I'll just say this. Calling the rankings "corrupt" might be a bit much.
But they ARE subject to lobbying and manipulation.
You and I have seen the Gaytors fans HARASS the 247/Rivals guys into giving THEIR RECRUITS the "Gaytor Bumpz".
In the end, some of this is self-fulfilling. There ARE some coaching staffs that, when they identify some hidden talent, SHOULD be matched with a bump in a player's rating. But there are other schools like Florida that, when they hire Slingblade Billy, does not equate to "we know he's good because he has a Florida offer".
I'd love to have the #1 recruiting class every year. But I'd more prefer to win the national championship every year. To the extent we can do BOTH, let's go for it. But I also lived through a time when we signed guys like Russell Maryland. Maybe the recruiting websites have more info today than they did in the 1980s, but I still think that overweight DTs in Chicago with good GPAs will probably never earn 4-star rankings from the services.
And on a related note, let's not pretend that THIS isn't arrogant as ****...Clemson building something that LOOKS LIKE the national championship trophy. They have THREE championships in all of history. We had FIVE in under 20 years.
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