FCS "Rankings" and The Folly of Trusting Media About The FCS

[ElrodGrizzly]

This is a fun little study I fell into today. I was given a Sports Illustrated link (https://www.si.com/college/fcs/rankings/top-2024-fcs-football-recruiting-classes-247sports-on3-sports-houston-christian-north-dakota-state?fbclid=IwAR1U4aQ9hibjLR0-UHl5AuqEONenjsaW5sR2hkgaERft6hYxqwVkoWHTO44) on Facebook ranking FCS recruiting classes. Seems like fun, so I click. I immediately notice that Montana is not ranked at all in high school recruiting class. Seemed a little odd, but okay. I keep scrolling, and they have a list of HS recruits plus transfer portal.... MSU is ranked in the top 10, but Montana not ranked. That doesn't make sense if you compare the classes.

I see that they are using 247Sports recruiting rankings of college football teams. So I go to find the 247 recruiting ranks. And what do I find? They have Montana listed at 10 total recruits coming in. Furman is listed as having 2 total recruits coming in.

So, 247Sports puts out a "ranking" that is based on entirely incomplete information. That's fine, that is their right. But then Sports Illustrated pushes out an article to the world with the narrative "Montana has a worse recruiting class than dozens of other FCS teams." If you debate a friend, you might hear them say "Sports Illustrated says that (INSERT TEAM NAME HERE) had a better recruiting class, and I think Sports Illustrated is pretty reliable."

When it comes to the FCS, there aren't reliable rankings for things like this from ANYONE because there is no good source of complete data.

 

[EverettGriz]

#fcs

 

[3-7-77]

Such is the state of reporting in this country, local, state, national, sports, news, politics, knitting and cooking, or whatever subject is of interest to someone. :roll:

 

[AZDoc]

If you look down at the On3 section...that takes all into account right? SI is waaaaaay past it's prime.

On3 Sports:
1. North Dakota State (No. 134)
2. Idaho (No. 135)
3. Eastern Washington (No. 136)
4. Northern Iowa (No. 137)
5. Holy Cross (No. 138)
6. Montana (No. 139)
7. Jackson State (No. 140)
8. Eastern Kentucky (No. 141)
9. Monmouth (No. 142)
10. Stephen F. Austin (No. 143)

 

[Znelson15]

If you look down at the On3 section...that takes all into account right? SI is waaaaaay past it's prime.

On3 Sports:
1. North Dakota State (No. 134)
2. Idaho (No. 135)
3. Eastern Washington (No. 136)
4. Northern Iowa (No. 137)
5. Holy Cross (No. 138)
6. Montana (No. 139)
7. Jackson State (No. 140)
8. Eastern Kentucky (No. 141)
9. Monmouth (No. 142)
10. Stephen F. Austin (No. 143)

I use on3 for alot of this kind of stuff, they seem to do a really good job. Def surprised by eastern and idaho being ranked so high

 

[ElrodGrizzly]

If you look down at the On3 section...that takes all into account right? SI is waaaaaay past it's prime.

On3 Sports:
1. North Dakota State (No. 134)
2. Idaho (No. 135)
3. Eastern Washington (No. 136)
4. Northern Iowa (No. 137)
5. Holy Cross (No. 138)
6. Montana (No. 139)
7. Jackson State (No. 140)
8. Eastern Kentucky (No. 141)
9. Monmouth (No. 142)
10. Stephen F. Austin (No. 143)

I use on3 for alot of this kind of stuff, they seem to do a really good job. Def surprised by eastern and idaho being ranked so high

I'm with you at On3, and they are ranking this recruiting class as the highest in Hauck 2.0. They are often behind on things, but I don't blame them for that. I agree with you that they are more accurate overall.

I don't envy any of these sites trying to track this many high school kids going to this many colleges.

 

[Mousegriz]

Who cares? Are games played in off-season SI articles or on the field in the fall?

NFL scouts often get the #1 draft pick wrong too.

 

[PhxGriz]

If you look down at the On3 section...that takes all into account right? SI is waaaaaay past it's prime.

