Rivals rankings

[Pennsyhusker]

I see after the dust settled that Rivals has us ranked at 20th. Great job coaches!

I think the class we just got is a talent loaded class that is not far off where we want to be. There is a razor's edge of difference between being ranked 20th or 13th or whatever. Sometimes it comes down to one player.

Notre Dame is ranked 13th. They got 21 guys. They took one more four star recruit than we did. Their average stars are 3.33. Nebraska's is 3.3.

One player... and he might turn out to be a wash. Had we gotten even one more four star we would be sitting around 13th in the nation as well.

This is a great class. Husker nation should be very happy right now. And Riley and his staff are already busting ass for next year. If we have a good season next year (and I think we will) our recruiting is going to be even better.

GBR

 

[dinglefritz]

. Sometimes it comes down to one player.

Notre Dame is ranked 13th. They got 21 guys. They took one more four star recruit than we did. Their average stars are 3.33. Nebraska's is 3.3.

One player... and he might turn out to be a wash. Had we gotten even one more four star we would be sitting around 13th in the nation as well.

This is a great class. Husker nation should be very happy right now. And Riley and his staff are already busting ass for next year. If we have a good season next year (and I think we will) our recruiting is going to be even better.

GBR

Yep Calvin really stabbed us in the back.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

Yep Calvin really stabbed us in the back.

He did. My one and only complaint about our recruiting is that this is two years in a row now that coach Williams has gotten screwed on signing day and left at the altar by a recruit. I think he needs to do a better job, if it is possible, of identifying the flakes. There were tons of signs out there that Calvin was not to be trusted. His scholie offer should have been permanently revoked after the AA game stunt.

But that is water under the bridge and a trivial quibble. Bottom line is this: had we gotten him or another four star we would be 13th or so.
This class is good

 

[Dean Pope]

I see after the dust settled that Rivals has us ranked at 20th. Great job coaches!

I think the class we just got is a talent loaded class that is not far off where we want to be. There is a razor's edge of difference between being ranked 20th or 13th or whatever. Sometimes it comes down to one player.

Notre Dame is ranked 13th. They got 21 guys. They took one more four star recruit than we did. Their average stars are 3.33. Nebraska's is 3.3.

One player... and he might turn out to be a wash. Had we gotten even one more four star we would be sitting around 13th in the nation as well.

This is a great class. Husker nation should be very happy right now. And Riley and his staff are already busting ass for next year. If we have a good season next year (and I think we will) our recruiting is going to be even better.

GBR

I think we've got a few guys on our list who are underrated too. If that's the case, then this class will prove to be a top 15 class when we look at it a few years down the road.

I love recruiting, but I don't care about ratings much. The ratings are so inaccurate. Instead of rating teams in an numerical order, it should really be done by tiers. Often times, there's little difference between #15-30 ranked classes.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

I think we've got a few guys on our list who are underrated too. If that's the case, then this class will prove to be a top 15 class when we look at it a few years down the road.

I love recruiting, but I don't care about ratings much. The ratings are so inaccurate. Instead of rating teams in an numerical order, it should really be done by tiers. Often times, there's little difference between #15-30 ranked classes.

Speaking of underrated players, I read an article in the OWH yesterday quoting a recruiting analyst (Lemming?) saying that Lindsey should be a five star receiver.

 

[dinglefritz]

He did. My one and only complaint about our recruiting is that this is two years in a row now that coach Williams has gotten screwed on signing day and left at the altar by a recruit. I think he needs to do a better job, if it is possible, of identifying the flakes. There were tons of signs out there that Calvin was not to be trusted. His scholie offer should have been permanently revoked after the AA game stunt.

But that is water under the bridge and a trivial quibble. Bottom line is this: had we gotten him or another four star we would be 13th or so.
This class is good

After hearing about his "signing ceremony" on periscope and some of the things he's said, I think Rivals should award us extra points for dodging that bullet..

 

[inWV]

After hearing about his "signing ceremony" on periscope and some of the things he's said, I think Rivals should award us extra points for dodging that bullet..

