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Georgetown and Marquette come in at #12 and #13 respectively. What the hell is Washington doing there at #5? Creighton is mentioned in "others".

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1438223.h ... 38223.html

So tough to take the recruiting class rankings seriously right now when only 13 of the top 41 ESPN players have committed. A school could get 1-2 of those guys- and zoom right on up the rankings. Only 5 of the top 20 and 1 of the top 12 as well. Scout a bit bolder- they have 22 of the top 48 committed, but still same principle holds. They have 4 of the top 16 committed so far. Lots of huge guys still out there...

Great case in point is Kentucky. They aren't on the list- but they are in the battle for players- 9 of the top 11 that aren't signed- Kentucky is mentioned as being in the battle. They get just 2 of those guys- they're in the top 5.

Just looking- ESPN's class ratings last year on August 29-
1 UNC finished 3
2 Ohio St finished 6
3 Maryland finished 9
4 Tennessee finished ur
5 Syracuse finished 23
6 Florida finished 13
7 Georgetown finished 8
8 Arkansas finished 39
9 Louisville finished 4
10 Alabama finished 27

Tennessee you understand with the coaching change. But look at Syracuse, Arkansas, and Alabama. No coaching changes but go way down. Florida even dropped some. meanwhile 3 of the top 5 classes aren't in the top 10 back then- and 5 of the top 10.

stever20 wrote:So tough to take the recruiting class rankings seriously right now when only 13 of the top 41 ESPN players have committed. A school could get 1-2 of those guys- and zoom right on up the rankings. Only 5 of the top 20 and 1 of the top 12 as well. Scout a bit bolder- they have 22 of the top 48 committed, but still same principle holds. They have 4 of the top 16 committed so far. Lots of huge guys still out there...

Great case in point is Kentucky. They aren't on the list- but they are in the battle for players- 9 of the top 11 that aren't signed- Kentucky is mentioned as being in the battle. They get just 2 of those guys- they're in the top 5.

Just looking- ESPN's class ratings last year on August 29-
1 UNC finished 3
2 Ohio St finished 6
3 Maryland finished 9
4 Tennessee finished ur
5 Syracuse finished 23
6 Florida finished 13
7 Georgetown finished 8
8 Arkansas finished 39
9 Louisville finished 4
10 Alabama finished 27

Tennessee you understand with the coaching change. But look at Syracuse, Arkansas, and Alabama. No coaching changes but go way down. Florida even dropped some. meanwhile 3 of the top 5 classes aren't in the top 10 back then- and 5 of the top 10.

And only one on this list in the 2014 Final Eight. You don't need a top 10 class to win the NCAA tourney. Lot to do about nothing.

HoosierPal wrote:

stever20 wrote:So tough to take the recruiting class rankings seriously right now when only 13 of the top 41 ESPN players have committed. A school could get 1-2 of those guys- and zoom right on up the rankings. Only 5 of the top 20 and 1 of the top 12 as well. Scout a bit bolder- they have 22 of the top 48 committed, but still same principle holds. They have 4 of the top 16 committed so far. Lots of huge guys still out there...

Great case in point is Kentucky. They aren't on the list- but they are in the battle for players- 9 of the top 11 that aren't signed- Kentucky is mentioned as being in the battle. They get just 2 of those guys- they're in the top 5.

Just looking- ESPN's class ratings last year on August 29-
1 UNC finished 3
2 Ohio St finished 6
3 Maryland finished 9
4 Tennessee finished ur
5 Syracuse finished 23
6 Florida finished 13
7 Georgetown finished 8
8 Arkansas finished 39
9 Louisville finished 4
10 Alabama finished 27

Tennessee you understand with the coaching change. But look at Syracuse, Arkansas, and Alabama. No coaching changes but go way down. Florida even dropped some. meanwhile 3 of the top 5 classes aren't in the top 10 back then- and 5 of the top 10.

And only one on this list in the 2014 Final Eight. You don't need a top 10 class to win the NCAA tourney. Lot to do about nothing.

You do understand that this list was for the 2014 recruiting class which is just now starting to go to school....... Looking at 2012- from the final top 10- only UNLV didn't make the tourney. 3 of the 2014 elite 8 in the top 10 that year. While recruiting isn't perfect(see McDermott,D)- it is a pretty decent barometer of who is going to be good.

HoosierPal wrote:And only one on this list in the 2014 Final Eight. You don't need a top 10 class to win the NCAA tourney. Lot to do about nothing.

Exactly. It's fun to talk about before the season and when discussing conference strength, but stars and rankings don't always translate on the court. Look at Creighton this year... Doug was the highest ranked in his class and was a 3*, not even in the rankings by the major recruiting services. Creighton was successful because of their style of play, the cohesiveness of the team, and their experience. Look at Dayton (Xavier fans shriek in background) or George Mason's many tournament runs years ago or Butler's back-to-back Final runs.

This says much about the position of the Big East as one of the top basketball conferences in the nation.

