05 08.0 LSU 20
06 08.2 Auburn NR
07 08.4 Georgia NR
08 10.0 Florida 19
09 10.6 Clemson 1
10 11.0 Notre Dame 8
11 12.2 Tennessee 23
12 12.2 Texas NR
13 13.8 Oklahoma 4
14 13.8 Texas A&M NR
15 17.6 South Carolina NR
16 18.0 Oregon 15
17 19.4 UCLA NR
18 20.6 Miami (FL) NR
19 21.2 Mississippi 12
20 22.8 Michigan 14
21 24.0 Nebraska NR
22 24.6 Stanford 6
23 25.4 Virginia Tech NR
24 25.6 Washington NR
25 27.8 Arkansas NR

You can see the small gap between everyone else relative to Alabama, who is just far, far ahead.

Clemson, Oklahoma, Stanford, Iowa, Michigan State, and North Carolina are notable overachievers (top 10 in CFP rankings) relative to their talent level.

Notable underachievers would be those teams with top-25 recruiting who do not even have winning records: Auburn, Texas, South Carolina, Nebraska, and Virginia Tech.

 

[7Samurai13]

I'm curious if @GoBlueNavyNuke still believes that Dantonio is overpaid seeing these rankings and where Michigan State is.

 

[Mistaken4193]

Alabama might never lose a game if they didn't run that leather helmet offense.

Its

Alabama might never lose a game if they didn't run that leather helmet offense.

Eh, our problem in 2013 and 2014 was that we had some 5* guys in our Secondary get kicked off the team and we were real thin back there because of it.

 

[TexasExes98]

More stats: Here are the Top 25 schools in recruiting, based on Rivals, over that same 5-year 2011-2015 period, compared against their CFP ranking this year:

RctRnk RctAvg School CFPRnk
01 01.2 Alabama 2
02 05.0 Florida State 9
03 05.8 Ohio State 7
04 07.2 USC 25
05 08.0 LSU 20
06 08.2 Auburn NR
07 08.4 Georgia NR
08 10.0 Florida 19
09 10.6 Clemson 1
10 11.0 Notre Dame 8
11 12.2 Tennessee 23
12 12.2 Texas NR
13 13.8 Oklahoma 4
14 13.8 Texas A&M NR
15 17.6 South Carolina NR
16 18.0 Oregon 15
17 19.4 UCLA NR
18 20.6 Miami (FL) NR
19 21.2 Mississippi 12
20 22.8 Michigan 14
21 24.0 Nebraska NR
22 24.6 Stanford 6
23 25.4 Virginia Tech NR
24 25.6 Washington NR
25 27.8 Arkansas NR

You can see the small gap between everyone else relative to Alabama, who is just far, far ahead.

Clemson, Oklahoma, Stanford, Iowa, Michigan State, and North Carolina are notable overachievers (top 10 in CFP rankings) relative to their talent level.

Notable underachievers would be those teams with top-25 recruiting who do not even have winning records: Auburn, Texas, South Carolina, Nebraska, and Virginia Tech.

I wouldn't necessarily call Iowa an overachiever, that's just more of having the luxury of playing in an awful division and avoiding tOSU, MSU & UM in the regular season....

 

[7Samurai13]

I wouldn't necessarily call Iowa an overachiever, that's just more of having the luxury of playing in an awful division and avoiding tOSU, MSU & UM in the regular season....

At least they weren't in the SEC east.

 

[Across The Field]

More stats: Here are the Top 25 schools in recruiting, based on Rivals, over that same 5-year 2011-2015 period, compared against their CFP ranking this year:

RctRnk RctAvg School CFPRnk
01 01.2 Alabama 2
02 05.0 Florida State 9
03 05.8 Ohio State 7
04 07.2 USC 25
05 08.0 LSU 20
06 08.2 Auburn NR
07 08.4 Georgia NR
08 10.0 Florida 19
09 10.6 Clemson 1
10 11.0 Notre Dame 8
11 12.2 Tennessee 23
12 12.2 Texas NR
13 13.8 Oklahoma 4
14 13.8 Texas A&M NR
15 17.6 South Carolina NR
16 18.0 Oregon 15
17 19.4 UCLA NR
18 20.6 Miami (FL) NR
19 21.2 Mississippi 12
20 22.8 Michigan 14
21 24.0 Nebraska NR
22 24.6 Stanford 6
23 25.4 Virginia Tech NR
24 25.6 Washington NR
25 27.8 Arkansas NR

You can see the small gap between everyone else relative to Alabama, who is just far, far ahead.

