Accumulated Recruiting Talent and Average Star Ratings

For the past 3 years we have put together a compilation of the trailing 4 years recruiting talent per Rivals for both total points and average star ratings.

Obviously this has some limitations as it doesn’t account for player losses nor those players that haven’t lived up to their reputations. However it does demonstrate which schools continue to win the battles for the most sought after players.

After signing day last year the top 20 teams by average star rating for the past 4 years was thus (with average star rating, and total points for the past 4 years) -

1 Southern Cal 4.01 10,722
2 Florida 3.75 9927
3 LSU 3.70 8402
4 Ohio State 3.67 7460
5 Texas 3.64 8173
6 Georgia 3.59 8466
7 Oklahoma 3.59 8747
8 Michigan 3.54 7934
9 Notre Dame 3.54 7526
10 Florida State 3.51 8930
11 Miami-FL 3.43 7680
12 Alabama 3.41 8176
13 Tennessee 3.35 7401
14 Auburn 3.29 7114
15 Clemson 3.28 6840
16 UCLA 3.26 5423
17 Nebraska 3.22 6503
18 Penn State 3.21 5398
19 California 3.18 5776
20 South Carolina 3.16 6058

In the final Coaches’ poll number for 2008 numbers 1 and 2 ended up reversed, so the talent did rise to achieve. LSU, at third, didn’t end up ranked, but Ohio State, Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma were all top 10 teams.

Michigan and Notre Dame were obvious busts, but in looking at 2008’s list you might have seen Alabama coming. And not to mention FSU, written off preseason last year, who ended up ranked 23rd in the final poll.

Which leads us to this year. Since the numbers below are based on 4 year totals and averages, we wouldn’t expect big changes. The top 25 teams by average star talent per Rivals over the past 4 years are (with average) –

1 Southern Cal 3.99
2 Florida 3.89
3 LSU 3.72
4 Alabama 3.61
5 Texas 3.70
6 Georgia 3.66
7 Florida State 3.46
8 Notre Dame 3.65
9 Ohio State 3.74
10 Oklahoma 3.54
11 Michigan 3.56
12 Miami-FL 3.38
13 Auburn 3.29
14 South Carolina 3.26
15 Tennessee 3.33
16 Clemson 3.39
17 UCLA 3.34
18 Ole Miss 3.03
19 North Carolina 3.11
20 Penn State 3.18
21 Nebraska 3.20
22 Virginia Tech 2.98
23 Illinois 3.00
24 Arkansas 3.02
25 California 3.12

The top 3 remain the same, but Alabama has made a big move from 12th to 4th. Others of note include –

FSU – On the comeback trail?

Notre Dame – supposedly still a lot of talent. Time for Weis to prove his worth, if any.

Michigan – there is talent there, but is it the right talent?

South Carolina – skill set getting better, but this is the SEC.

Tennessee – Lane, you have the horses. Do you have the brains?

UCLA – a bit of a surprise here. Will it show?

Ole Miss – from 31st last year to 18th. They aren’t likely to sneak up on anyone, anymore.

North Carolina – I think the time has come for them to start surprising people.

We also follow total accumulated talent (the total of all 4 years recruiting scores). This, theoretically, provides a measure of the total stockpile of talent (as opposed to the general quality) –

1 Southern Cal 10501
2 Florida 10477
3 LSU 9648
4 Alabama 9538
5 Texas 9139
6 Georgia 8705
7 Florida State 8502
8 Notre Dame 8429
9 Ohio State 8284
10 Oklahoma 8136
11 Michigan 8063
12 Miami-FL 7672
13 Auburn 7117
14 South Carolina 6700
15 Tennessee 6661
16 Clemson 6428
17 UCLA 6068
18 Ole Miss 5825
19 North Carolina 5814
20 Penn State 5581
21 Nebraska 5558
22 Virginia Tech 5014
23 Illinois 4990
24 Arkansas 4959
25 California 4932

According to Rivals, USC and Florida have really loaded up in the past 4 years, with Florida only 24 points behind USC, but 829 points ahead of 3rd place LSU.

I use these in making my preseason top 25 picks for the Blogpoll, which tend to be as good as anything the “consensus” comes up with.