Okay, this kind of surprised me.
Putzing around the Rivals data for something else (at this point, I don't even remember what it was) and stumbled across this revelation. NU's final years in the old Big XII North are eerily similar to what it has experienced so far in the current Big Ten West (I skipped over the Legends/Leaders years) as it relates to the recruiting of 4/5* players within the conference.
During the four cycles from 2007 thru 2010 in the Big XII, some numbers regarding these recruits:
262 - Total number of 4/5* recruits signed by all conference teams
185 - Total signed by teams from the South (70.6%)
77 - Total signed by teams from the North (29.4%)
117 - Total signed by the "whales" (UT/OU) in the South (44.7% of conf total)
26 - Total signed by NU (9.9% of conf total)
Comparatively, during the four cycles from 2014 thru 2017* in the Big Ten, the numbers are:
248 - Total number of 4/5* recruits signed by all conference teams
193 - Total signed by teams from the East (77.8%)
55 - Total signed by teams from the West (22.2%)
109 - Total signed by the "whales" (OSU/MI) in the East (44.0% of conf total)
21 - Total signed by NU (8.5% of conf total)
*The 2017 classes are not yet complete and I fully expect Big Ten numbers represented to finish even closer to the Big XII data than what is currently shown.
How freaky is this? As it relates to this particular metric, NU is in almost the exact same position in the Big Ten West as it was while a member of the Big XII North. That said, a couple of comments:
GBR!
Putzing around the Rivals data for something else (at this point, I don't even remember what it was) and stumbled across this revelation. NU's final years in the old Big XII North are eerily similar to what it has experienced so far in the current Big Ten West (I skipped over the Legends/Leaders years) as it relates to the recruiting of 4/5* players within the conference.
During the four cycles from 2007 thru 2010 in the Big XII, some numbers regarding these recruits:
262 - Total number of 4/5* recruits signed by all conference teams
185 - Total signed by teams from the South (70.6%)
77 - Total signed by teams from the North (29.4%)
117 - Total signed by the "whales" (UT/OU) in the South (44.7% of conf total)
26 - Total signed by NU (9.9% of conf total)
Comparatively, during the four cycles from 2014 thru 2017* in the Big Ten, the numbers are:
248 - Total number of 4/5* recruits signed by all conference teams
193 - Total signed by teams from the East (77.8%)
55 - Total signed by teams from the West (22.2%)
109 - Total signed by the "whales" (OSU/MI) in the East (44.0% of conf total)
21 - Total signed by NU (8.5% of conf total)
*The 2017 classes are not yet complete and I fully expect Big Ten numbers represented to finish even closer to the Big XII data than what is currently shown.
How freaky is this? As it relates to this particular metric, NU is in almost the exact same position in the Big Ten West as it was while a member of the Big XII North. That said, a couple of comments:
- It appears as if the influx of better recruiting coaches (Meyer, Harbaugh, Franklin and even Riley) is only ramping-up the Big Ten totals as the Big has shown an incremental increase each of the 4 years represented (and the last 2 cycles are at or above the average year in the Big XII).
- NU had coaching changes in both of the 4 year periods represented. Even the most guarded and cynical would likely admit that based on what Riley & Co appear to be building, this is the first time in a long time that NU is in a position to actually make gains against the numbers posted annually by the "whale" programs in the conference.
- Like many/most have expressed, there really is no valid reason why NU shouldn't be the divisional representative in the conference championship in the majority of seasons. There have been a lot of deficiencies and faults with each team NU has fielded over the last decade (plus) but I don't think it's really debatable that coaching hasn't been the biggest shortcoming.
GBR!