Clemson, Oklahoma, Stanford, Iowa, Michigan State, and North Carolina are notable overachievers (top 10 in CFP rankings) relative to their talent level.

Notable underachievers would be those teams with top-25 recruiting who do not even have winning records: Auburn, Texas, South Carolina, Nebraska, and Virginia Tech.

 

[fishinabarrel]

So Dantonio would obviously kill it at Alabama. I mean if we are comparing Saban's time at MSU to Dantonio's

 

[bamabear82]

So Dantonio would obviously kill it at Alabama. I mean if we are comparing Saban's time at MSU to Dantonio's

Possibly, he's a good coach. Got to take into consideration how much better the SEC has been than the B1G tho.

 

[Ballboy534]

More stats: Here are the Top 25 schools in recruiting, based on Rivals, over that same 5-year 2011-2015 period, compared against their CFP ranking this year:

RctRnk RctAvg School CFPRnk
01 01.2 Alabama 2
02 05.0 Florida State 9
03 05.8 Ohio State 7
04 07.2 USC 25
05 08.0 LSU 20
06 08.2 Auburn NR
07 08.4 Georgia NR
08 10.0 Florida 19
09 10.6 Clemson 1
10 11.0 Notre Dame 8
11 12.2 Tennessee 23
12 12.2 Texas NR
13 13.8 Oklahoma 4
14 13.8 Texas A&M NR
15 17.6 South Carolina NR
16 18.0 Oregon 15
17 19.4 UCLA NR
18 20.6 Miami (FL) NR
19 21.2 Mississippi 12
20 22.8 Michigan 14
21 24.0 Nebraska NR
22 24.6 Stanford 6
23 25.4 Virginia Tech NR
24 25.6 Washington NR
25 27.8 Arkansas NR

You can see the small gap between everyone else relative to Alabama, who is just far, far ahead.

Clemson, Oklahoma, Stanford, Iowa, Michigan State, and North Carolina are notable overachievers (top 10 in CFP rankings) relative to their talent level.

Notable underachievers would be those teams with top-25 recruiting who do not even have winning records: Auburn, Texas, South Carolina, Nebraska, and Virginia Tech.

SEC, blue blood, SEC, blue blood, fallen off a cliff. I thought that VT's problem 5-6 years ago was that they couldn't recruit (according to VT fans); apparently they get better at recruiting and worse on the field. Just goes to show how recruiting well does always equate to success.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Possibly, he's a good coach. Got to take into consideration how much better the SEC has been than the B1G tho.

Not this year

 

[Ballboy534]

SEC, blue blood, SEC, blue blood, fallen off a cliff. I thought that VT's problem 5-6 years ago was that they couldn't recruit (according to VT fans); apparently they get better at recruiting and worse on the field. Just goes to show how recruiting well does always equate to success.

should read "does not always equate"

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

That thread about Florida's #1 recruiting got me curious, so I decided to look up how all the Playoff teams have done in recruiting over the last few years.

Since the advent of the College Football Playoffs, 7 teams have made it to the playoffs (only 7, not 8, because Alabama has done so twice).

Here are their average Rivals recruiting rankings over the last 5 years, from 2011 to 2015 (in parentheses are their respective recruiting ranking per year):

01.2 (01, 01, 01, 01, 02) Alabama
05.0 (02, 06, 10, 04, 03) Florida State
05.6 (11, 04, 01, 03, 09) Ohio State
10.6 (08, 14, 14, 13, 04) Clemson
13.8 (14, 11, 15, 15, 14) Oklahoma
18.0 (09, 16, 22, 26, 17) Oregon
31.2 (31, 41, 40, 22, 22) Michigan State

It's a wonder that Alabama ever loses a single game considering how recruiting rankings suggest their talent completely overwhelms that of any other team. The gap in recruiting rankings between them and every other team isn't even close; it's huge (#1 in 4 of the last 5 years, and they were #2 in their "off" year).

At the opposite end is Michigan State, who is overachieving for their talent level.

Let's just wait until MSU beats someone in the playoff -- because it took escaping Purdue, Rutgers, CMU and punt TD return to get where they are at.

 

[7Samurai13]

Let's just wait until MSU beats someone in the playoff -- because it took escaping Purdue, Rutgers, CMU and punt TD return to get where they are at.

Elliott just put up another touchdown on Michigan.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Elliott just put up another touchdown on Michigan.

Unfortunately there was no torrential downpour for our game and OSU decided to run more than 2 plays.