It's going to take more than 13 hours of staring at a computer screen—shoutout to f.lux— to stop me from delivering the Buckeye nutrients my readers crave. Somebody ring the damn bell.
ICYMI:
- Meet the Select '17.
- Visit our National Signing Day hub for all our NSD coverage.
- Urban Meyer explains why he hired Kevin Wilson.
- Meyer and Mick Marotti dispensed tough love to the 2015 class.
- Buckeyes unconcerned about the march to 85 scholarships.
- Four-star CB Amir Riep drove to Columbus to personally deliver his NLOI.
THAT'S GOOD, RIGHT? Despite what that guy flaunts zero-star receivers making a Super Bowl start will tell you, recruiting rankings matter. (Don't believe me? Ask the local coach.)
Well, the dust settled and Ohio State did well for itself despite taking a smaller class than normal.
| RANK | 24/7 | RIVALS | SCOUT | ESPN | COMPOSITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ALABAMA | ALABAMA | ALABAMA | ALABAMA | ALABAMA |
| 2 | OHIO STATE | OHIO STATE | GEORGIA | OHIO STATE | OHIO STATE |
| 3 | MICHIGAN | GEORGIA | MICHIGAN | GEORGIA | GEORGIA |
| 4 | USC | MICHIGAN | OHIO STATE | FLORIDA STATE | USC |
| 5 | GEORGIA | FLORIDA STATE | USC | USC | MICHGIAN |
Poor Michigan; it signed 30 recruits compared to Ohio State's 21 and only beat the Buckeyes according to the only recruiting service in bankruptcy proceedings.
Also weird to see Georgia back on the list, given they haven't won an SEC championship since 2005 or a national title since 1980, both of which might as well be 1776 to teenagers today.
CLEVELAND TO COLUMBUS. Urban Meyer admitted Wednesday he wants 50% of his class to come from the great state of Ohio.
Obviously, he fell short of that goal in 2017, though it's not like he imported bums.
One Ohioan the local team locked down is one of my favorites in the class, 6'5" Cleveland Heights receiver Jaylen Harris, who signed yesterday during a ceremony at his high school.
From Marionaire Jimmy Longo of scout.com:
“It’s just a blessing. With the community, just having the opportunity to have somebody to look up to who came from the same area they’re coming out," Harris said. "Just being able to set the example and knowing that … just showing them that no matter where they’re at in school, as long as you stay on top of your schoolwork and work hard that you can make it out.”
Harris’ high school coach Mac Stephens was elated, overjoyed for the outcome of his young pupil.
“It’s always been about changing lives and Jaylen is an example of being able to touch a young man’s life and seeing him go on and do bigger and better things in life," Stpehens said. "So, I’m excited to see what the future holds for him. Academically he’s a great young man and he stays out of trouble, and everyone knows athletically he’s a freak on the football field.”
Love to see coaches mentioning a kid's academics when praising them, which usually goes hand in hand with "staying out of trouble."
Ohio State made a shift and targeted big-bodied receivers in this class. Trevon Grimes gets the hype (and it's deserved), but don't sleep on this young fella from the Sleeve.
DAMN BAMA, BACK AT IT AGAIN. As impressive as Ohio State's top-five class is, it's not as impressive as Alabama's consensus No. 1 overall class.
Yes, that's right. Who thought good things could happen to Alabama?
From 247sports.com:
247Sports is able to crown the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 2017 haul as the No. 1-ranked recruiting class, for — wait for it — a seventh straight season. Alabama made history in 2013 when it became the first school to go back-to-back-to-back in the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings (the USC Trojans had consecutive No. 1 classes in 2005 and ’06).
With 322.53 total points, Alabama’s 2017 class is the second-best we've ever seen, behind Florida's 2010 haul.
Close behind the Tide is Ohio State. Urban Meyer’s class is as impressive a runner-up as you could imagine; its 94.47 per-player-average bests even Alabama's.
Georgia (third), USC (fourth) and Michigan (fifth) round out the top-5.
Seven! They've won it seven years in a row! And yesterday, Bama grayshirted the No. 93 player in the country!
Given there's only so much playing time to go around, this might lead somebody to suspect shady dealings.
I'm not one to cry about nice cars because they won't save the Tide from another ass-whipping should they make the mistake of meeting up with the local team once again.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS JIM HARBAUGH? The NCAA banned teams from practicing off campus during institutional breaks. Jim Harbaugh announced a trip to Rome a week later.
Harbaugh has no plans to stop, either. He contends his international trips don't break the new law because they come after final exams are taken.
From Kyle Rowland of The Toledo Blade:
In fact, the Michigan coach already has future destinations picked out: South Africa, Japan, Israel, New Zealand, London. It will be an annual experience for the Michigan football team.
“I envision it being an annual thing,” Harbaugh said today. “I’ve got my places planned for year two, year three, year four. This is all centered around the study abroad program. They’ll have all of May off to pursue their studies abroad. I thought Rome was a good center spot.”
[...]
“I don’t know who would have a problem with or how they could," Harbaugh said. “Unless they’re not for student-athletes. This is bringing academics and athletics together. This is what being a student-athlete is supposed to be. It’s one of the reasons we're so excited by it.”
Harbaugh in Israel! That either ends in world peace or Armageddon.
Coaches and schools will hate on this, but I can't. I love to see schools reward their flock of golden geese with things other than Buck Hunter or an air hockey table.
MAYBE. Earlier this week, new Florida Atlantic frontman Lane Kiffin appeared in the worst hype video you will ever see:
Apparently, Kiffin is an irony boy these days, and we all fell into his trap:
Kiffin says the Hype Video was done poorly on purpos to generate attention.
— FAU OwlAccess (@FAUOWLACCESS) February 1, 2017
All well and good, but if this were true FAU wouldn't have deleted the original tweet.
(Kiff, blink three times if a parliament of owls is holding your family hostage.)
ALL-NAME TEAM. While dipshits on your Facebook feed name their kids Baylin, Laytin, Zaydin, Jaybin, and Jayklin, patriots breed the weapons that will win our future wars:
In keeping with tradition, your incoming c/o 2017 All-Name Team. pic.twitter.com/sbM7t23mV3
— Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) February 1, 2017
Some bangers on there, but massive oversight to skip the best name of 2017: Michigan defensive end Luiji Vilain.
THOSE WMDs. Video: mouse trap slices through a hot dog in super slow motion... The hi-tech war on science fraud... The misunderstood genius of Russell Westbrook... Did a violin teacher from Plano, Texas solve the world's greatest classical music mystery?
