A most unusual sight: UGA absent from Rivals.com’s Top 10
It’s a strange feeling for Georgia fans, and it has to feel a bit odd to Mark Richt. According to Rivals.com, Georgia’s recruiting class of 2010 ranks 15th nationally and sixth in the SEC. (The ratings — updated as of 10:48 a.m. Wednesday — are subject to change.) That would be the Bulldogs’ lowest national rating since 2001, when Mark Richt had been on the job barely two months.
Over Rich’s first nine years, Georgia finished outside Rivals’ Top 10 only once. A year-by-year look:
• 2001: Sixteenth nationally, third in the SEC.
• 2002: Third in the nation, second in the SEC.
• 2003: Sixth in the nation, third in the SEC.
• 2004: Sixth in the nation, second in the SEC.
• 2005: Tenth in the nation, second in the SEC.
• 2006: Fourth in the nation, second in the SEC.
• 2007: Ninth in the nation, sixth in the SEC.
• 2008: Seventh in the nation, third in the SEC.
• 2009: Sixth in the nation, third in the SEC.
About here, you might be saying, “So what if Georgia’s not in the Top 10 this time? All those highly rated classes really only resulted in one SEC title.” (That being in 2005; the 2002 conference championship was achieved largely with Jim Donnan’s recruits.) Not to be a Gloomy Gus, but here’s what:
When you get used to a school lighting up the recruiting board, it’s significant when it doesn’t. It’s significant when Georgia doesn’t land a single 5-star recruit. (That last happened in 2007.) It’s significant when an Auburn program in Year 2 under Gene Chizik lands 13 spots ahead of Georgia in Year 10 under Richt. And from this we can draw only one conclusion:
Mark Richt needs to rent some white limos.
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600 comments Add your comment
UglyOldDog
February 3rd, 2010
2:56 pm
One thing good about living in Georgia…everytime I flush the toilet..the crap goes straight down hill to FLORIDA.
SagaciousSam
February 3rd, 2010
2:56 pm
Now,now! Lets not get to hasy with our negativism. So what if UGA is an average SEC school in football. What difference does it really make everyday in the state of Georgia? It changes nothing regarding the lifestyle or personal worth of the people who are residents of this state. Alaska has never won a national championship in football and it may be a likely probability that they do not have a single college football team in the state. What’s more; they are intelligent enough not to care. UGA is good enough for Georgians. It is an excellent University whether it wins football championships …or not. But……………….just to remind those who are apt to endorse forgetfulness, this average collegiate football program has won 90 games in the past nine years. It will be worth the wait, but I am waiting for someone…..anyone to name another school who has surpassed that accomplishment. Please post your reply quickly as it’s easy for boredom set in. I will wait until Thursday for those who complain to produce their long lists. Please do not exceed 118 schools; suppossedly there are only 119 programs. Thanks for your rapid response to this. For really loyal Dawg fans, UGA is quite an accomplished university and football program. Do have a nice day and be sure to keep your remarks decent and civil. Toodles!
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
2:57 pm
harold
February 3rd, 2010
2:41 pm
Georgia is just an average football program. The beasts in The SEC are Florida, Alabama, LSU, now Auburn and Tennessee. It’s time for Richt to go.
You are the only non-delusional dawg fan on this site. You are exactly right, Gorgia will never get back to the glory days until they get rid of Richt.
Dawg '88
February 3rd, 2010
2:57 pm
hey Bradley….since you think Paul Johnson is such a genius why don’t you listen and believe these words (as you do everything else he says):
Tech’s Paul Johnson typically was a bit more blunt in assessing the worth of the recruting services: “None. Zero. Because it’s a joke. How can anybody look and even come across to say these are the top 100 players in the country. They don’t have a clue. Like they’ve looked at every high school running back and they’re going to be able rank this guy as a 4, and this guy as a 5. And if you’ll notice, the teams that have the biggest subscriptions [among fans], their guys are always the 4- and 5-star athletes. That’s the way it is.”
Game set Match Bark Madly!
BTW…where is Yech rated?
Calmdawg
February 3rd, 2010
2:57 pm
Rivals.com nor do polls play ball. Go Dawg
Saint Augustine
February 3rd, 2010
2:59 pm
Brian
February 3rd, 2010
2:48 pm
You guys who think UGA is going to have a 5 loss or worse season are really delusional. Several reasons we’ll be better, at least record-wise.
