You're a recruit: Which school do you pick?
If you we're a college football recruit for the 2011 class, which school would you pick and why? Let's exclude Michigan because we are all biased. Let's ignore depth charts, or what position you are. You are a 4 star recruit, good enough to play anywhere at whatever position. Where do you go?
- Do you choose a school because of great academics: Stanford, Duke, Vanderbilt, Northwestern?
- Do you choose a team because of rich college football tradition? Texas, Tennessee, Nebraska?
- Do you choose a team that is having a good season and hope it is the start of something big? Michigan State, Texas Tech (2 years ago)?
- Do you choose a solid program that is now a powerhouse and looks like it could rattle of multiple national titles: Alabama, Florida from two years ago, USC from a few years ago, Miami from the 99-2001 era?
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:05 AM ^
1. Oregon- Nike, nice facilities, winning team
2. Nebraska- Joing big 10, tradition
3. Alabama- They have been winning a lot, warm weather
Places not to go that you may think otherwise
1. USC- great team past 10 years, but no bowl, new coach, rebuilding
2, Boise/TCU- high ranked team but its hard to get recognized in small conf
3. Penn State- great team past 5 years, but Joe Pa is getting old
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:06 AM ^
Because if you eliminate your favorite, then you really get down the nitty gritty. I think I would have to say a place with great academics, in an interesting place, and it needs a decent football tradition. So Northwestern has 2 of the 3, Stanford is 2.5, Cal is 2.5, gah... well, with my criteria, I would probably go to USC. I think I just puked in my mouth.
Really, the only 3's that I can think of are Michigan, USC, and Texas. Slightly on the outskirts are the ones above, Penn State, Miami, Notre Dame, Boston College, and Wisconsin.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:07 AM ^
Weather is absolutely one of my deciding factors and heat sucks so bad. I need a mild climate and a fun team. Oregon.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:04 PM ^
I have been up there 5 times and overcast with potential rain was the norm each time.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^
Slippery Rock... So my score will always be announced at the Big House and I can always be part of a tradition.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:10 AM ^
In undergrad I picked my class schedule (and major) based on meeting and sitting next to the hottest chick I could find in orientation and signing up for every class she did. I am not kidding. I would take the school with the hottest chicks, without question.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:14 AM ^
You had better look to the SEC. Georgia, Mississippi, Florida would be your best bets. In the ACC, North Carolina is no pushover. Also, Delaware has a 60-40 girl-guy ratio if you want to play FCS ball.
October 22nd, 2010 at 1:23 PM ^
a couple of years ago, a competition took place on the scout board between the two respective fan bases. Who has the hottest women? Pictures were posted, the thread hit a trillion entries, and every non-ASU/non-UGA fan who looked at it would have no option other than to list those 2 schools in his final 3.
I live in Michigan, but have had the pleasure to visit ASU multiple times. They would be a tough school to beat.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^
Out of curiosity, which major did that lead you to? I'm guessing not electrical engineering.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:41 AM ^
Business Management, then I changed it to mechanical engineering, then industrial design, then back to mechanical engineering, then back to business managment! Hooray for 5.5 years of undergrad! She was a peach.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:13 AM ^
Assuming all else is true... Michigan #1 (obvi, but I'll play). If I were still in HS that means i would still have a love for Notre Dame... :( And i'd probably have wound up there.
HOWEVA.... me now...
Texas (good school, great town supposedly)
Stanford (great academics)
UCLA (LA, bitches!)
Georgia Tech
Miami (YTM - Miami, bitches!)
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^
Pretty simple (if dry) ...
* If I have clear NFL potential (as if that would ever be clear) the choice would be mostly about getting to that level as smoothly as possible. I think you could do that at quite a few schools.
* If the NFL looks unlikely, I'm going to choose the best school where I can pull a 3.0+ GPA (or so) in a decent major and where I'll be culturally in tune with most of my peers. For example, if I couldn't handle electrical engineering at Michigan I'd downshift academically to another school rather than do "Sports Management and Communications" at UMich. (That's related to yet another assumption. I'm assuming that the degree and course of study would be important. That wouldn't necessarily be the case if I had a sales job in mind.) For another example, as a Midwesterner of modest means I wouldn't count on fitting culturally in at Vanderbilt (with its different world of $, etc.).
