Do Recruiting Rankings Equal Success in College Football?

First off, I want to give credit where credit is due. The research below was posted on www.tigerforums.com in the recruiting section and was compiled using ratings from www.rivals.com. It was posted by a user whose screen name is “sugarlsu” so a big thanks to him for giving me his blessing to use his findings.

We all know college football doesn’t just live from September to January. There’s spring and summer practices, and Strength and Conditioning coaches kick into high gear when your mind usually turns to basketball season.

Along with that, there’s the virtual year-round battle for talent in college football: recruiting.

Ah yes, the “lifeblood” of a college football program. Now it’s not enough to just follow your favorite college football team on the field every Saturday in the fall. You’ll have to follow their quest for new talent as well.

You can’t really downplay the importance of recruiting, but it’s amazing and sometimes a little scary to see grown adults following every movement of a 17-year-old kid—and on top of that, seeing the elation or disappointment of grown adults that stems from a 17-year-old kid’s decision on where he will attend college.

The importance is not lost on LSU—plus down here we take just about every opportunity we can to throw a party. Every year the LSU Gridiron Club throws the “Bayou Recruiting Bash.”

It’s an event going for more than 10 years now that features food, drink (beer and more beer), special appearances by ex-players and coaches, silent auctions, highlights from last year’s games, high school highlight videos, and a performance by the Golden Band from Tiger Land.

It's all topped off by a speech by Les Miles, who introduces his entire coaching staff and talks about the new class. It starts early in the morning and ends when the sun is going down. A year ago it changed venues in order to hold a larger capacity.

Of course, all this is happening while high school kids send in their National Letters of Intent and are displayed on a board for all to see and cheer.

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