1. Fired Willie Martinez, Jancek, and Fabris. It’s addition by subtraction.
2. Aaron Murray, highly-touted qb (over 50 offers) replaces Joe Cox. Again, it’s addition by subtraction.
3. Easier schedule. Instead of playing Oklahoma State we play Lousiana-Lafayette. We don’t play Alabama or LSU.
4. Whole o-line is back and Chris Burnette and Austin Long are going to be really solid additions.
5. Our receivers and tight ends were all young last year, and they’re should be a lot of improvement there.
Brian,
1. What makes you sure that new defensive coaches teaching a new defense to new defensive players will be any better than last year?
2. What makes you think an 18 year old qb that has never faced a SEC defense will do any better than Joe Cox did? You basing your optimism on his 4 star rating out of high school last year? The guy is not even 6′ tall!
3. What about all that strength of schedule crap you guys were spouting last year and the year before that?
4. The whole O-line was back last year
5. Agreed, but if 1-4 suck again how are you gonna get the ball to them?
mike addington
February 3rd, 2010
3:00 pm
I agree with Harold. too bad though. I thought he was the man there for a while
LSU Tiger_Fan_in_GA
February 3rd, 2010
3:01 pm
UGA now ranked #20 on scout.com……..sorry “dawgs”, you’re destined to keep sucking!
gary
February 3rd, 2010
3:01 pm
Mark, you point out that all the dawg fans who put such stock in the past years’ ratings are now downplaying this class. But you’re doing the same thing in reverse. If Top 10 recruiting classes are overrated, then what’s the big deal?….Also, the point about AJC negative coverage is fair. I talk to college football fans all over the country. UGA is highly respected everywhere but in their own back yard of Atlanta.
Who's Your Daddy
February 3rd, 2010
3:01 pm
Not a bad class of recruits. Logic is that we could lose some guys that were weak commits with the coaching change, but I will feel much better with CTG on the sidelines this year and believe we will see immediate results in the quality of the defensive play. Richt already has the ship righted.
On another note, winds around rocky top are that there has been a pretty bad drug problem in the ad, evidenced by the arrests and dismissals in bb and fb programs. I would expect Dooley to straighten that out if it is true, but lets hope Darick stays clean, otherwise he could be wearing a little more orange than he bargained for.
Auburn Gator
February 3rd, 2010
3:01 pm
Stick a fork in Georgia
Outback War Eagle
February 3rd, 2010
3:03 pm
georgia = bloomin idiots.
Dawg '88
February 3rd, 2010
3:03 pm
Hey GaGator…remind me the how many games Auburn has won vs CMR since 2001….3 out of 9! And the Dawgs have a 4 game winning streak after another win this year. Learn the facts.
Against LSU…it took an official’s bad call (in almost everyone’s opinion) to beat UGA this year. And in 2004 and 2008….The Dawgs gave LSU the worst defeats in the past 10 years. Learn the facts.
Bama is just 1-1 vs Richt with NS. And Uf…man I enjoyed that 2008 celebration. But it is true…even vs CMR…Uf has
BitDawgBarking
February 3rd, 2010
3:05 pm
Gen Neyland
February 3rd, 2010
2:25 pm
Tech Buzz : UGA beating GT in 2009 was not a fluke. It was UGA playing some darn good defense against your highly regarded offense and better offense against your weak defense…Didn’t Iowa bring you back down to earth..?
No General, Iowa did nothing to cure the lying eye syndrome that is required to be a GT fan. They prefer to talk a lot of smack and at the end of each season’s traditional chokefest, and go home pizzed that nothing ever really changes at GT.
BitDawgBarking
February 3rd, 2010
3:05 pm
Tech Buzz, congrats on your sterling bowl record under Paul Johnson. 63-17 in 2 bowls and 10 offensive points isn’t all that bad when you consider it’s GT you’re talking about.
Quality vs. Qualifiers?
February 3rd, 2010
3:07 pm
Auburn has 30 recruits many of whom won’t step foot on campus next year and perhaps never will. Recruits today look at the depth chart, especially the 5 starts. Who does Da’Rick have to beat out at UT? crickets chirpping……………………….. Laughable.
Brian
February 3rd, 2010
3:08 pm
1. What makes you sure that new defensive coaches teaching a new defense to new defensive players will be any better than last year?
2. What makes you think an 18 year old qb that has never faced a SEC defense will do any better than Joe Cox did? You basing your optimism on his 4 star rating out of high school last year? The guy is not even 6′ tall!
