I was bored and wondered what the average recruiting rankings were for the teams that have won national championships so I went back and looked at the recruiting rankings for each team. I used the prior 5 years of recruiting rankings for each team from Rivals.
2016 Clemson(6,4,13,14,14) Avg: 10.2
2015 Alabama(2,1,1,1,1) Avg: 1.2
2014 Ohio State(3,2,4,11,25) Avg: 9
2013 Florida State(10,6,2,10,7) Avg: 7
2012 Alabama(1,1,5,1,1) Avg: 1.8
2011 Alabama(1,5,1,1,10) Avg: 3.6
2010 Auburn(4,19,20,7,10) Avg: 12
2009 Alabama(1,1,10,11,18) Avg: 8.2
2008 Florida(3,1,2,15,7) Avg: 5.6
2007 LSU(4,7,22,2,1) Avg: 7.2
Average ranking of Nat'l Champs: 6.58
I used the Rivals rankings to do this. A couple of the big things I took from this is that there are no teams that won the title that didn't have at least one top 10 recruiting class. The average class ranking of the last 10 is 6.58.There are multiple number 1 classes with Alabama having most of them.
Then, I wondered what it takes to be able to play in the CFB Playoff. We have now had the playoff for 4 years. Here is what I found out using the 5 prior class rankings:
2014(Average 8.6)
Oregon(26,22,16,9,13) Avg 17.2
Ohio St(3,2,4,11,25) Avg: 9
FSU(4,10,6,2,10) Avg: 6.4
Bama(1,1,1,1,5) Avg: 1.8
2015(Average ranking 14.2)
Clemson(4,13,14,14,8) Avg: 10.6
Bama(2,1,1,1,1) Avg: 1.2
OU(14,15,15,11,14) Avg: 13.8
Mich St(22,22,40,41,31) Avg 31.2
2016(Average Ranking 11)
Clemson(6,4,13,14,14) Avg: 10.2
Bama(1,2,1,1,1) Avg 1.2
Ohio St(3,9,3,2,4) Avg 4.2
Washington(37,30,36,18,21) Avg: 28.4
2017(Average Ranking 7.7)
OU(7,16,14,15,15) Avg: 10.4
Clemson(22,6,4,13,14) Avg: 11.8
Georgia(3,9,6,7,12) Avg: 7.4
Bama(1,1,2,1,1) Avg: 1.2
Obviously, there are a couple anomalies here with Michigan St and Washington making it to the CFBP, but it is obvious that you have to recruit at a pretty high level in order to make it here. Recruiting does matter. I know recruiting to Nebraska is seen as a tough thing, but if we want to play at a title contender level, we have to recruit better than we have. We do have a pretty easy west division that could get us to the conference title game, which, in turn, could possibly get us to the playoff(see Wisconsin this year). As a Husker fan, I don't necessarily think that we have to get back to the national title level to be relevant again or do I expect those types for results. I would love to be in the hunt for a conference title first and then let the chips fall where they may. If we could play for a national title, that would be icing on the cake. What is the formula for Nebraska to make it here some day?
2016 Clemson(6,4,13,14,14) Avg: 10.2
2015 Alabama(2,1,1,1,1) Avg: 1.2
2014 Ohio State(3,2,4,11,25) Avg: 9
2013 Florida State(10,6,2,10,7) Avg: 7
2012 Alabama(1,1,5,1,1) Avg: 1.8
2011 Alabama(1,5,1,1,10) Avg: 3.6
2010 Auburn(4,19,20,7,10) Avg: 12
2009 Alabama(1,1,10,11,18) Avg: 8.2
2008 Florida(3,1,2,15,7) Avg: 5.6
2007 LSU(4,7,22,2,1) Avg: 7.2
Average ranking of Nat'l Champs: 6.58
I used the Rivals rankings to do this. A couple of the big things I took from this is that there are no teams that won the title that didn't have at least one top 10 recruiting class. The average class ranking of the last 10 is 6.58.There are multiple number 1 classes with Alabama having most of them.
Then, I wondered what it takes to be able to play in the CFB Playoff. We have now had the playoff for 4 years. Here is what I found out using the 5 prior class rankings:
2014(Average 8.6)
Oregon(26,22,16,9,13) Avg 17.2
Ohio St(3,2,4,11,25) Avg: 9
FSU(4,10,6,2,10) Avg: 6.4
Bama(1,1,1,1,5) Avg: 1.8
2015(Average ranking 14.2)
Clemson(4,13,14,14,8) Avg: 10.6
Bama(2,1,1,1,1) Avg: 1.2
OU(14,15,15,11,14) Avg: 13.8
Mich St(22,22,40,41,31) Avg 31.2
2016(Average Ranking 11)
Clemson(6,4,13,14,14) Avg: 10.2
Bama(1,2,1,1,1) Avg 1.2
Ohio St(3,9,3,2,4) Avg 4.2
Washington(37,30,36,18,21) Avg: 28.4
2017(Average Ranking 7.7)
OU(7,16,14,15,15) Avg: 10.4
Clemson(22,6,4,13,14) Avg: 11.8
Georgia(3,9,6,7,12) Avg: 7.4
Bama(1,1,2,1,1) Avg: 1.2
Obviously, there are a couple anomalies here with Michigan St and Washington making it to the CFBP, but it is obvious that you have to recruit at a pretty high level in order to make it here. Recruiting does matter. I know recruiting to Nebraska is seen as a tough thing, but if we want to play at a title contender level, we have to recruit better than we have. We do have a pretty easy west division that could get us to the conference title game, which, in turn, could possibly get us to the playoff(see Wisconsin this year). As a Husker fan, I don't necessarily think that we have to get back to the national title level to be relevant again or do I expect those types for results. I would love to be in the hunt for a conference title first and then let the chips fall where they may. If we could play for a national title, that would be icing on the cake. What is the formula for Nebraska to make it here some day?
