Three things that help put recruiting rankings into perspective....

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

1) Arkansas 17 LSU 0
2) Arkansas 30 Ole Miss 0
3) Arkansas 31 Texas 7

Its really fun following recruiting to see how many stars we will get. I stargaze as much as anyone but fans shouldn't let our #11 recruiting ranking in the SEC ruin NSD.

This class was filled with speed, strength, and most of all character. Next year looks like a ridiculous in state class filled with elite defenders. One thing that REALLY pops out is defensive line talent. Also we may have the best group of tight ends in the SEC. Red zone offense!!!

This program got better today and will continue to get better as Bret builds a monster right before our eyes.

[Hoggish1]

Agreed; a monster indeed...!

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

I would say not much difference between having say the 15th to 25th best class, except bragging rights with the ahole that shares the cube next to you and went to Ole Miss.

  They have to be ranked and 1 has to be 15th and someone has to be 25th, but as long as you are getting top 25 talent and then developing you could fall anywhere in the 10th to 25th spot in actual polls/rankings through coaching player development etc.  Time to really start worrying is falling out of top 30 or taking questionable kids that end up never making it to campus and washing out.  Wasn't one of Petrino's top classes like that?

[Adam Stokes]

Are you not going to put the other 6 losses in there?  That kind of puts it into perspective as well. 

Not trying to take away from the greatness of the class and the direction of the program, but threads like this are dumb.  If we want to win the SEC we will need to have this class be the worst one over the next 4 years.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

I would say not much difference between having say the 15th to 25th best class, except bragging rights with the ahole that shares the cube next to you and went to Ole Miss.

  They have to be ranked and 1 has to be 15th and someone has to be 25th, but as long as you are getting top 25 talent and then developing you could fall anywhere in the 10th to 25th spot in actual polls/rankings through coaching player development etc.  Time to really start worrying is falling out of top 30 or taking questionable kids that end up never making it to campus and washing out.  Wasn't one of Petrino's top classes like that?

2009, 2010 and 2011

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

Are you not going to put the other 6 losses in there?  That kind of puts it into perspective as well. 

threads like this are dumb. 

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[Thepigdoctor]

I too stargaze but I think we all know if some of these same kids had committed early to Bama, Auburn, etc, you could damn near guarantee they'd have seen higher rankings. All you have to do is look at offer lists though and you'll see who wanted them. Anymore, I jump straight to a kids offer list, then look at their ranking. There are thousands of kids to evaluate and hundreds if not thousands evaluating them. It's all arbitrary and really the only evaluation I need is that of our staff.

CBB and staff know how to get the most out of kids and they will do just that. They will be molded into smart, tough football players and will continue to be viewed as over achievers when they have success. I don't think any of them, or this staff has a problem with proving people wrong and they'll continue to do just that.

We might be ranked 11th in the SEC, but we filled a lot of need and added a ton of talent. Some of the schools ahead of us had to sign 3-5 more players than us to get their rankings as well. It would take just one or two of our "3 star" kids to become diamonds and our class is just as good as anyone's. There are always multiple 4 and 5 star busts and kids who don't even make it to campus, so 11th on NSD could end up being #1 in 3-4 years, or dead last depending on how kids pan out. 

[Adam Stokes]

The classic "I can't come up with a half-decent response so I'll put down the poster."  If you had put as much thought in fixing the OP as you did finding that picture you might have more people agreeing with you.  This class is great, but we'll have to continue to improve on this class.  Pointing out a few wins don't erase the bulk of the losses.

[Tripod1]

Past 10 national champions...Texas in 2005 ranked 20th, FSU in 2013 ranked 10th, the other 8 were ranked 4 or lower.  Very happy with this class and very happy with our coaches.  But don't pretend top rankings don't matter when it comes to championships.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

The classic "I won't compete in the discussion so I'll put down the poster."  This class is great, but we'll have to continue to improve on this class.  Pointing out a few wins don't erase the bulk of the losses.

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[Hollywood_HOGan45]

I too stargaze but I think we all know if some of these same kids had committed early to Bama, Auburn, etc, you could damn near guarantee they'd have seen higher rankings. All you have to do is look at offer lists though and you'll see who wanted them. Anymore, I jump straight to a kids offer list, then look at their ranking. There are thousands of kids to evaluate and hundreds if not thousands evaluating them. It's all arbitrary and really the only evaluation I need is that of our staff.

CBB and staff know how to get the most out of kids and they will do just that. They will be molded into smart, tough football players and will continue to be viewed as over achievers when they have success. I don't think any of them, or this staff has a problem with proving people wrong and they'll continue to do just that.

We might be ranked 11th in the SEC, but we filled a lot of need and added a ton of talent. Some of the schools ahead of us had to sign 3-5 more players than us to get their rankings as well. It would take just one or two of our "3 star" kids to become diamonds and our class is just as good as anyone's. There are always multiple 4 and 5 star busts and kids who don't even make it to campus, so 11th on NSD could end up being #1 in 3-4 years, or dead last depending on how kids pan out. 

One thing I liked the most is we seemed to have really improved red zone offense with all the stud tight ends.
Also the late addition of Reed will help stretch the defense. We had big time issues making plays downfield late in games last year.

[welchog]

Past 10 national champions...Texas in 2005 ranked 20th, FSU in 2013 ranked 10th, the other 8 were ranked 4 or lower.  Very happy with this class and very happy with our coaches.  But don't pretend top rankings don't matter when it comes to championships.

Exactly.  Pretty much like saying, "We beat Bama in virtually every statistical category...except the score."   Hollow victory.  Yes, it is better to be in the top 25, but still have a mountain to climb.