The PAC has 4 schools listed - Arizona, Washington, UCLA, USC

The ACC has 3 schools listed - Louisville, Duke, Syracuse (2 former BE schools)

The Big 10 has 3 schools listed - Ohio State, Michigan State, Illinois

The SEC has 3 schools listed - Auburn, LSU, Florida

The Big East has 2 schools listed - Georgetown and Marquette

NO OTHER CONFERENCE IS LISTED

The Big 12 - zero

The AAC - zero

The MWC - zero

The C-USA - zero

The MAC - zero

The A-10 - zero

You can argue about the merit of the players recruited and about the merit of Scout. They are very poor and inaccurate in football. However this speaks greatly about the prestige the top conferences have amongst high school basketball players. Obviously we are considered among the top conferences

HoosierPal wrote:

stever20 wrote:So tough to take the recruiting class rankings seriously right now when only 13 of the top 41 ESPN players have committed. A school could get 1-2 of those guys- and zoom right on up the rankings. Only 5 of the top 20 and 1 of the top 12 as well. Scout a bit bolder- they have 22 of the top 48 committed, but still same principle holds. They have 4 of the top 16 committed so far. Lots of huge guys still out there...

Great case in point is Kentucky. They aren't on the list- but they are in the battle for players- 9 of the top 11 that aren't signed- Kentucky is mentioned as being in the battle. They get just 2 of those guys- they're in the top 5.

Just looking- ESPN's class ratings last year on August 29-
1 UNC finished 3
2 Ohio St finished 6
3 Maryland finished 9
4 Tennessee finished ur
5 Syracuse finished 23
6 Florida finished 13
7 Georgetown finished 8
8 Arkansas finished 39
9 Louisville finished 4
10 Alabama finished 27

Tennessee you understand with the coaching change. But look at Syracuse, Arkansas, and Alabama. No coaching changes but go way down. Florida even dropped some. meanwhile 3 of the top 5 classes aren't in the top 10 back then- and 5 of the top 10.

And only one on this list in the 2014 Final Eight. You don't need a top 10 class to win the NCAA tourney. Lot to do about nothing.

Umm, maybe we should look at the classes from 2011, 2012 and 2013 instead. I dont think most people expect their freshman class to be the reason they get to an Elite Eight THAT year. That's kind of a strawman argument.

robinreed wrote:This says much about the position of the Big East as one of the top basketball conferences in the nation.

The PAC has 4 schools listed - Arizona, Washington, UCLA, USC

The ACC has 3 schools listed - Louisville, Duke, Syracuse (2 former BE schools)

The Big 10 has 3 schools listed - Ohio State, Michigan State, Illinois

The SEC has 3 schools listed - Auburn, LSU, Florida

The Big East has 2 schools listed - Georgetown and Marquette

NO OTHER CONFERENCE IS LISTED

The Big 12 - zero

The AAC - zero

The MWC - zero

The C-USA - zero

The MAC - zero

The A-10 - zero

You can argue about the merit of the players recruited and about the merit of Scout. They are very poor and inaccurate in football. However this speaks greatly about the prestige the top conferences have amongst high school basketball players. Obviously we are considered among the top conferences

If this was the final ratings, then yes you would be 100% right. But you can't tell me that for instance Kansas won't be getting in. Or UConn(who is the 2nd team out). Or Kentucky. Or North Carolina. The fact it's so early makes this pretty much meaningless, especailly when you get out of the top 10. Last year's ratings at this point- 4 of the top 10 fell out of the top 20 when all was said and done. Lets see where this list is in November- that's when it'll really matter. Way too many top players who could make a teams class elite just by signing.

R to the OB wrote:

HoosierPal wrote:And only one on this list in the 2014 Final Eight. You don't need a top 10 class to win the NCAA tourney. Lot to do about nothing.

Exactly. It's fun to talk about before the season and when discussing conference strength, but stars and rankings don't always translate on the court. Look at Creighton this year... Doug was the highest ranked in his class and was a 3*, not even in the rankings by the major recruiting services. Creighton was successful because of their style of play, the cohesiveness of the team, and their experience. Look at Dayton (Xavier fans shriek in background) or George Mason's many tournament runs years ago or Butler's back-to-back Final runs.

Please. You can't lean on running into a 3 star Lottery pick as a recruiting strategy. That's like Marquette thinking they'll just find another unranked Dwyane Wade somewhere in Chicago. Recruiting matters probably more than anything. Also, Creighton still didn't get past the 1st weekend with that player you cite.

R to the OB wrote:

HoosierPal wrote:And only one on this list in the 2014 Final Eight. You don't need a top 10 class to win the NCAA tourney. Lot to do about nothing.

Exactly. It's fun to talk about before the season and when discussing conference strength, but stars and rankings don't always translate on the court. Look at Creighton this year... Doug was the highest ranked in his class and was a 3*, not even in the rankings by the major recruiting services. Creighton was successful because of their style of play, the cohesiveness of the team, and their experience. Look at Dayton (Xavier fans shriek in background) or George Mason's many tournament runs years ago or Butler's back-to-back Final runs.

Well stated.