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
Depends on what you want to do for a living... most engineers I know wind up in Consulting, Finance etc. So, you can still do things within LSA that can get you there, so no need to jump to Kines if that's not what you want to do (I know, probably taking you too literally, but figured I'd give my 2 cents anyway.)
Sidenote: one of the best classes I took at U of M was a Public speaking course thru Sport Management... excellent course, and I recommend to anyone outside of the the school of Kinesiology. Really, public speaking should be a mandatory req.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:25 PM ^
I get your logic. If you want to be a criminal you'd go to MSU or Florida -- you can get a head start on your career and not have to worry about getting kicked off the team if you get caught.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:17 AM ^
Let's see. Small, gorgeous campus. Money sloshing all over the place. Hot chicks in shorts and sun dresses all year round. You can trade your football tickets for 10% of whatever your roommate is working on and become a millionaire.
Oh yeah, a great coach and a competitive team.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^
Hot chicks at Stanford? I didn't see many in the 2+ years I lived out there. Smart? Yes. Generally appealing overall? Sure. Hot? Not so much ...
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:54 AM ^
Stanford is over 8,000 acres. It the second largest university in the world in terms of contiguous area.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:33 PM ^
Do not go anywhere in the Bible Belt. Nothing against religion or family values but a lot of those Univeristies are littered with zealots. Have you ever heard of a dry county? Nuff said. Second do not go to any school that plays second fiddle i.e. Michigan State, UCLA, Oklahoma State. Third go somewhere where a degree matters, connections will get you places and the weather is tolerable year round (see ya Northwestern). Fourth go to a team that gets exposure and has a good chance to make some noise (see ya Duke). What are you left with, USC and Stanford. USC gets a huge leg up for the immense talent they surround their athletes with (ladies not players) however Stanford provides a better education, has good weather and is not led by Lane Kiffin. Lastly, since you can not go to Michigan (because they are filled with 25 five star players) you go to Stanford because then you can at least play for a Michigan Man and Bo disciple. Go Blue!
October 22nd, 2010 at 4:48 PM ^
I like your reasoning, but non-alums that are a little more objective then us, would say that if one of your prerequisites is weather that is tolerable year round, and you are throwing out Northwestern out for this, you'd have to throw out Michigan too.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:21 AM ^
Aside from Michigan, I'd like to go to UGA and/or Auburn. Somewhere in the SEC.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:44 AM ^
I've been to games at most of the SEC schools and I've always spent the entire weekend kicking myself for not going to a southern school. The education is sub-par, but any place where girls wear sundresses to football games in November would get my vote.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:22 AM ^
My five visits would be (excluding Michigan of course):
1) FSU (program turning around, known for its attractive women, rich history)
2) Oregon (crazy loud stadium, Nike U, Pacific Northwest seems nice and chill, sick team this year)
3) OU (great head coach, rich tradition, people are very chill, fans are great)
4) UCLA (epic late night poker game with Ricky N)
5) tOSU (the money, the cars, the hoes, the clothes)
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:23 AM ^
and then tell the local newspaper that the coach is making us practice too much
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:48 AM ^
In Columbus, no local paper would ever dish dirt on the cash cow.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^
I'm torn.
Half of me says find the place with the hottest chicks and at least a respectable program (for obvious reasons) and half of me says find the most boring, awful place in the world so I can focus on nothing but football and academics.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^
Cal for sure.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
(Not including Michigan)
In no particular order:
1. Virginia
2. Texas
3. Stanford
4. UCLA
5. Cal (this replaces UNC which I dropped a few weeks ago)
I'll let Tom know how my visits went. Right now, I'd say UCLA is out in front but Texas and Stanford are pushing hard lately. I'd like to see Rick turn that program around and I think he's doing it. Tough loss last night. But it's a young team.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^
Texas. Austin is on par if not better than Ann Arbor, academics are great, the girls are unbelievable and the weather is oh so nice. Not to mention that the football team is pretty damn great.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:37 PM ^
100+ degree weather in the summer, being an island of respectability surrounded by TCM breathren and never playing your biggest rival at home.
October 22nd, 2010 at 3:17 PM ^
October 22nd, 2010 at 3:40 PM ^
The heat sounds a lot worse than what it is.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:36 AM ^
I'd have to stay in the Big Ten somewhere - Wisconsin or Northwestern would be my final two.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:38 AM ^
If I'm a 4 star talent that has been offered by all of those schools I probably have a legitimate shot at playing in the NFL, that means I want to go to a school that puts a good number of players in the NFL either recently or traditionally.
