All Irish LOI's are in, it's not looking good to add to those 16 guys. Byron Moore inked with USC, Thigpen is not likely, and that leaves Starling and Te'o either one or both would be big upsets and make Irish fans very happy. Doubt if we get either though. All Texas LOI's are in and the Longhorns will finish with a top 3 class most likely. Strength will be Garrett Gilbert who is the best QB signed by any B12 school this year. Not to mention that they signed the #1 Center, the #2 Tackle and the #5 Guard ...so there will be some beef up front blocking for him as well.
The big news down here on Bama sports radio is Auburn's signing day. Deangelo Benton signed with Auburn over LSU which is a big upset. There appear to be some other marquis signings that have people giving this Chizick dude another look.
Texas and OU are going to be the only B12 teams to crack the ESPN rankings. The Scout rankings are quite different though, with Texas A&M currently at #7 in addition to OU and Texas. In the Scout rankings it's very hard to get in the top 10 unless you have a very large class or a class with all your players being 4* and lots of 5*'s. ND is #27 in Scout and #13 in ESPN. If you rerank the scout teams by avg player rating the Irish move up to #10, but we just don't have enough players to get rated very high. Neb is rated in the 30's.
Tennessee got its first surprise of the day when Atlanta area safety Darren Myles Jr. picked the Vols. However, rumors are circulating that Marlon Brown will sign with Ohio State later this afternoon. I hope they're only rumors.....
I posted in another topic that Nu'Keese Richardson is supposed to spurn the Gators and go with Tenn. Also it's being reported that on Cowherds show that Tom Lugenbill said that ND will be getting a stud defensive commit today. That has to mean Te'o will be Irish. A huge upset and Irish fans will be dancing in the streets. The only other player out there who remotely fills that description is Starling and he would be a great addition as well but Te'o is the guy who will get Irish fans fired up.
Rumors are rampant that Marsalis Teague will also spurn the Gators and choose the Vols. If Tenn. can get Marlon Brown plus a RB (either Oku or Lacy) then I'll be pretty satisfied given that LB Greg King has also committed to Tennessee. Oh yeah I also hope that the rumors are true on Richardson. Anytime Tenn. can steal one from the Gators it's twice as sweet.
Will Chizik continue the Auburn tradition of signing 25-30 players and actually only enroll 18-20 in the fall? :roll:
Teague signs with UT Terry, We will see what happens with the new guy. Saban is far worse than that (oversigning) then Auburn ever was, but Tubesteak is gone and there is a new sheriff in town on the plains.. we'll see
Te'o to Notre Dame is a big win for the Irish. I think he's the highest rated Defensive player the Irish have signed since Kory Minor, who was USAToday Defensive Player of the year. Te'o is the #2 overall player in the ESPN rankings and Scout has him at the #6 player overall. Nice finish to the class for Weis. It has to be tough to convince kids to come when the 2 year record is 10-15 and after the last game of the regular season you were with in a hair of being fired. So the kids knew that he'd be on the hot seat in 2010 and may not be around for their whole career. It's a big leap for them, says a lot about the recruiting ability of Weis and about Notre Dame.
Cory somebody pointed out, wheter it's true I don't know, but that looking at the Bama roster they only had 11 slots open for recruits and have verbals from 24 players. Something has to give!
Terry regarding Teo First of all, from what I've read, he'll be off on a mission after his first year. As long as Charlie is there next year, he probably doesn't care what happens then. Second, if he does go on a mission and then returns in 2 years, he'll probably only play one more year before thinking about going pro. I wonder how much the Hawaii Bowl performance influenced Manti. We looked awfully good for a change. It certainly didn't hurt.
Terry, I think their actual number right now is 15. Most Tide fans I know expect a mini-exodus after Spring practice. Guys are going to be replaced by new scholarship players. Grayshirt, delayed enrollment etc.. there are ways around it. But don't confuse Alabama for Auburn
Gip, As happy as I am about having Te'o, I have the same thoughts as you. He's going to play next year, maybe even be a starter by the end of the year. Which is great that would set him up for a terrific Soph/Jr season. But if he goes on his mission, that means no football for 2 years, no weight room, no nothing. He will come back and most likely need a year to get back up to speed physically and mentally to play Div 1 football at a high level. So after that 1 year, does he stay a 4th year or 5th year so the Irish can benfit, who knows. I will say that if he were an OL that would be just fine, if you remember some of those OL's at BYU were pretty darn good, of course they were 25/26 y/o Sr's and 5th year Sr's playing against 19-20 year DL's. But it's a big short term win, it gives us some positive buzz to finish out recruiting, Charlie gets a little boost with the fans. Win-Win even if he only plays 1 year goes on his mission and decides when he comes back that he'd rather play on the west coast. Terry