![]() On average, Vegas is giving them the sixth-best odds to contend for a title this year.īut the Bulldogs are positioned well to stay in the mix. After averaging a 9.6 rating in the previous five classes, the Aggies shot up to No. That has seen Texas A&M step up its game substantially. Name, image and likeness (NIL) arrangements and their associated “collectives” also have entered the recruiting equation. Much of that has been simply to get down to the NCAA’s mandated 85 scholarships. Georgia has been dealing more with egress than ingress of late. Transfers, both coming in and going out, are affecting rosters. There are many other variables, of course. ![]() This class, though, includes only 13 commitments to date and won’t be finalized until early February. The Bulldogs’ most fanatical recruiting followers are sounding alarms because the Bulldogs “slipped” to fourth and third in the past two cycles and stand a paltry ninth early in the 2023 cycle. Generally, though, it follows that the teams that have collected the majority of the highest-rated players are expected to win the most games this season.īut even on this front there is some concern for UGA. The Crimson Tide routinely are listed as 2-to-1 favorites in Las Vegas sports books (about +180), with Ohio State edging Georgia ever so slightly for the next-best odds and Clemson rounding out the top four. Early returns show Alabama – who the Bulldogs vanquished in last year’s national championship game – as the prohibitive favorite to win it all. The top recruiting marks on that list closely parallel the expectations for the coming season. Doing it year-after-year without a drop has been Bama’s secret sauce.ġ.Alabama – 2.0 | 2. Ohio State fell to 14th in 2019 and LSU was 12th this past year and 15th in 2018. The rest of the teams included among the top 15 on that list experienced notable drops in one or more recruiting cycles. The Buckeyes were the only other program with a top five average at 4.8. Their average class ranking was 2.0 and 2.3, respectively. Surveying the team national recruiting rankings compiled in the 247Sports Composite over that span, 2017-22, shows Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State recruiting at a consistently better pace than the rest of the country. The Bulldogs have a couple of them in quarterback Stetson Bennett and linebacker Robert Beal. With COVID-19 eligibility still in play this season, there will be numerous sixth-year seniors playing around the country. And based on those measures, Alabama and Georgia have been recruiting at a different level than everybody else, and for a good while now. Thanks to the utilization of composite ratings and a more sophisticated scouting network, national recruiting rankings are more accurate than ever. But every decision Kirby makes is based on recruiting, and I think the way he’s got the program going now, he’s got a chance to be the second one to do that.”Ī quick scan of recruiting rankings validates Dooley’s points. “That’s hard to do, I mean really hard to do. “If you recruit like they have done at Alabama, and you end up in the top three or four every year, at least the top five, then you’ve got a chance to compete at the highest level every year,” Dooley said. Georgia is on the second step, along with Clemson and Ohio State. The first step is getting in the mix, the second is staying in the mix and the third is winning more titles than you lose when they’re in play. It’s about not winning some of the time, but all of the time. Of course, Smart bristles at the phrase “defending the title.” Like Saban, he emphasizes that every year is a new journey, and it is.īut sports, like business and many other pursuits, is about trying to build dynasties. At the base of it is incredible recruiting, and that’s what he’s done and is doing.” Kirby has used that as a model and adjusted it to his own philosophies. “He had the advantage of being with Nick for nine or 10 years at Alabama. “I think he has a chance to compete almost yearly at the highest level, like only Nick Saban has been able to do,” Dooley said of Smart.
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