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Message: [QUOTE="IthacaMatt, post: 3045536, member: 405"] Football is so much harder than basketball, just because there are so many players, and success is more dependent on the performance of more people around you on your team in football than in basketball. That said, a couple factors go into "good" rankings - there are a number of big camps where you can see elite players against each other. These camps go a long way toward national rankings between who's a 4 star vs. a 5 star. So do offers, and measurables, and performance on the field (how many yards, sacks, TDs, interceptions, etc.) and by how successful your team is - state champs, regional champs, etc. It's not all random. The data for good reviewers comes from actual sources and data points, not just highlights videos (which everybody does nowadays). Sustained success from elite high school and prep programs also factors into the ratings. If you're an elite program, like St. Thomas Aquinas down in Florida, or IMG, well, those kids are going to be well coached and terrific athletes. Winning year after year breeds winning culture at these schools. You want those kids because they understand the commitment required to be successful. Some people manipulate rankings for subscription purposes, as many people who have been on this board for a while know. Others do their best, especially the "name" recruitniks. In hoops, there is a certain group of guys who have been doing it for a long time, and who you see at the big events. In football, as I said, it's harder to get so much elite talent together so that you can really separate the "very good" from the "eilte". And, as someone who has swum in those waters on the hoops side, I can tell you that most people who do rankings are wannabe sports writers or hardcore fans who really love doing what they do. People like Tomcat, for instance - he's such a student of all the football stuff, throughout the program. from recruiting to practically every aspect of the program. The level of detail he puts into his football work - along with several people on the football board - is just outstanding. A lot of guys out there doing serious rankings just love to do it, and they mostly honestly try their best to get it right. Because they have to defend those rankings to their readers, friends, colleagues and detractors! My two cents. [/QUOTE]

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