SoCalPatrick
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NEGATIVE RECRUITING EFFECTS IF SEC, ACC, BIG 12 PLAY FALL SEASONS
There is some momentum that the three main non-Big Ten conferences Ohio State competes with for recruits (the SEC with Alabama, Georgia and LSU; the ACC with Clemson; the Big 12 with Oklahoma) might move forward with a 2020 fall season. It’s hard to dive too far into that idea because, as Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel pointed out, “There’s an exponentially better chance of the remaining three major conferences joining the Big Ten on the sideline than there is in those leagues finishing the season.”
But it still needs to at least be discussed. If those leagues do hold a season – even a partial one – then Ohio State will be put at a disadvantage with those programs being able to use it as a major recruiting tool. And if a very much unforeseen lifting of the dead period occurs (at this point, it would be nonsensical to assume anything but the dead period continuing through the rest of the fall and no visits being allowed) then Ohio State’s disadvantage only continues.
If the ACC, SEC and Big 12 go forward with games, it won’t be a devastating setback that is going to tear up Ohio State’s recruiting classes and leave the program crumbling. That’s hyperbole. But it would be a setback nonetheless – probably a short-term setback but one that is absolutely going to be used as a negative recruiting tool against the Buckeyes. I’ve spoken with a couple Ohio State commits who have been contacted by programs in those conferences to gauge interest in a flip. So far, those schools’ interest has not been reciprocated by the Buckeye commits.
Ohio State will still be on the same level as all other Big Ten programs, but as we have hammered home so often, the program’s biggest recruiting rivals are Clemson and Alabama. Those are the two main schools Ohio State compares itself to in the national landscape. If those two programs are playing this fall and Ohio State isn’t, then Day, Mark Pantoni and the rest of the operation would have to pull off a great sell job to ensure it doesn’t affect how prospects compare the three schools.
We already saw Day make his first huge recruiting pitch in that area in a press conference on Wednesday, saying that he is going to fight to get early enrollees immediate eligibility to play in the spring for Ohio State. He is also looking to get those early enrollees the right to play in the fall of 2021 while exhausting only one year of eligibility.
Whether all of that is actually feasible remains to be seen. It’s unlikely, but at this point that’s the best pitch Day can make so he used his platform wisely.
There is some momentum that the three main non-Big Ten conferences Ohio State competes with for recruits (the SEC with Alabama, Georgia and LSU; the ACC with Clemson; the Big 12 with Oklahoma) might move forward with a 2020 fall season. It’s hard to dive too far into that idea because, as Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel pointed out, “There’s an exponentially better chance of the remaining three major conferences joining the Big Ten on the sideline than there is in those leagues finishing the season.”
But it still needs to at least be discussed. If those leagues do hold a season – even a partial one – then Ohio State will be put at a disadvantage with those programs being able to use it as a major recruiting tool. And if a very much unforeseen lifting of the dead period occurs (at this point, it would be nonsensical to assume anything but the dead period continuing through the rest of the fall and no visits being allowed) then Ohio State’s disadvantage only continues.
If the ACC, SEC and Big 12 go forward with games, it won’t be a devastating setback that is going to tear up Ohio State’s recruiting classes and leave the program crumbling. That’s hyperbole. But it would be a setback nonetheless – probably a short-term setback but one that is absolutely going to be used as a negative recruiting tool against the Buckeyes. I’ve spoken with a couple Ohio State commits who have been contacted by programs in those conferences to gauge interest in a flip. So far, those schools’ interest has not been reciprocated by the Buckeye commits.
Ohio State will still be on the same level as all other Big Ten programs, but as we have hammered home so often, the program’s biggest recruiting rivals are Clemson and Alabama. Those are the two main schools Ohio State compares itself to in the national landscape. If those two programs are playing this fall and Ohio State isn’t, then Day, Mark Pantoni and the rest of the operation would have to pull off a great sell job to ensure it doesn’t affect how prospects compare the three schools.
We already saw Day make his first huge recruiting pitch in that area in a press conference on Wednesday, saying that he is going to fight to get early enrollees immediate eligibility to play in the spring for Ohio State. He is also looking to get those early enrollees the right to play in the fall of 2021 while exhausting only one year of eligibility.
Whether all of that is actually feasible remains to be seen. It’s unlikely, but at this point that’s the best pitch Day can make so he used his platform wisely.
