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Marques Ford commits over the weekend.
Everything happens for a reason! Now I know for sure everything is gonna work out...cause I am officially committed to Rutgers University
— Marques Ford (@Marques_Ford) January 23, 2015
Najee Clayton commits on Monday.
Happy to announce that I will be continuing my education and football career at RUTGERS UNIVERSITY ‼️#CHOPNation pic.twitter.com/be4PC5yck4
— Najee Clayton (@Jee_Sosa9) January 26, 2015
Not a bad round up for Kyle Flood. So where exactly does Rutgers stand as we approach T minus 7 days til National Letter of Intent Day?
Figures Never Lie and Liars Never Figure
You can use whatever rating service you want. Both 247 Sports and Rivals have their own scoring system, and they both moved Rutgers up nicely with the 4-star commit of Marques Ford. As of January 26, at this writing, Rutgers had moved up ten spots on 247's Composite ranking to No. 52 nationally. Within the Big Ten, 247 had us at No. 9, ahead of - in order - Iowa, Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota, and Michigan. Yes, as of today, the Wolverines are the 14th best recruiting team in the B1G this off season. They have only nine commitments, of which five are 4-star players. I don't think Jim Harbaugh will keep those figures for long.
247 Sports
|
B1G Rank |
Team |
|
1 |
Ohio State |
|
2 |
Penn State |
|
3 |
Michigan State |
|
4 |
Wisconsin |
|
5 |
Nebraska |
|
6 |
Maryland |
|
7 |
Northwestern |
|
8 |
Indiana |
|
9 |
Rutgers |
|
10 |
Iowa |
|
11 |
Illinois |
|
12 |
Purdue |
|
13 |
Minnesota |
|
14 |
Michigan |
Over at Rivals, it's pretty similar. Rutgers comes in at No. 48 nationally and No. 8 in the conference, ahead of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Purdue, and Michigan. Tell me again why we're in the Eastern Division?
Rivals
|
B1G Rank |
Team |
|
1 |
Ohio State |
|
2 |
Penn State |
|
3 |
Wisconsin |
|
4 |
Michigan State |
|
5 |
Nebraska |
|
6 |
Northwestern |
|
7 |
Indiana |
|
8 |
Rutgers |
|
9 |
Minnesota |
|
10 |
Iowa |
|
11 |
Illinois |
|
12 |
Maryland |
|
13 |
Purdue |
|
14 |
Michigan |
But the rankings change quite a bit if you look at it a bit differently. With Rivals, for instance, if you look at the average star ranking, Rutgers drops, since it has only one 4-star and a lot of 3's. Michigan, with more than half of its (nine) recruits at 4-stars, jumps way up. Same for 247's average value, based on their scoring system.
Rivals Star Average
|
Team |
Total Recruits |
Avg Stars |
|
Ohio State |
24 |
3.5 |
|
Penn State |
22 |
3.5 |
|
Nebraska |
14 |
3.36 |
|
Michigan State |
15 |
3.33 |
|
Michigan |
9 |
3.33 |
|
Average |
3.40 |
|
|
Wisconsin |
26 |
2.88 |
|
Iowa |
17 |
2.88 |
|
Northwestern |
20 |
2.84 |
|
Indiana |
19 |
2.84 |
|
Maryland |
17 |
2.81 |
|
Minnesota |
20 |
2.74 |
|
Illinois |
19 |
2.68 |
|
Rutgers |
22 |
2.59 |
|
Purdue |
25 |
2.48 |
247 Composite Scoring Average
|
Original Rank |
Team |
Total Recruits |
Avg Value |
|
1 |
Ohio State |
90.04 |
|
|
2 |
Penn State |
89.56 |
|
|
14 |
Michigan |
87.5 |
|
|
5 |
Nebraska |
87.48 |
|
|
3 |
Michigan State |
87.47 |
|
|
Average |
88.41 |
||
|
4 |
Wisconsin |
26 |
85.09 |
|
6 |
Maryland |
85.01 |
|
|
7 |
Northwestern |
84.4 |
|
|
8 |
Indiana |
83.99 |
|
|
10 |
Iowa |
83.99 |
|
|
11 |
Illinois |
83.09 |
|
|
9 |
Rutgers |
82.9 |
|
|
13 |
Minnesota |
82.81 |
|
|
12 |
Purdue |
81.84 |
So, who has a better class right now?
Oh, and by the way, according to 247 Sports, there is only one 5-star recruit in all of the Big Ten. And Rivals says there are none.