Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/260491
2 0 1 4 E X P A N D E D O U T L O O K R I t's no secret why the Southeastern Con- ference has won seven of the past eight national championships. All you have to do is skim the Rivals.com archives to see how well the league has recruited in recent years. In four of the past six years, Alabama has recruited Rivals' No. 1 class, and the Crimson Tide have hardly been the SEC's only big winners. That trend continued this February. On signing day, eight of Rivals' top 15 recruiting classes were compiled by SEC teams. The Crimson Tide clearly had the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, with >ve >ve-star recruits among the 25 mem- bers of its latest class. Nick Saban signed Rivals' top-ranked overall player, defensive end Da'Shawn Hand of Woodbridge, Va., along with four other >ve-star prospects: defensive backs Tony Brown of Beaumont, Texas, and Marlon Humphries of Hoover, Ala.; o?ensive lineman Cameron Robinson of West Monroe, La., and athlete Bo Scar- brough of Northport, Ala. And in addition to those players, the Tide signed 13 four- star and six three-star recruits. With so much talent headed to Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide are certainly well equipped to continue competing for national championships on an annual basis. The big challenge for Saban and his sta? is the fact that many of the Tide's SEC ri- vals have been recruiting nearly as well as they have. Right behind Alabama in this year's Rivals rankings are LSU (No. 2 nationally), Tennessee (No. 5), Texas A&M (No. 6), Florida (No. 7), Auburn (No. 8), Georgia (No. 9), Kentucky (No. 14) and Mississippi (No. 18). In addition, South Carolina >nished with the 24th overall class in the country, while Arkansas was ranked 28th. All told, the SEC landed 11 of the nation's top 30 classes. The SEC's recruiting success clearly il- lustrates why some college football analysts believe the league could routinely qualify two teams for the semi>nals of the Football Bowl Subdivi- sion playo? system that will take e?ect this coming season. There is no question that it is the premier football confer- ence in the country, and its re- cent recruiting successes only underscore that point. AAer the SEC, the most suc- cessful league this year was the Atlantic Coast Conference. Three ACC teams ended up in Rivals' top 20: Florida State, Miami and Clemson. For the second consecutive year, the Seminoles landed a top-10 class, ranking fourth on Rivals' list. They landed 30 play- ers, including three >ve-star prospects, 14 four-star players and 11 three-star players. Head- ing up their class are running back Dalvin Cook of Miami and wide receiver Travis Rudolph of West Palm Beach, Fla., both of whom received >ve stars. Miami's class was rated 11th overall, Clemson's 12th and North Carolina's 21st. The big surprise here was the Tar Heels, who signed 22 players, includ- ing >ve-star running back Eli- jah Hood of Charlotte, N.C. The most disappointing conference? That distinction probably belongs to the Big Ten, which had only one school in Rivals' top 20. As expected, Ohio State held up its end of the bargain, landing the nation's third-ranked class. The Buck- eyes signed 22 players, including >ve- star linebacker Raekwon McMillan of Hi- nesville, Ga., as well as 15 four-star and six three-star recruits. Michigan State >nished 21st in the rankings, while Penn State was 24th. James Franklin was able to corral 25 recruits, including six four- star and 18 three-star prospects. The factor that vaulted the Nittany Lions into Rivals' top 25 was their wide receiver group consisting of Troy Apke of Mt. Lebanon, Pa., Saeed Blacknall of Man- alapan, N.J., Chris Godwin of Middletown, Del., and De- Andre Thompkins of Swans- boro, N.C. Blacknall, Godwin and Thompkins all received four stars, while Apke re- ceived three. Like the Big Ten, the Big 12 and Pac-12 conferences struggled. Oklahoma (No. 15) and Texas (No. 17) were the only Big 12 schools to >nish in Rivals' top 20, while the Pac-12 had three top-20 >n- ishers: Stanford at No. 13, UCLA at No. 16 and Arizona State at No. 19. Finally, it bears mentioning that Notre Dame >nished with the 10th-best overall class. Its 23-player haul in- cluded one >ve-star recruit – o?ensive lineman Quenton Nelson of Red Bank, N.J. – 10 four-star recruits and 12 three-star recruits. But even with Notre Dame and Ohio State assembling superb classes, the SEC managed to continue its signing-day dom- ination. It truly is the king of college foot- ball. ■ SEC continues to run up the score | RIVALS RANKINGS 1. Alabama 2. LSU 3. Ohio State 4. Florida State 5. Tennessee 6. Texas A&M 7. Florida 8. Auburn 9. Georgia 10. Notre Dame 24. Penn State NICK SABAN