On3 Sports:
1. North Dakota State (No. 134)
2. Idaho (No. 135)
3. Eastern Washington (No. 136)
4. Northern Iowa (No. 137)
5. Holy Cross (No. 138)
6. Montana (No. 139)
7. Jackson State (No. 140)
8. Eastern Kentucky (No. 141)
9. Monmouth (No. 142)
10. Stephen F. Austin (No. 143)

They just laid off a large portion of their staff as well.

 

[3-7-77]

Relax, relax. Come next January, they'll get their 'comeuppance:'

https://youtu.be/7vzlzl-19Gc

 

[alabamagrizzly]

Who cares? Are games played in off-season SI articles or on the field in the fall?

NFL scouts often get the #1 draft pick wrong too.

Did PR pee in your Cheerios again? Is it a crime to wish the national media covered FCS sports better?

 

[ElrodGrizzly]

Who cares? Are games played in off-season SI articles or on the field in the fall?

NFL scouts often get the #1 draft pick wrong too.

Sure, people get a lot wrong. My point was just that when you see articles like this come up in a friendly debate with friends, feel free to point out how incomplete the information is at the FCS level.

Also, its perfectly okay to discuss recruiting rankings. We talk about all kinds of stuff here that effects what happens on the field in the future. We have giant stickied threads for recruiting information.

 

[Mousegriz]

I guess some of you really do care. Sorry to interrupt.

 

[IdaGriz01]

If you look down at the On3 section...that takes all into account right? SI is waaaaaay past it's prime.
...

Yep. As a long-time subscriber to SI, I can opine that the mag is definitely not what it once was ... and may be into the proverbial "death spiral." They've had two new owners in last few years.

And just recently they dumped a bunch of people: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/19/business/media/sports-illustrated-mass-layoffs.html

 

[mthoopsfan]

If you look down at the On3 section...that takes all into account right? SI is waaaaaay past it's prime.

On3 Sports:
1. North Dakota State (No. 134)
2. Idaho (No. 135)
3. Eastern Washington (No. 136)
4. Northern Iowa (No. 137)
5. Holy Cross (No. 138)
6. Montana (No. 139)
7. Jackson State (No. 140)
8. Eastern Kentucky (No. 141)
9. Monmouth (No. 142)
10. Stephen F. Austin (No. 143)

They just laid off a large portion of their staff as well.

Ya, maybe SI would do better if they still had employees. "The future of Sports Illustrated was uncertain Friday after the publisher of the iconic magazine and website laid off most or “probably all” of its guild-represented staff, its union said. In a memo sent to staff viewed by CNN, the magazine's publisher said it is “laying off staff that work on the SI brand.”Jan 19, 2024". Hero Sports probably has more employees than SI now.

 

[Oldskoolgriz]

And didn't they have Martha Stewart in one of the swimsuit editions? . Just thought I'd throw that in there since we are talking about how bad SI has gotten. Haha

 

[Bear Axed]

And didn't they have Martha Stewart in one of the swimsuit editions? . Just thought I'd throw that in there since we are talking about how bad SI has gotten. Haha

https://swimsuit.si.com/swimsuit/model/martha-stewart-2023-si-swimsuit-photos#gid=ci02bf15e930002776&pid=20230202_si_martha_stewart_s06_0775_wmweb

 

[mthoopsfan]

Good enough for the old guys.

 

[alabamagrizzly]

And didn't they have Martha Stewart in one of the swimsuit editions? . Just thought I'd throw that in there since we are talking about how bad SI has gotten. Haha

https://swimsuit.si.com/swimsuit/model/martha-stewart-2023-si-swimsuit-photos#gid=ci02bf15e930002776&pid=20230202_si_martha_stewart_s06_0775_wmweb

I will not dare click that link in fear I might see Martha in a swimsuit. I’m sure you can’t unsee that.

 

[IdaGriz01]

Good enough for the old guys.

Nope.

Waiting for my subscription to run out ... assuming the mag doesn't go belly up before that.

 

[mthoopsfan]

Mahomes’ wife made Swimsuit Issue cut this year.