And as we know, the Pirate is not known as the easiest guy to play for. Some kids should be considered "reaches" even if they have 4 stars by their name.

 

[charger78]

He did. My one and only complaint about our recruiting is that this is two years in a row now that coach Williams has gotten screwed on signing day and left at the altar by a recruit. I think he needs to do a better job, if it is possible, of identifying the flakes. There were tons of signs out there that Calvin was not to be trusted. His scholie offer should have been permanently revoked after the AA game stunt.

But that is water under the bridge and a trivial quibble. Bottom line is this: had we gotten him or another four star we would be 13th or so.
This class is good

Agree here - during HCMR news con. he alluded to this fact. How much energy to you waste on these types of players and how can they identify them. Identifying them early is key...Foster, dream has always been Stanford, probably spent a little too much time and resources there. Yes, i know we got him on campus and he loved Cav., but it was obviously a huge uphill battle. In a year or two, it won't be such an uphill battle. When Calvin committed to OSU, decommitted and then committed to NU w/o coaches knowing, should have cut ties. HUGE red flag.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan]

I think we've got a few guys on our list who are underrated too. .

Says every fan base...I agree with you BTW, but everyone thinks this.

 

[jlb321]

Yep Calvin really stabbed us in the back.

we allowed Calvin to stab us in the back ... the more of this saga that comes the worse our staff looks ... he wasn't that big of a difference maker to have to put up with his BS .. Oregon State and WSU were willing to put up with it .. we should have moved on after the AA game

despite the above blemish overall a good day

 

[Native Nebraskan]

Agree that this a very good class. Not much difference from 20 to 13.

Yes there is bad taste at the very end because of one flake. Maybe better to know now than a year or so later. Don't forget the last minute steals Nebraska got. I will take the last minute steals.

 

[jteten]

Considering the number of players we signed, I am pleased with this class.

 

[headcard]

we allowed Calvin to stab us in the back ... the more of this saga that comes the worse our staff looks ... he wasn't that big of a difference maker to have to put up with his BS .. Oregon State and WSU were willing to put up with it .. we should have moved on after the AA game

despite the above blemish overall a good day

Agree. Now, we will go ahead and get 3 more good WR next year. Unless the injury bug hits at WR this year, no big deal.

 

[ellobo]

I see after the dust settled that Rivals has us ranked at 20th. Great job coaches!

I think the class we just got is a talent loaded class that is not far off where we want to be. There is a razor's edge of difference between being ranked 20th or 13th or whatever. Sometimes it comes down to one player.

Notre Dame is ranked 13th. They got 21 guys. They took one more four star recruit than we did. Their average stars are 3.33. Nebraska's is 3.3.

One player... and he might turn out to be a wash. Had we gotten even one more four star we would be sitting around 13th in the nation as well.

This is a great class. Husker nation should be very happy right now. And Riley and his staff are already busting ass for next year. If we have a good season next year (and I think we will) our recruiting is going to be even better.

GBR

I've tried to explain this before...looking at star ranking and number of 4*s can be extremely deceiving. It is RR and where they fall in the R250 that tends to separate classes when they are close in average stars.

Think of it in NFL terms: The highest rated 4* is ranked at 35. That is the equivalent of the 3rd pick in the second round of the draft...in most years there are fewer than 32 5*s meaning the highest 4 would be a late 1st rounder. The tail end of the R250 are your 7th rounders and the non-R250 guys are the equivalent of a highly touted undrafted free agents.

If you were an NFL GM and started trading late 1st round and 2nd round picks for 7th rounders and UFAs (straight up) would you have your job the next day? No, and rivals treats it accordingly with how they award points. With that said, I don't think the difference #13 and #20 is all that much either...just don't think it is as simple as they got one more 4*...heck, might not even be the 4*s...could be they got a bunch more 5.7 3*s and you got a bunch of 5.5/5.6 guys...don't know...haven't crunched the numbers.

