Great article today on Rivals.com about Alabama and LSU and their recruiting battles. Pretty easy to see why they are so good year in and year out. What I found most interesting is that 53 of Alabama's 85 players were in the Rivals Top 250 or 62%. LSU had 40 of 85 in the Rivals Top 250 for 47%. These are massive numbers. Also interesting is that almost all of their recruits come from 4 states, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, and Georgia. How much easier would Iowa have it if there were 90-100 players in the Rivals Top 250 from Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. From 2011-2015 Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Georgia have averaged 32 Top 100 players from their states combined. Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana have averaged 4 Top 100 players from their states combined. No doubt Nick Saban and Les Miles are good coaches but easy to see how they can be so successful with this much talent so close to their homes.