However, I am also aware of both the extreme competitive nature and the overall violent nature of football. My career could be cut short or derailed entirely at any moment, that means I need a school that will give me a great education and open lots of doors.
That leaves a few schools as my primary interest-Michigan, USC, UCLA, Notre Dame, Cal, (All top 30 universities with good football programs).
Michigan would be my obvious leader. However, I have to disregard them in this exercise-so this is the order of what the remaining list would probably look like in a normal year.
1. USC
2. Cal
3. UCLA
4. Notre Dame
This is not a traditional year though so USC is nixed due to sanctions, and general Lane Kiffin douchebaggery. Notre Dame is also eliminated due to the fact that I would like to win games and also not live in South Bend for 4 years. That leaves UCLA and Cal. Either would be a great school and program. If I had to pick one I'd go with UCLA right now. I think Neuheisel is going to reap all the rewards from USC's recent problems and get UCLA's program humming.
Although I do really love Berkeley. Kinda glad I don't have to make this decision now.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:41 AM ^
because I want to get paid DOLLA DOLLA BILLS yo!
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^
Texas-good academically, great football team, and an unbelievable amount of hot women.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:53 AM ^
Need two things: insanely attractive women + the ability to get me to the next level.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:01 PM ^
I'd pick Texas. Good team, good chance of making it to the pros.
Oregon might be my #2.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:13 PM ^
Ship it to Tulane, insta starter, good academics, great city, good looking girls, great food.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:13 PM ^
Oregon
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:14 PM ^
Great academic school, good conference (kinda), awesome uniforms, good team
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:15 PM ^
Kids and their families might be a lot more savvy than they are given credit for. Regarding Pro football: if you can play, they'll find you and rate you high. The draft is loaded with players from obscure schools every year and likewise is loaded with guys that star on big time program teams but are scouted down to later rounds.
It is also possible that these kids know that there is statistically no such thing as a "reasonable" chance to make the NFL. It is at best remote for all but a select few very advanced incoming college freshmen.
USC. Great women, great weather, great school, great area with lots to do, and lots of spots opening up because of the probation defections. They also have planted their share of pros over the last decade if that is a primary concern. Rip Kiffin because he deserves it, but he lead the recruiting efforts on a lot of those future pros from 2002 to 2006.
Michigan would be right near the top of course.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:15 PM ^
that I knocked up a co-ed during my official visit. I roll like David Oku.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:32 PM ^
My visits would be
Miami (that miami)
Florida
Texas
Clemson
Stanford
Easy choice here I'd go to UCLA
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:34 PM ^
depends on how my visit goes.....hostesses....ya know.
October 22nd, 2010 at 1:11 PM ^
Bruce Feldman said something a couple of years ago that really stuck with me. (Paraphrase) "Recruits pick schools for three reasons:
1. Academics
2. Football
3. Girls
but not in that order."
If I were a recruit with the hypothetical offer to anywhere, I'd start by only looking at power schools--I couldn't go to a good academic school and not compete for titles. Next, I'd look at girls, and then finish off with academics. I'm generally convinced that suceeding in a big name school academically will set you up just fine, even if it's somewhat lower rated. With those criteria in mind, I'd probably look at (based on the 2-3 year time horizon of a recruit):
1. Texas--easy number 1, excellent at everything in a great location
2. Oregon
3. Stanford
4. USC
The SEC schools are a little too creepy for me and don't have the academics, the girls clause basically eliminates the Big 10 and Big East schools, academics eliminates most of the Big 12, and football quality eliminates the ACC.
I might consider Miami, dependant on a strong finish and Arizona might be in the running as well.
October 22nd, 2010 at 1:13 PM ^
with Georgia, and Penn State right behind.
Visits to Oregon and Miami just for the beautiful (and drastically different) scenery.
October 22nd, 2010 at 1:15 PM ^
You have top notch facilities, what appears to be a fun offense to play in, hottest cheerleaders, and I don't care what people think but I like the uniforms
October 22nd, 2010 at 1:18 PM ^
Pepperdine.......Malibu,CA
October 22nd, 2010 at 1:19 PM ^
or maybe Hawaii