3. What about all that strength of schedule crap you guys were spouting last year and the year before that?
4. The whole O-line was back last year
5. Agreed, but if 1-4 suck again how are you gonna get the ball to them?
Saint Augustine,
1. Because they can’t be any worse with the athletes they have.
2. Murray was wanted by many top schools, so I think I have reason to be optimistic. Plus, we also have Zach Mettenberger, who’s 6′5 and was a top 10 qb.
3. That’s not the point. I’ll admit, we blew up in the big games, the last couple of years, but with no Alabama or LSU on the schedule, have could the record not be better?
4. Yes, you’re right about that, but we had some great blocking the last 4 games, and it showed in the rushing yards.
5. We had a young team, especially the receivers, and besides AJ, Orson Charles and Tavarres King showed some good flashes last year.
Dawg '88
February 3rd, 2010
3:09 pm
Hey LSU fan in Ga….How did you like that sucking sound when all LSU fans left Death Valley last year when sucky UGA put 50 up on your great team. Bet you left early too. Some fan! And if its so great in La….Delta is ready when you are.
Dawg '88
February 3rd, 2010
3:10 pm
Outback War Eagle and Auburn Gator….How that 4 game losing streak to “sorry” Georgia feel about now. How about a nice bowl of shut your yap!
4 in a row! 4 in a row! 4 in a row!
You took 4 thousand overtimes to beat Northwestern…wow how impressive!
The doormat of the Big Ten Fraud conference. Signing 29 recruits got your decent ranking. The rankings avg. per player is better for UGA recruits. So when our better players are on the field….your meatwagon, benchwarmers and scout teamers will be in the stands in street clothes wondering why they came to such a remote cow pasture place like the Plains. LOL!
Brian
February 3rd, 2010
3:11 pm
Richt is 5-4 against Tennessee and 6-3 against Auburn including 4 in a row, so neither team’s fans should be bashing Richt.
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
3:11 pm
Dawg ‘88
It was 2007 you show your a$$ in Jacksonville, in 2008 Florida called two time outs
with 1 min left to let you red necks look at the score a little longer
Mark Bradley
February 3rd, 2010
3:12 pm
If you’re so inclined, here’s the print column. More of the same negativity. (Or maybe not. That’s called a tease.)
Bama Stan
February 3rd, 2010
3:13 pm
GaGator, Florida sucks, get in line with UT and UGA and bow down to King Saban.
dirtyo11
February 3rd, 2010
3:13 pm
This is an embrassement to the program. There is too much talent in the state to finish 16 and 6th in the SEC. Man we finished behind Tenn & S.C. Richt got to get it together, how can he lose the top player in the state to Tenn. Maybe we the people in Ga need to get behind the program, so we can motivate young guys coming outta high school to go to UGA. FSU, UT, S.C haven’t won their conf champioship in years and they out rank us…….WOW!!!!!!! SOMETHING IS WRONG AND WE NEED TO FIX IT, W NEED TO HELP KEEP GA TALENT IN GA. DON’T UGA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, MAKE YOU PROUD OF THE STATE INSTEAD OF HEARING ANOTHER STATE.
Bama Stan
February 3rd, 2010
3:13 pm
31-13 suck it! Tebow is still crying!
Bama Stan
February 3rd, 2010
3:16 pm
I see UGA with a lot of improvement with the Murray kid, probably 10 wins, but wouldn’t have a chance to beat Bama. But dont’ feel bad, no one can, no even mighty Tebow.
UGA Now
February 3rd, 2010
3:18 pm
UGA needs to start doing what the other big schools are doing—limos, hot hostesses, etc.—use every trick in the book, or they will end up with another mediocre class next year.
JimboDawg
February 3rd, 2010
3:24 pm
What are weez gonna get excited about now that we can’t be #1 in recruitin rankings?
Bradley Hater
February 3rd, 2010
3:25 pm
Hold on I’m still laughing..does anyone really think Tech is gonna beat Georgia this year…come on really? Does anyone really think Tennessee is gonna beat Georgia this year…come on really? Tech will not beat the Dawgs…it won’t be close..and the Tennessee game will be over with by the middle of the second quarter…believe me. Whose gonna be your QB Tennessee? You lost half your team to graduation and the other half are doing time for robbery. Georgias WR’S are gonna have a field day catching Murray’s passes and our returning RB’s are going to slice up your defensive front. Tech will win six games this year and finish either fourth or fifth in the ACC. Tennessee will hold off Vandy for last place in the East and will win five games. Believe me its going to happen. The overall talent level at Tech and Tennesse just isn’t there.The Georgia ship gets righted this season and the Dawgs will be playing in the SEC championship game…..just because we lost Da’Rick to the hounds doesn’t mean the program is going to fold up. Tech would beg to have a 8-5 season like Georgia did this past year. And Tennessee is hoping for the same this year. Georgia will finish 13-1. With the loss coming to either Auburn or Alabama in the SECCG. Urban Meyer will end the season crying on National TV….ITS GONNA HAPPEN and I can’t wait…… P.S.As usual pompous Mark Bradley will take credit for everything…like he always does.