 

[ellobo]

Btw...here is some fun math...if you add a non R250 4* to your class you'd have an addition 60 points (105 for the new player minus 45 for your lowest ranked player no longer counting towards the total). That would have put you at 1923 points and tied with Stanford for the 19th/20th spot...so you'd essentially have the exact same ranking.

 

[Toms Wife]

Btw...here is some fun math...if you add a non R250 4* to your class you'd have an addition 60 points (105 for the new player minus 45 for your lowest ranked player no longer counting towards the total). That would have put you at 1923 points and tied with Stanford for the 19th/20th spot...so you'd essentially have the exact same ranking.

Yeah...I don't get the sentiment that we would be 13th. I also think every fan base is talking today about their diamonds in the rough. In the end Bill Parcells is probably right even about recruiting: "You are what your record says your are."

 

[Bremser]

I see after the dust settled that Rivals has us ranked at 20th. Great job coaches!

I think the class we just got is a talent loaded class that is not far off where we want to be. There is a razor's edge of difference between being ranked 20th or 13th or whatever. Sometimes it comes down to one player.

Notre Dame is ranked 13th. They got 21 guys. They took one more four star recruit than we did. Their average stars are 3.33. Nebraska's is 3.3.

One player... and he might turn out to be a wash. Had we gotten even one more four star we would be sitting around 13th in the nation as well.

This is a great class. Husker nation should be very happy right now. And Riley and his staff are already busting ass for next year. If we have a good season next year (and I think we will) our recruiting is going to be even better.

GBR

Winning takes it to the next level. Great job coaches and staff. Get some MO by winning more, and we are on our way!

 

[HuskerO]

we allowed Calvin to stab us in the back ... the more of this saga that comes the worse our staff looks ... he wasn't that big of a difference maker to have to put up with his BS .. Oregon State and WSU were willing to put up with it .. we should have moved on after the AA game

despite the above blemish overall a good day

From what I've been told, once Calvin started wavering his commitment to us the day before signing day, Williams told Calvin we weren't going to send him a LOI to sign even if he wanted to come here.

I truly believe we cut ties from Calvin by Tuesday night and Nebraska wasnt even an option for him anymore.

 

[inWV]

From what I've been told, once Calvin started wavering his commitment to us the day before signing day, Williams told Calvin we weren't going to send him a LOI to sign even if he wanted to come here.

I truly believe we cut ties from Calvin by Tuesday night and Nebraska wasnt even an option for him anymore.

If true, lots of props to the staff for that.

 

[HuskerO]

If true, lots of props to the staff for that.

And before anyone starts chanting, "oh here come the 'we didnt want him' excuses"...

We did want him and would have taken him, but it was after he started waffling Tuesday is when we cut ties.

 

[Pennsyhusker]

I've tried to explain this before...looking at star ranking and number of 4*s can be extremely deceiving. It is RR and where they fall in the R250 that tends to separate classes when they are close in average stars.

Think of it in NFL terms: The highest rated 4* is ranked at 35. That is the equivalent of the 3rd pick in the second round of the draft...in most years there are fewer than 32 5*s meaning the highest 4 would be a late 1st rounder. The tail end of the R250 are your 7th rounders and the non-R250 guys are the equivalent of a highly touted undrafted free agents.

If you were an NFL GM and started trading late 1st round and 2nd round picks for 7th rounders and UFAs (straight up) would you have your job the next day? No, and rivals treats it accordingly with how they award points. With that said, I don't think the difference #13 and #20 is all that much either...just don't think it is as simple as they got one more 4*...heck, might not even be the 4*s...could be they got a bunch more 5.7 3*s and you got a bunch of 5.5/5.6 guys...don't know...haven't crunched the numbers.

Good clarification. And all you say is correct. I overstated my case as to how highly we would have been ranked with one more 4 star. But I am glad to see that you do affirm the main point I was trying to make. Namely, that the difference between the 20th and 13th rated classes is not that great. I am not one of those who dismisses the importance of "stars" and Rivals rankings. Nevertheless, it is not an exact science and there is great variability in some of the factors.

