RELATED: Rivals 2016 Team Rankings
Alabama had a five-star finish and won another Rivals.com team recruiting rankings title.
This is getting old.
The Crimson Tide landed five-star linebackers Ben Davis and Lyndell Wilson, plus five-star defensive end Terrell Hall along with some other four-star recruits to propel them to their seventh Rivals.com recruiting rankings title in the past nine cycles.
“They didn’t get everybody they wanted, which people think Alabama always does, but they closed very strong,” Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell said. “We expected that to happen. We knew those in-state linebackers were going to go, we had the assumption they’d be able to get Terrell Hall, although Maryland gave them a good fight on that one.
“Add those guys to players they got these last few days like Nigel Knott, they got Jared Mayden on Signing Day, Shyheim Carter as expected. I wasn’t really surprised by anything. The amazing thing about Alabama is they’re still No. 1 and they whiffed on some guys they really wanted like A.J. Brown and Jeffery Simmons.
“Even when ‘Bama strikes out, they’re still able to put together the best class in the country and there is really no argument because the star rankings bear it out as well. Their average star ranking is No. 1, their class is No. 1 and that’s the barometer to use.”
Alabama has five five-stars signed, more than any other team, and that was a major reason why the Crimson Tide moved past Florida State (second) and Ohio State, which started National Signing Day in first place. Clemson and LSU rounded out the top five in the team recruiting rankings.
The Crimson Tide did not get every single recruit they chased, but they got plenty of the top prospects and that’s why they moved to No. 1 again.
“Alabama closed extremely strong. They missed on a few guys at the end, but they got the majority of their top remaining targets. They cleared some space at the end to ensure they were able to get those guys in the class and that’s what happened," said Andrew Bone of TideSports.com. "Inside and outside linebacker were important positions for Alabama in this class and getting Davis, Wilson and also Terrell Hall, who they recruited as a pass-rushing specialist, those were three really big gets for Alabama.
The correlation between team recruiting rankings and national titles is hard to argue against. Facts are facts.
Alabama has won seven of the last nine recruiting titles. The Crimson Tide has also won four of the last seven national championships.
With another phenomenal class on board, Roll Tide just keeps rolling.
“Four of seven national championships and seven of nine team recruiting titles perfectly fits together,” Farrell said.
“People think being No. 1 doesn’t matter. They should go back and look at Texas in 2002, LSU in 2003, USC, Florida, the Alabama dynasty. Recruiting team rankings equal national championships, bottom line.”
For more Alabama coverage, visit TideSports.com.
