Is Recruiting in College Football Really a Crapshoot?

Earlier today, I pointed out that Mizzou verbalee Sheldon Richardson moved up from 88th to 22nd in the Rivals 100.

It's always good news when a Tiger recruit moves up in the national rankings obviously, but after doing a bit of research, I realize how little stock should be put into recruiting rankings.

In fact, if you google "don't put much stock in it" the fifth result on the page is a college football website that says "Don't put so much stock into recruiting rankings."

After looking at the ESPNU Top 150 I couldn't help but notice Richardson missing from the list. However, I did notice another member of MU's class of '09, Blaine Dalton at 116.

That's interesting considering Dalton's not listed on the Rivals Top 250 (the list that has Richardson ranked 22nd). It also only gives Dalton only three stars.

Common sense would seem to indicate that there would be a huge discrepancy between a three-star and five-star player. But that line is obviously not as clear cut as one would expect. 

As a Tiger fan, you better be thankful that Gary Pinkel and his staff pay no attention to these recruiting rankings. I'd say no respectable and sane college football coach should.

There really is no such thing as a can't-miss prospect if you're basing it on one of these lists or the number of stars next to a recruit's name.