 

[cornhustler]

Agree here - during HCMR news con. he alluded to this fact. How much energy to you waste on these types of players and how can they identify them. Identifying them early is key...Foster, dream has always been Stanford, probably spent a little too much time and resources there. Yes, i know we got him on campus and he loved Cav., but it was obviously a huge uphill battle. In a year or two, it won't be such an uphill battle. When Calvin committed to OSU, decommitted and then committed to NU w/o coaches knowing, should have cut ties. HUGE red flag.

Just out of curiosity does anyone know what our ranking would have been if we landed both Lewis and Sarell, just one on them? I think it was worth it because both players said it was pretty close. If you want to date a babetron you must take on some long odds.

 

[Bugeater]

The ranking I'm most concerned about is around the first week of December and where Nebraska sits at that time. Hopefully, it will be between 1-15!

 

[romaman]

The ranking I'm most concerned about is around the first week of December and where Nebraska sits at that time. Hopefully, it will be between 1-15!

Agree 100%

 

[Hoosker Du]

From what I've been told, once Calvin started wavering his commitment to us the day before signing day, Williams told Calvin we weren't going to send him a LOI to sign even if he wanted to come here.

I truly believe we cut ties from Calvin by Tuesday night and Nebraska wasnt even an option for him anymore.

A donor talked to coach Williams on Monday night, and he said then that "He was done messin' with that turkey."

 

[husker56]

He did. My one and only complaint about our recruiting is that this is two years in a row now that coach Williams has gotten screwed on signing day and left at the altar by a recruit. I think he needs to do a better job, if it is possible, of identifying the flakes. There were tons of signs out there that Calvin was not to be trusted. His scholie offer should have been permanently revoked after the AA game stunt.

But that is water under the bridge and a trivial quibble. Bottom line is this: had we gotten him or another four star we would be 13th or so.
This class is good

i think with this offence and new for real passing QB'S we have receivers are going to be like trying to get here and that will make things way better for Coach Williams and his crooting.

 

[DudznSudz]

So, a couple of thoughts:

I agree that once you really get into the top 25, there isn't a whole ton of difference between the 20th ranked class and the 13th ranked class. It's kind of like a big curve. I think a class that barely squeaks in at 25th is probably not as good as the 13th in ways that an average football viewer would probably notice during a game, but once you crack the top 20, at least up to about the 10th ranked class, its all kind of a wash because the differences are fairly small.

There IS a big difference between having a top 5 class and having the 20th ranked class, though. And someone last year posted, if you want to see what that really looks like, watch Michigan State in last year's playoff game. They played hard, but wound up getting throttled, and it seriously just came down to a talent gap.

I for one am very, very happy with this class, and if we can consistently get classes ranked between 10th and 20th (which is hugely successful for our program) over the next 2-3 years, THEN we will have the momentum to maybe crack the top 10, because a roster loaded with talent like that CAN win the West and CAN challenge the big dogs in the East and have a shot at winning the division and getting into the Playoff.

^^^ On that last note, I think that even just winning the division and getting into the Rose Bowl is a great recruiting tool, because its a big national game IN California.

 

[TheBeav815]

Definitely a lot of solid athletes in the class. A lot to be happy about and I'll certainly take the direction they're trending.

That said, I still think it's time for Nebraska to drop the "nice guy" stuff when it comes to class sizes and attrition. Instead of actively managing attrition and carrying a full set of 85, too many times NU has watched it happen to them and struggled with depth.

I'm not enamored with the idea of trying to recruit transfers or hold aside space to award walk-on scholarships. Give me a full boat of freshman so we can see who's in it to win it and who isn't over the course of the next couple years.

Signing FULL classes sends a very clear message to the guys on scholarship that if they're not clear on their priorities, they'll find themselves down at some D3 school where it's a little more their speed next season.

 

[CheeseRunza]

Definitely a lot of solid athletes in the class. A lot to be happy about and I'll certainly take the direction they're trending.

That said, I still think it's time for Nebraska to drop the "nice guy" stuff when it comes to class sizes and attrition. Instead of actively managing attrition and carrying a full set of 85, too many times NU has watched it happen to them and struggled with depth.

