If this goes in the college football thread, feel free to merge it, but what I have heard about it goes a long way to explaining why the SEC has become so dominant in college football. Whilst not technically NCAA violations, it's a pretty shady practice. I guess OTL did a piece on it a couple weeks back

So there is an 85 man limit for Scholarship players, and a maximum of 25 per recruiting class. Yet the SEC (looks like Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Old Miss, and South Carolina are the worst. Florida on the other hand appears to avoid the practice) routinely recruits classes of 30-35 guys. Some get hidden with medical red shirts, other ineligabilities, transfers, etc. In other words, sign as many good players as you can, and then get rid of the ones who aren't going to work out the way you hoped.

http://www.oversigning.com (obviously) has a ton of information about this, and it is definitely shady as heck. Basically, over a 3-4 year period, these SEC schools recruit and extra recruiting class over the other schools in the country. Keeping the good players, and dumping/hiding the crappy ones.

For instance, despite a 25 player per year limit, Auburn has averaged 28.11 recruits a year (a high of 32).. and the limit is 25.
alabama? 26.11, and a high of 32. Yet there is a strict limit of 25 per year. All in all the SEC has 7 schools that over the past 9 years have averaged more than the maximum allowable. LSU is just under the limit- and they were the target of the actual investigation on ESPN- and they'd be well above the limit for the past 5 year period.

its not entirely limited to the SEC, but since 2002, 8 of the 16 schools with the most recruits (25+ a year) are SEC. some of the other schools are West Virginia, K-State, Iowa State, Louisville, and others... and 6 of the 8 schools that do it most are SEC. Now obviously it doesn't guarantee success (kstate)... But it is a pretty interesting thing, and a big contributing factor to the dominance of the SEC. The Big Ten does not have a single school that averages even at that 25 figure.

over the past 4 years. A limit of 100 players should have been accepted on scholarship- 25 max a year.
Alabama has signed 113 players.
Auburn? 119
Arkansas? 109
LSU? 105
Mississippi State? 113.


Iowa?88
Wisconsin? 89
Michigan State? 88.
Ohio State?78
You think that may have helped give them more talent?

I do this on video games because it's fake, but IRL, yeah, really shady.

The biggest problem is.. what happens to kids 85-120? They don't all quit on their own.

well the real questin should be why isn't the BigTen doing the same thing!

Yeah, and that's a problem both for the players, who are cut or whatever else, without an opportunity to go somewhere else; and also for the quality of football in general, since these players could be a valuable part of a team somewhere else, and up the level of competition.

I'm honestly surprised this isn't a bigger deal. Although in reading a bit before starting this thread, it looks like it might be the next "big issue". It makes it a lot harder to give praise to the SEC as a "better" conference, when really they are just stretching the rules in a way a lot of others don't. I get a big class here or there to account for something (a coaching change, an ncaa scandel that causes a lot of players to leave, etc). But this is year after year, systematic over recruiting, just to cut the dead weight.

if its not illegal, i can't really blame them, considering the cutthroat world of recruiting. suprised every conference doesn't do it. i cant believe they suddenly grew consciences.

Probably because it isn't at the detriment of the competition, its to the detriment of the students. Which means eventually the NCAA will stop it. I would hope.

i heard there's a 25 player limit per year.

Spoiler: show

just joshin' ya, this doesn't surprise me, all these schools want is money and recognition... what surprises me is that it surprises anyone else that they're cheating and ruining people's lives.

Well In another life time (like 8 years ago) I would have been amoung the first in line to trash Ohio State, but even they're playing by the rules. Looking at that website makes it seem like a systematic abuse of a loophole in the system in the SEC (sans florida and tennessee and a couple schools no one remembers) that the rest of the NCAA has decided not to exploit. What surprises me most is that other schools haven't been more vocal about it, for instance the Big Ten after losing 5 bowl games on New Years Day.

you think those numbers are bad.... check out Houston Nutt's stats...

I think they had 45 just last season.

The reason they do it of course is that they are right on the edge of academic eligibility with these players and many won't qualify... the other reason, a lot of these guys get arrested over the summer and kicked out.

Depending on the coaching staff, a lot of JUCO guys are added and that adds to the recruiting class numbers.

College football is more important to the fanbases in the SEC than it is in most other places. That's why they take more risks especially in schools that aren't winning or have significant deficiencies.

LSU just signed a disgraced and expelled QB from Georgia who was kicked out of a bar in Valdosta for being drunken and beligerant at 19 and putting his hands all over a girl. Yeah, high character guy. Couldn't think of a better place for him than Baton Rouge....

I thought this was going to be a thread about Dan Synder.

That is shady

If you are so concerned for a players education why try to end the use of medical hardship waivers? That's a great way to allow a kid who just didn't have things fall his way in football continue to get his education paid for.

Also, as someone else put it very succinctly:

But that causes another problem: It only effects good teams, not great. In fact, it puts an even greater gap between good and great.

Why? I’ll explain.

Team Good releases players before Spring semester to say it has more room.

Team Great releases players before Spring semester to say it has more room.

Team good misses on its potential recruits. Burned.

Team Great misses on its top targets but still signs talented players. Winning.

But who here wasn't 19, drunk as all hell, and feeling up a girl?

I was going to point out that a bunch of these idiots don't end up making grades, getting arrested or whatnot...but that's already been covered.

Good point. That said, he upgraded his position possibly, because he probably wasn't going to play at UGA, he might have a nice career at LSU.