<p>Stanford?</p>
<p>The same Stanford that couldn’t sell out the Pac-12 championship game?</p>
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</p>
<p>Will Campbell certainly underperformed expectations in his first 3 years at Michigan but he had a strong senior season, leading Michigan’s defensive line in tackles and earning all-Big Ten honorable mention. A lot of people think he’ll be a late-round NFL draft pick. What changed was his attitude and his work ethic; he finally lost the baby fat, learned to play with better technique (lower center of gravity), and finally got the concept that he needed to play hard on every down, rather than intermittently loafing as had been his habit early on.</p>
<p>In fairness, though, Campbell was also a player who got completely lost in the shuffle under RichRod, who made no secret of the fact that he wanted smaller, faster players on both sides of the ball.</p>
<p>I don’t think the talent evaluators were wrong about Campbell, though. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s quite quick and agile for a man his size, and he’s got good pursuit. He could still make a pretty good NFL interior lineman even though his first three years of college eligibility were pretty much a waste. What the talent evaluators can’t always evaluate is a player’s motivation, and how well he’ll fit into a particular coach’s system.</p>
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<p>Hey, GBoy, I go by what has been published. Feel free to give us an updated table that accounts for the winter sports. </p>
<p>In the meantime, you can use the 2012 table as a bit of a guide:
<a href=“LEARFIELD Directors' Cup - National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics”>LEARFIELD Directors' Cup - National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics;
<p>Unless I read it wrong it seems that the winter sports yielded 494.75 points to Stanford in 2012 versus 265.50 for Duke. </p>
<p>MBB? 25-0
WBB? 73-83
Fencing? 63-60
W Swim? 0-80
M Swim? 45-85
W Track? 0-52.25
M Track? 54.5-66
MWR? 5-58.5</p>
<p>The total did indeed elevate Duke to 12th in 2012.
<a href=“LEARFIELD Directors' Cup - National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics”>LEARFIELD Directors' Cup - National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics;
<p>Hope you’ll do better this winter and land a spot among the true elite in terms of the Director’s Cup. Perhaps Duke should find a way to build a synchronized swim and waterpolo team after all. Plenty of talent in Florida! In the meantime, there is still no comparison!</p>
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</p>
<p>Yes, and this despite the beautiful weather and perfect time to play football.</p>
<p>Will Campbell definitely had a disappointing career at Michigan. As bclintonk points out, it was not entirely his fault. The system adopted by Rich Rodriguez at Michigan did not suit a 320 LBS DT. RR preferred DTs in the 260-280 LBS range, which is why his defences could not adjust to the Big 10. But given his size and athleticism, I think he will be fine in the NFL. </p>
<p>I hope Derrick Green works out. The last two high-profile RBs Michigan recruited (Justin Fargas and Kevin Grady) were busts. In the case of Fargas, it was a matter of a broken leg and personal circumstances that prevented him from having a good career at Michigan. He actually did well once he transferred to USC. Same as Ryan Mallett, who was recruited by Carr but did not fit Rich Rodriguez’ offensive style. Again, thankfully, Mallett transferred to Arkansas and thrived there. </p>
<p>Predicting how high school players will evolve is very difficult, if not impossible. Furthermore, factors that matter almost as much as talent, and recruiting analysts do not include them in their class evaluations, are need and fit. </p>
<p>Where the Big 10 is concerned, Michigan and OSU did very well, and Nebraska also landed a strong class. It will take a couple of years to know which class was the best.</p>
<p>Urban Meyer is building a team capable of taking on 'Bama according to most media outlets. I wish he did not have to recruit heavily beyond the B1G footprint, but I guess that was needed in order to stay competitive. </p>
<p>Here is a 3-Star Michigan recruit who still loves Ohio State.</p>
<p>[Michigan</a> signee Reon Dawson an Ohio State fan ‘until I die’ - SBNation.com](<a href=“Michigan signee Reon Dawson an Ohio State fan 'until I die' - SBNation.com”>Michigan signee Reon Dawson an Ohio State fan 'until I die' - SBNation.com)</p>
<p>@Alex,</p>
<p>I am certain that given the opportunity, Brady Hoke would have been just as ruthless as Urban Meyer in terms of recruiting. After all, he did flip quite a few recruits from schools such as tOSU, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Penn State and Northwestern just to name a few last year. However, he does not have the coaching experiences nor the winning records like Urban Meyer in the SEC country in order to lure the top players from those regions.</p>
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</p>
<p>[Signing</a> Day 2013: Nick Saban, Urban Meyer land top classes - College Football - Stewart Mandel - SI.com](<a href=“http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130206/national-signing-day-superlatives/]Signing”>http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130206/national-signing-day-superlatives/)</p>
<p>Sparkeye, the only reason Michigan’s class was not ranked ahead of OSU according to a couple of publications is because Morris was downgraded from a 5 star to a 4 star prospect as a result of missing half the season due to mono. Had Morris not been sick and continued to play much as he played the first half of the season, Michigan would likely have finished ranked higher than OSU. Not that it matters. Those recruiting class rankings are not accurate. Alabama’s current success is a result of great talent fitting the system that Saban put in place. Assuming that another coach can enjoy the same success just because of a recruiting class that is no better than several other classes is speculation.</p>
