The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/603303
FOOTBALL RECRUITING cruiting points, so the Wolverines have about 1,000 points to make up between now and National Signing Day. That will be a tall task not just because there's ground to make up on recent history, but also because there will be plenty of competition for the Wolver- ines' highly ranked remaining targets. Picking up 1,000 team recruiting points would be equivalent to land- ing the country's top player four times over — and obviously there's only one such player available — so U-M will have to close their class with a num- ber of their top targets to even have a chance to land on top. However, there's a glimmer of hope available. If Michigan closes strong, they'll be preventing the other schools near the top of the team recruiting rankings from landing those top pros- pects for themselves. Only 15 of 23 five-star prospects in the Rivals100 are uncommitted, and if Michigan closes with a best-case scenario (approxi- mately five of them), it should keep this year's national recruiting cham- pion below the 3,000-point threshold — and the title within Michigan's reach. TOP PROSPECTS Fortunately, Michigan is in strong position to land the current No. 2 player in the nation, and the Maize and Blue are in contention for a few other five-star players. They'll have to land at least a couple of those players in order to be in contention for the na- tion's top class. While fans are likely familiar with the star system for high school recruits, the Rivals.com rankings go into more depth than that. Five-star prospects are given a "Rivals rating" of 6.1, while four-stars (5.8- 6.0), three -stars (5.5-5.7) and two-stars (5.2-5.4) have ratings in descending order. Each level comes with a specific number of points toward the Rivals.com team rankings. I n addition, prospec ts ranked in the Rivals250 (the top players nationally, all of them four- or five-stars) are given bonus points based on their ranking, ranging from 100 points for the nation's top prospect to three points for the last five players to earn top-250 status. Overall, the top player in the nation nets 250 total points for his team, while the No. 250 player, a 5.8 four-star, earns 108 points for the school he commits to. In addition, only the 20 highest-ranked prospects in a school's class count to- ward the Rivals.com team rankings. If a school brings in more than 20 commit- ments (as Michigan is ex- pected to do in 2016), the lowest-ranked players in the class don't count toward the team total. RIVALS RANKINGS EXPLANATION Rating/Points 6.1: 150 6.0: 135 5.9: 120 5.8: 105 5.7: 90 5.6: 75 5.5: 60 5.4: 45 5.3: 30 5.2: 15