Ramma Bama
February 3rd, 2010
3:26 pm
Bama will own the SEC for years, no matter what recruits they get at florida, georgia, etc. Saban—best coach in america, no one even close! Look for title #14 in 2010!!! Hard to be humble when you’re a bama fan.
Gratefuldawghead
February 3rd, 2010
3:26 pm
DAWGS #9 on ESPNU
Georgia Tech signed 0 players from Georgia!…. 0!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Hairy's Balls
February 3rd, 2010
3:26 pm
Damn, why are you Dawg Fans so pissed at Mark? He simply wrote some facts and you all start calling him bad names. Unbelievable. If you don’t like what he has to say, you don’t like the truth.
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
3:29 pm
Let me make it real easy you dawgs to understand why Florida owns you now.
First and you better believe it, quality counts. The Gators are #1 in all 3 rating services. Georgia is 9th on ESPN, 16th on Rivals.com and 20th on Scouts.com.
Let’s use the ESPN rating since they rate Georgia the highest. Georgia highest rated
players in the 150 ESPN recruits are rated #28 and #84.
Now compare those two with the Gator recruits in the ESPN 150. Florida players are rated
1,3,9,10,25,28,34,35,37,41,50,79 and 81. You have to be a complete idiot to think your 2 can play against our 13. JUST REMEMBER QUALITY RISES TO THE TOP.
timthebrave
February 3rd, 2010
3:30 pm
Besides a few teams not much difference between #3-#20. Look at average ranking and you will see Auburn has an average of 3.5 and ranked #3 and uga has 3.42 and ranked #16. Looks to me Fl, USC and TX got top classes and everybody else in top 25 about equal
dirtyo11
February 3rd, 2010
3:30 pm
Ga is falling behind in jobs, state income, education, and now college football. What is going on. One college scout ranked Ga behind Cali, Fla, & Tx as far as producing football players. So how come we lose recruits to other states. Tenn, Aub, FSU haven’t been worth a crap the past few yrs, but once again we lose top players to those schools. I understand why we lose players to UF, USC, or Bama. Has anyone noticed how proud Fla, Tx, USC, Miami,LSU and FSU fans are of their program no matter how they finish, they bred their players to attend their programs. I lived in Tx, every good player in Tx wanted to go to Tx, except for a few that wanted to go to OKlahoma. Same for UF,USC,FSU,LSU,&Bama. Miami has been in the dog house, but their high school players still wanted to attend there, that’s because they have state pride. Like when UF play UGA fans in Fla pull for UF even if they don’t like UF, but it’s not about football, it’s about da state of Fla vs da state of Ga
CaliDogg
February 3rd, 2010
3:31 pm
We’ll see how these players all develop, not to put too much on the “rankings” of classes (services are notoriously bad/wrong about ranking players so the data for class rankings is already suspect) but to play the game a bit, looking at the UGA players signed, something interesting stands out.
Of the players choosing to play at UGA, here are the number who turned down OFFERS from the following schools (all of which the bloggers here are whooping and crowing over):
Florida – 5
Alabama – 6
All the harping about a player that UGA didn’t “get” who chose another school needs to be put in perspective. UGA SIGNED players those schools wanted as well.
Example. The kid who went to FSU at the last minute. Fine. UGA signed 3 players that FSU wanted.
So, all in all, the blogging is fun for all but, considering the size of this class, looking at these players on an individual basis, I think UGA is in good shape. [Though, I do think, not yet analyzed -- the lack of certainty at QB, which Richt courted with his poor management of the position last year -- could have affected WR choices for these players -- somebody has to throw them the ball.]
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
3:34 pm
FLORIDA JUST ADDED THEIR 16th ESPN 150 PLAYER, CHAZ GREEN, 4th RATED OFF. TACKLE AND #52 PLAYER OVERALL————JUST ANOTHER REASON TO GET RID OF RICHT.
Bama Stan
February 3rd, 2010
3:35 pm
Gators suck, hopefully they’ll win the East so we can kill them again!
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
3:43 pm
CaliDogg
You just keep on rationalzing, and you will keep play for 3rd or 4th in the SEC East.
