MT Rivals Site.

http://www.GoMiddle.com

Someone should have told the guys who run all that that GTS could have set them up over here with their own site instead of going to Rivals.

I think the advantage is in the recruiting information. It shows that we have a fan base interested enough that they can support a site for us (the only SBC team with one).

PS. I like this board format better. The rivals one is tough to follow.

I hope the new Rivals is better than the old Rivals. When TribalGrounds was there we would submit recruiting information. If I sent in that three star Joe Runningback (listed as looking at Arkansas, Memphis, and Missouri) had verbally committed to Arkansas State one of three things would happen. They would add Arkansas State to the list but not put him down as a commit. They would update him as a verbal to ASU and drop him to 2 stars. Or they would ignore it.

The recruiting news for the most part isn't worth wiping your rear with.

A bruising fullback might be three stars but a lot of teams may not want to sign him because he can't (or won't) pass block to save his life.

A two star receiver with marginal speed could be highly valued by a number of teams because he will give up his body to run block and has great hands in traffic that is vitally needed on third and short.

USC might pass on the ultra-mega gold/platinum chip linebacker from Sacramento because he doesn't fit their scheme or because they are so loaded at the position they need to spend their 25 ships elsewhere.

A one-star cornerback who has been plagued by injuries in high school (maybe not bad enough to sit out just not at a 100%) can be a star in college with the right training to prevent injuries.

The four star quarterback might not be so hot after all when he has to learn more reads, and no longer has the best offensive line and best receivers in his conference or when its learned that the local police sees him about once a month but lets him go because they love the team.

Recruiting watching is bunk.

Coaches don't just go grabbing the highest rated players available. They have specific needs over the next four or five years that have to be addressed and the stars or chips tell you nothing about that.

arkstfan Wrote:They would update him as a verbal to ASU and drop him to 2 stars. Or they would ignore it.

That happens to every NON BCS team. Marshall recruied 3, 4 star players last year and 7, 3 star players. When rivals seen that they had verbaled to Marshall they imed. dropped them a star. Its just the nature of the game. They dropped one of our QBs 2 stars. If Zach Banard (4*) out of Owensboro Cath. HS in KY, would have changed his verbal to Texas Tech or Kentucky he would have had his (2*) go back up to (4*).

Thats the reason I don't trust Rivals or Scout. I have an account with Scout, only because Im a recruiting and stats junkie.

I can't imagine how you can compare HS kids from around the nation. It's tough enough comparing College kids. You can't predict their success in a tougher environment by their plays in HS. It could be their coach, it could be the other teams, it could be their teammates. There are a lot of things that change how well a player plays.

The Rivals site is great for exposure. Sure we're going to have a lot of BC$ schools coming in and talking smack (I have yet to understand why). We've already had to ban a few folks. Even posters from teams we aren't playing this season, or next, or in the forseeable future. We are the only SBC team to have one. I see that as a sign of respect from the Rivals people. Our fanbase (particularly online) is strong enough to support it.

We had a chance to go with both Rivals and Scout. I knew the core leaders at Scout and really disliked them (Scout was basically the old management from the old Rivals, but now that Fox has bought them who knows). The Rivals folks had an offer that made no financial sense for us. At the time internet ad revenue was in the toliet and both demanded that we offer some subscriber only content and not post (or at least sparingly) on any free message boards to drive people to the pay board.

With ad revenue up now I'm sure they are less draconian.