ESPN Team Rankings

#28
#28
The Original Fade said:
We have a good class, but it’s still middle of the pack in the SEC. That won’t cut it long term - need to be at least top 5 in the conference every 3 out of 4 years if you want to be in the playoff hunt year in year out.
Click to expand...
We're now 7th and 5th in the SEC on Rivals. We're on the way, hopefully.
 
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#31
#31
CA_Vol said:
I realize recruiting evaluations are a subjective process, but how in the world does ESPN rate our class 18th while Rivals has us 7th and 247 9th?

I know the easy answer is they are just lame, but how can there be that significant a discrepancy?
Click to expand...

ESPN has the worst rankings of all. They seem to have no clue. I remember when they had the WR we got out of Franklin top 75. Kid couldn't get on the field on special teams.
 
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#32
#32
A big part of this season's ESPN vs Rivals/247 ranking discrepancy for UT is that several of UTs recruits had significant ranking increases on Rivals & 247 due to very good senior seasons. ESPN is low staffed and seldom re-ranks the recruits. So most all of ESPNs recruits were ranked at the end of their Junior years and they seldom get adjusted up or down during their senior seasons.

In fact several recruits weren't even ranked by ESPN when they committed to UT. ESPN just slapped a medium 3* ranking on most of the recruits they had not evaluated. .. then they don't have the manpower to do an actual evaluation on the player later .. so the medium 3* ranking sticks.
 
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#33
#33
GojiraVol17 said:
Their “recruiting experts” don’t watch any film and they literally only judge players based off of the flash & dash they bring and word of mouth from their yankee colleagues. They don’t pay attention whatsoever. Rivals and 247 both do a fantastic job of evaluating. Just so happens our coaches do an even more fantastic job at evaluating & determining what they want in a player.
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ESPN guy’s watching film.
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#34
#34
I’m too concerned about being a few slots behind some SEC teams. It’s more about how many of the players you keep and how you develop them. For example, Gibbs was a 4 star in UGAs 2017 class. Now look where he is. Same can be said for Mays
 
#36
#36
The Original Fade said:
We have a good class, but it’s still middle of the pack in the SEC. That won’t cut it long term - need to be at least top 5 in the conference every 3 out of 4 years if you want to be in the playoff hunt year in year out.
Click to expand...

Considering where we were in September to now, I’d say that was pretty strong. As long as we continue to get great QB’s in classes I think that can overcome some of those middle of the pack finishes.
 
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#37
#37
chargervol said:
Seriously. Just want to snap their damn fingers and poof.

It's just "hey, we used to be a top school in the 90's. And we finally won a bowl game this year.
So uh, someone want to tell me why we're not up there between LSU and Bama?"
Click to expand...
We need top 10 classes.

We got a top 10 class.

Not good enough. Need top 5 sec class.

Well we got top 5 sec on rivals.

Not good enough. We need a new post hole digger, I broke this one moving the last 2 goalposts. Now we need top 5 sec on all 3 services.

Have you seen how useless ESPN rankings are?

Ikr. They are perfect for keeping my tired narrative alive.
 
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#38
#38
Sleegro said:
We need top 10 classes.

We got a top 10 class.

Not good enough. Need top 5 sec class.

Well we got top 5 sec on rivals.

Not good enough. We need a new post hole digger, I broke this one moving the last 2 goalposts. Now we need top 5 sec on all 3 services.

Have you seen how useless ESPN rankings are?

Ikr. They are perfect for keeping my tired narrative alive.
Click to expand...
Lol. Yup...
 
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#39
#39
Sleegro said:
We need top 10 classes.

We got a top 10 class.

Not good enough. Need top 5 sec class.

Well we got top 5 sec on rivals.

Not good enough. We need a new post hole digger, I broke this one moving the last 2 goalposts. Now we need top 5 sec on all 3 services.

Have you seen how useless ESPN rankings are?

Ikr. They are perfect for keeping my tired narrative alive.
Click to expand...

If Pruitt and Co. are happy, I am happy. Lets ride.
 