I'm not enamored with the idea of trying to recruit transfers or hold aside space to award walk-on scholarships. Give me a full boat of freshman so we can see who's in it to win it and who isn't over the course of the next couple years.

Signing FULL classes sends a very clear message to the guys on scholarship that if they're not clear on their priorities, they'll find themselves down at some D3 school where it's a little more their speed next season.

I agree with this 100%. I heard once that when Coach Cook accepted verbal commitments from players or signed players, he would welcome them, congratulate them, etc. and would tell them something to the effect that it was now his job to find someone even better who would take your spot on the court and put you on the bench.

I would think that most young adults with any kind of competitiveness would embrace this kind of challenge and the type of atmosphere it fosters. I would think they would welcome being held to standards of excellence and being one of the “few” who can rise to the standard (effort, dedication, ability, or whatever the standards may be), instead of one of the “many” who can’t/won’t.

 

[ellobo]

Just out of curiosity does anyone know what our ranking would have been if we landed both Lewis and Sarell, just one on them? I think it was worth it because both players said it was pretty close. If you want to date a babetron you must take on some long odds.

Here's something's funny for you...if you got those two THEN you would have moved up to #13 with 2154...10 ahead of ND. It's guys like that that separates classes.

Which kind of illustrates the point of number of stars being deceiving and that it is RR that matters. What is the difference, for example, between the #5 WR and the #56? In terms of stars zip because they are both 4*s (this past year). In terms of RR, though, one is a 6.0 and the other a 5.8...and in terms of points the #5 guy gets you 79 more points (roughly 75% more). Which is fair because if the rankings are right (let's pretend they are for a moment) that means the #5 guy is a first team all conference and borderline all American type vs the #56 guy who is more of your all conference honorable mention type (again, pretending the rankings are correct). Both desirable players but what do think would happen if a team full of borderline all Americans played a team of honorable mention guys (all other things being equal)? Yet, technically both would have the same star rating.

 

[dinglefritz]

The good news is that none of this class is going to play pro baseball and none of this class is likely going to get kicked off the team for exposing themselves to clerks, hitting teammates over the head with bottles, repeatedly testing positive for banned substances, etc etc etc.

 

[19Football19]

Says every fan base...I agree with you BTW, but everyone thinks this.

Lol. This is so true. Every team iutsude if the top 20 thinks they're too 20. We've been saying the same thing for 17 years with no conf titles. However, this year is different. I just know it

 

[Cornicator]

I wouldn't worry about Calvin. I think he's going to fade into oblivion. I don't believe he has the right temperament or the balls to play for Mike Leach.

Calvin's emotional maturity is non existent. I think he will really struggle at the first sign of adversity.

 

[jeans15]

The good news is that none of this class is going to play pro baseball and none of this class is likely going to get kicked off the team for exposing themselves to clerks, hitting teammates over the head with bottles, repeatedly testing positive for banned substances, etc etc etc.

Be careful with this my friend.....those make for some good foot all players...

 

[nebcountry]

Here's something's funny for you...if you got those two THEN you would have moved up to #13 with 2154...10 ahead of ND. It's guys like that that separates classes.

Which kind of illustrates the point of number of stars being deceiving and that it is RR that matters. What is the difference, for example, between the #5 WR and the #56? In terms of stars zip because they are both 4*s (this past year). In terms of RR, though, one is a 6.0 and the other a 5.8...and in terms of points the #5 guy gets you 79 more points (roughly 75% more). Which is fair because if the rankings are right (let's pretend they are for a moment) that means the #5 guy is a first team all conference and borderline all American type vs the #56 guy who is more of your all conference honorable mention type (again, pretending the rankings are correct). Both desirable players but what do think would happen if a team full of borderline all Americans played a team of honorable mention guys (all other things being equal)? Yet, technically both would have the same star rating.

It we would've landed Lewis and Sarell, I would've viewed this cycle as a homerun. But we didn't. 20 ≠ 13. Thanks for the numbers ellobo.

I'm content with this class, happy we didn't fish much near the end.