<p>The 1985-2010 era is over. Gone are the days when Michigan dominated OSU (1985-2000) and vice versa (2001-2010). The rivalry is relevant once more. I expect home field advantage to play a major role in years to come.</p>
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<p>This is just silliness. Brady Hoke got exactly the recruits he wanted, including the nation’s top RB prospect, a consensus top-5 QB who would have been even higher had he not suffered mono during much of his senior season, a boatload of big, strong, and talented OL, and some excellent prospects at WR and DB. Hoke and his staff recruited for need and came in with blue chip prospects at every position they sought to fill, and their recruiting class was set for months before signing day, which in itself says something.</p>
<p>Part of what happened here was that Urban Meyer was forced to work his Florida connections because Hoke beat the pants off him in Ohio, landing 6 of Ohio’s 19 4-star prospects (according to Rivals.com), compared to 5 who committed to Ohio State. Meyer recovered nicely and came in with a strong class, but not because he bested Brady Hoke. Out-recruited in his own backyard, he had to retreat to his old stomping ground to pull a rabbit out of the hat to come up with a recruiting class that matches Michigan’s. But there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the two classes in quality. Hoke got the stellar athletes he wanted at the positions he wanted, and frankly I don’t think he gives a moment’s thought to any trivial differences some ratings service calculates between his class and Urban Meyers’. Nor should he. He’s about building a team and building a program, not about style points on national signing day.</p>
<p>@bclintonk,</p>
<p>I thought Urban Meyer went down South to get players suitable / specifically for his Spread Offense? He does not have the luxury like Brady Hoke to offer more than 82 scholarships in total through 2014 Season due to NCAA Sanction passed down from Jim Tressel’s violation.</p>
<p>Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer challenges Big Ten rivals to improve their recruiting</p>
<p><a href=“Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer challenges Big Ten rivals to improve their recruiting”>Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer challenges Big Ten rivals to improve their recruiting;
<p>Coincidentally had a football recruiting conversation over drinks with a good buddy last night. His son was a reserve on the State Champion this season. Son will be a junior and certainly start next year. My friend elaborated on how the internet has completely modernized college football recruiting these days. It’s a much more efficient system of evaluating players. Of course, the “experts” are not always right about a
player’s potential. Just like in the old days.</p>
<p>I find the comment “just as ruthless as …” hilarious. </p>
<p>Is anyone suggesting that any of the NCAA football coaches are softhearted pushovers? Aren’t they all pushing the envelope in terms of “ruthlessness” as far as humanly possible, and at times well beyond the rules of decency and … the NCAA rules. </p>
<p>All of them will lie, cajole, push as much as needed to get the player to sign, and the second that it is done consider the recruit mere game fodder. </p>
<p>By the way, a player, who had been the poster boy for under-achievement in his first three seasons in Ann Arbor after arriving with huge expectations, and only made his first start as a … senior has to be considered a huge bust. </p>
<p>He will be lucky to get one of those throw-away late draft picks, and that is from a team that still relies on big bodies.</p>
<p>If that were really true one would think the word would trickle down eventually to the prospective players. Yet they continue to sign-on in droves. I was listening to a former Udub player doing radio on signing day. He said the happiest day of his life was when he signed that LOI–and he made it to the NFL later. Sure some 4-5* guys washout–so what? So do NFL 1st rounders and they have far more data on the players. So do some professors at top schools who came in highly regarded.</p>
<p>Big Ten: 130207-signing-day-needs</p>
<p>[130207-signing-day-needs</a> - Big Ten Blog - ESPN](<a href=“http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/tag/_/name/130207-signing-day-needs]130207-signing-day-needs”>Big Ten Blog- ESPN)</p>
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<p>What choice do the players have?</p>
<p>Maryland 247 site reporting North Carolina has Big Ten offer, Virginia on deck?</p>
<p>[Maryland</a> 247 site reporting North Carolina has Big Ten offer, Virginia on deck? - Land-Grant Holy Land](<a href=“Maryland 247 site reporting North Carolina has Big Ten offer, Virginia on deck? - Land-Grant Holy Land”>Maryland 247 site reporting North Carolina has Big Ten offer, Virginia on deck? - Land-Grant Holy Land)</p>
<p>B3G on the horizon? At last!</p>
<p>The players and do what the rest do. Go to local CC with their Pell or cobble together enuff to go to a real college.</p>
<p>The greed needs to stop.</p>
<p>Nah, not until they get Bowdoin and Whitman colleges!</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins Weighing Big Ten, Other Conference Options; No Imminent Decision</p>
<p>[Johns</a> Hopkins Weighing Big Ten, Other Conference Options; No Imminent Decision | InsideLacrosse.com](<a href=“http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2013/01/29/johns-hopkins-weighing-big-ten-other-conference-options-no-imminent-decision]Johns”>http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2013/01/29/johns-hopkins-weighing-big-ten-other-conference-options-no-imminent-decision)</p>