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#40
#40
The Original Fade said:
We have a good class, but it’s still middle of the pack in the SEC. That won’t cut it long term - need to be at least top 5 in the conference every 3 out of 4 years if you want to be in the playoff hunt year in year out.
Click to expand...
I agree in principle with what you’re saying, but I also wonder if the quality of players coming out of high school has increased to point that the gap between #1 and #10 (national) is nominal so long as you fulfill your needs.

The key seems to be consistency within the Top 10 that’s builds the depth needed to compete for the playoffs every year.
 
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#41
#41
smokeyz1 said:
A big part of this season's ESPN vs Rivals/247 ranking discrepancy for UT is that several of UTs recruits had significant ranking increases on Rivals & 247 due to very good senior seasons. ESPN is low staffed and seldom re-ranks the recruits. So most all of ESPNs recruits were ranked at the end of their Junior years and they seldom get adjusted up or down during their senior seasons.

In fact several recruits weren't even ranked by ESPN when they committed to UT. ESPN just slapped a medium 3* ranking on most of the recruits they had not evaluated. .. then they don't have the manpower to do an actual evaluation on the player later .. so the medium 3* ranking sticks.
Click to expand...

This is exactly right
 
#42
#42
The Original Fade said:
We have a good class, but it’s still middle of the pack in the SEC. That won’t cut it long term - need to be at least top 5 in the conference every 3 out of 4 years if you want to be in the playoff hunt year in year out.
Click to expand...
If you have a staff that is great at evaluation and more importantly player development, then a #9 class ends up more like a top 5 class. This isn't Butch Jones recruiting or coaching.
 
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#44
#44
The Original Fade said:
We have a good class, but it’s still middle of the pack in the SEC. That won’t cut it long term - need to be at least top 5 in the conference every 3 out of 4 years if you want to be in the playoff hunt year in year out.
Click to expand...

QB can be a huge difference maker if he’s as good as advertised then this class will be very good, and if he’s not it could very painful to watch.
 
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#45
#45
Rest assured that the 5 or 6 teams in SEC that are ranked ahead of us are also "filling their needs" as some like to needlessly point out.
The difference is how effectively the coaching staff coaches them and utilizes them. Another major factor is retaining the recruits, no transfers or retirements.
 
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#46
#46
smokeyz1 said:
A big part of this season's ESPN vs Rivals/247 ranking discrepancy for UT is that several of UTs recruits had significant ranking increases on Rivals & 247 due to very good senior seasons. ESPN is low staffed and seldom re-ranks the recruits. So most all of ESPNs recruits were ranked at the end of their Junior years and they seldom get adjusted up or down during their senior seasons.

In fact several recruits weren't even ranked by ESPN when they committed to UT. ESPN just slapped a medium 3* ranking on most of the recruits they had not evaluated. .. then they don't have the manpower to do an actual evaluation on the player later .. so the medium 3* ranking sticks.
Click to expand...
This is true, and part of the reason why the analysis of 247 is more respected. They specialize in recruiting evaluation, and ESPN doesn't. ESPN's evaluations are very superficial... of course, that doesn't necessarily make them wrong. There is usually a consensus on who the elite players are, but they don't do as good a job analyzing the players out of what they consider to be the top 100.
 
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#48
#48
CA_Vol said:
I realize recruiting evaluations are a subjective process, but how in the world does ESPN rate our class 18th while Rivals has us 7th and 247 9th?

I know the easy answer is they are just lame, but how can there be that significant a discrepancy?
Click to expand...

Simple, the player evaluators only see a small % of players in person. All I care about is the UT staff's evaluation of the player's SKAs. ESPN is really a non-factor in all of this.......
 
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#49
#49
Personally, I don't think it's worth sweating. I think we now have a staff that really evaluates recruits and trusts their own evaluations. Carries far more weight with me than services. If they can develop kids, we will be contending in the east soon enough.

Can't remember where I read/heard it, but someone claimed that there really isn't much difference between the top 15 classes when you get right down to it. If JP is happy....good enough for me.
 
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#50
#50
The only time I ever gave a damn about espn recruiting is when they had Trey #1 over all recruit. ESPN is a joke.
 
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