National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
MORE FACT OR FICTION: Helton is done at USC
1. Urban Meyer can save the Pac-12.
Farrell's take: FACT. Remember when Urban Meyer went to Ohio State how weak the Big Ten appeared at the time? Meyer brought his aggressive recruiting approach and killer instinct and forced other programs to step up their game. Enter Jim Harbaugh and James Franklin and better recruiting from almost every team in the conference and you have a domino effect.
The bottom line is that Meyer makes others step up to the plate and if he took the USC job you can bet recruiting in the Pac-12 would increase for many teams. Yes Meyer would land the most talent at USC, but Chip Kelly, Mario Cristobal, Chris Petersen and others would get more looks from prospects wanting to take down the Meyer-led Trojans. The league needs a shake up and Meyer at USC could do it.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. My guess is that Pac-12 coaches are very concerned about rumors that Meyer could come to USC - which I still find a little hard to believe - because he could quickly come to dominate the conference.
The reason the USC job could be so intriguing to Meyer is that he would hardly have to leave Los Angeles to collect his entire recruiting class and he could recruit there at an elite level. He’s won national championships with programs in the SEC and the Big Ten and the pressure in the Pac-12 is far less. He could win almost immediately at USC and I don’t think it would foster better recruiting across the conference. It would probably make USC a national power again quickly while stifling the recruiting efforts of every other team.
2. Alabama, LSU, Clemson and Ohio State will make up the playoff.
Farrell's take: FACT. Here's how it's going to play out. Clemson and Ohio State will run the table as will Alabama as it beats LSU in the game of the year this weekend in a nail-biter. However, LSU will win out otherwise and Alabama will throttle Georgia in the SEC title game making a close LSU loss to the Crimson Tide look even better. And the Big 12 and Pac-12 will complain. There you have it.
Gorney’s take: FACT. I have to agree with Farrell here, although I know some surprises have to be coming like every year. Maybe LSU beats Alabama and then loses to Georgia in the SEC title game. Or Penn State beats Ohio State in a couple weeks. Or Wake Forest takes down Clemson. OK, I might be kidding about that one.
But there are always surprises and upheaval down the stretch which leads to healthy debate about which four teams should make the playoff. It never goes as planned and that’s why college football is so great. Still, after all that, I do think Alabama, LSU, Clemson and Ohio State get in.
3. Ryan Day is a top five coach already.
Farrell's take: FACT. I tweeted out my top five coaches at this very moment of the college football season last week and had Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney followed by James Franklin, Ryan Day and Ed Orgeron. And of course I got bashed.
Few thought Franklin was No. 3 but more were offended by Day being at No. 4 without having coached a full season. But I've already seen enough to know that Ohio State is in great hands and could be more dangerous than they were under Meyer because Day is a better game coach. Yep, you heard me right. Lincoln Riley and others missed the cut and Day is where he belongs.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. I have a ton of respect for Day and he’s going to be outstanding at Ohio State, where he could lead them to multiple Big Ten titles and be in the running every year for national championships. In some ways, he is an upgrade over Meyer as the Buckeyes have been refreshed and refocused under Day’s leadership.
But until he starts delivering, I can’t put him in my top five. Other than an impressive win over Wisconsin, Ohio State’s schedule has been a piece of cake. It gets more challenging in the coming weeks but the grind year over year of top recruiting classes and championships is challenging. Others on the list above have done that and Day needs to as well before he can make the top-five list. Not having Riley in the top five is absolutely wrong as he might push to No. 3 overall.