Dawg Knowledge
February 3rd, 2010
3:49 pm
DaRick would have flunked out of UGA in the first year. At UT, with all the mickey mouse classes for football players, he will be on the dean’s list! Just win baby!!!
Bama Stan
February 3rd, 2010
3:51 pm
GaGator, 31-13. That is all.
GaGator
February 3rd, 2010
3:57 pm
Bama Stan
Man, don’t be a jerk like these dawg fans, I believe you lost the year before.
Just chill, we have the 2 best teams in the SEC and somebody has to lose.
UGA Rocks The House
February 3rd, 2010
4:42 pm
UGA finished in top 5 in DE’s, DB’s on rivals.com, #11 on DL’s
Scout UGA finished:
1- top 5 in number of top 100 recruits
2- #7 in average quality of recruit
ESPN UGA finished ranked #9
Dr. Demento
February 3rd, 2010
5:46 pm
Let’s see didn’t really need a WR, lost one, but got one anyway…need DE’s and DL’s and got some…need LB’s and got a small one, need OL and got one…interesting in that the “True DAWG” fan’s and see the glass as 1/4 full are probably the same ones who were so much behind CMR and last years coaching debacle…I seriously don’t think that any recruit really cares that CMR has averaged 10 wins over the past 10 years or whatever time span it was…they went after Bobby, they went after JoePa, they’re after Miles, so why not CMR…one thing is certain he needs to step it up and not have a repeat of last year…there’s so many question marks on this team from having a starting QB, to having a new defensive scheme, to having a new DC, etc…for a team that has so many starters coming back, you’d think that recruits would like to part of the program the next few years, after all this is UGA, not Vandy…hopefully things will turn around for you loyal fans
daddo
February 3rd, 2010
6:33 pm
Have any of you stupid dogs looked at the recruiting ranks today? Georgia: Help me, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up. You are now enjoying the recruiting success of a Mike Shula. If you guys can’t win with Top Five classes, I can’t imagine what you will do with the 16th best athletes in the country. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha……………………..
BuLLdawg
February 4th, 2010
1:51 am
2001 doesn’t count Mark Bradley. Coach Richt you recall was hired by Vincent J. Dooley 2 am 20 December 2000. He didn’t even want to come here February 1st. It was Vince Dooley who had to tell Coach Richt to get his butt here. Am I the only person with any kind of memory writing at the AJ-C ?
It’s the same exact situation the way Coach Richt let Todd Grantham dilly dally around in Dallas for a week after he hired him, although the very next day, Dallas lost. Right at Recruiting time.
We had Jakar Hamilton be our mouth, I mean spokesman during that week, if you recall.
Scout.com has UGA ranked the Number 21 Recruiting Class in the nation.
We had exactly 6 percent of our 85 scholarships recruited last year on offense.
We have now exactly 8 percent of our 85 scholarships recruited this year on offense.
If you knew anything about football Mark Bradley, and you do NOT, you would do a better job of actually evaluating this class of 5 top-notch defensive players and 0 on offense.
And, instead of concluding that Coach Richt needs white limos like Auburn, you would then conclude that Coach Richt needs an 11-year NFL veteran as Offensive Coordinator at $750,000 a year so we do not lead the nation on offense yet again in lining up unprepared especially at QB every year again this year and getting penalties, or when we don’t fumble or throw an interception.
You can’t be that stupid can you Mark Bradley ? You can’t see what the recruits on Offense are telling UGA Mark Bradley ?
Tell me it’s not so.
BuLLdawg
February 4th, 2010
1:58 am
The truth of the matter is that our offense is no fun.
And, it hasn’t been any fun at all with Mike Bobo OJT.
Bobo has LOST to EVERY Top 10 Final AP Poll team.
Bobo has a LOSING RECORD to Top 25 Final AP Poll teams.
Bobo has LOST 4 games vs teams UNRANKED in the Final AP Poll Top 25.
Bobo has led the nation in penalties every year.
Bobo has led the nation in fumbles every year.
Bobo has led the nation in interceptions every year.
Bobo has been booed for his play calling by every person at Sanford Stadium.
BuLLdawg
February 4th, 2010
2:02 am
Correct.
We have been nothing but a bridesmaid 9 years in a row with top ranked recruiting classes.
It has caught up with us on offense, last year and again this year on offense recruiting.
Not 1 time has Coach Richt had a meaningful bowl opponent, not once on the national stage in any bowl game in the Coach Richt Era.
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