How closely does recruiting success forecast winning in Conference USA?

[Coach Andy Mac]

Foremost, many athletes who sign Letters of Intent to G5 programs never get fully evaluated by the national scouts who assign grades for Rivals and 247. I’ve seen enough Aaron Jones and Marcus Davenport film to know as much. The tragically smaller and less fervent fanbases of G5 programs don’t drive as many clicks and subscriptions as foaming-at-the-mouth SEC crazies, so it doesn’t make business sense for those services to devote their resources to evaluating some unknown cornerback out of the backwoods of America who signed with a non-power program.

Secondly, recruiting classes at the G5 level are much more volatile than in power conferences. G5 schools are much more likely to take risks on partial and non-qualifying athletes who face an uphill battle to even make it on campus. Same deal for athletes who have known behavioral issues. My review of each C-USA program’s top recruit of all time shows a bit of how this plays out over time.

In 2018 the North Texas Mean Green held a 368.58 Team Talent rating, 10th in the conference for that year. A two-star athlete from Locust Grove, Oklahoma, by the name of Mason Fine led the Mean Green to the top finish in Conference USA in SP+ that year at 34th in the nation.

read more:  https://www.underdogdynasty.com/conference-usa/2021/8/19/22630066/conference-usa-recruiting-success-ranking-advanced-analytics-correlation-uab-blazers-cusa-football