If you wandered over to the various recruiting sites on signing day you probably noticed big banners proclaiming Alabama's return to power via the nation's top recruiting class. This is due in large part to the enormous number of recruits that put pen to letter of intent for Nick Saban: 32, a full seven more than the NCAA's yearly limit of 25. Only Miami managed to stretch the boundaries of the rule further, signing 33. Both classes are top five but in are overrated by sheer quantity. Alabama's #1 class is actually #6 by star average; Miami's #4 class is 14th by that metric. Both contain large numbers of players with no chance to qualify this fall; it's all smoke and mirrors.
That's irritating, but Tim Gayle's piece on the massive 'Bama oversigning is disturbing. Gayle crunches the numbers and comes to these conclusions:
- Four to six guys are not going to qualify.
- Four more guys who are marginally useful can plausibly be given medical scholarships and removed from the team.
- Six more scholarships need to be forcibly extracted from somewhere.
