[Farm93]

The rankings matter because rankings matter.  My point was that at some level I doubt they influence choices as much as was implied, or that football staffs can rest easy knowing they are recruiting an academically focused recruit with other choices 20 or even 40 slots down the list.

U of Texas, for example, is not that high on that list and yet I doubt they fear losing kids to UCLA based on academic rankings simply because UCLA is a few spots higher on this US News list.

I suspect that your average Michigan football player believes their education at Michigan will be superior to the education, or lack thereof, that a UCB football player will get at UCB.  I definitely believe the football staff at Michigan will go toe to toe with UCBs academic services for athletes.  And yet Michigan is several slots down the list.  So even if one believes the rankings, I think a very credible argument could be made that the quality of academic experiences for players would create a very different set of rankings.  At a minimum, that is what those staffs would tell recruits.

I also suspect that any of the top 50 would challenge the notion that their academics are inferior to any other school in the top 50.  That assessment of the programs deeper down the list bothered me a touch.

Collectively that is what I meant by way too much.  My guess is any staff with a program in the top 50 can illustrate a sufficiently compelling academic mission to land most athletes that might have offers from programs in the top 25.

[Farm93]

The rankings matter because rankings matter.  My point was that at some level I doubt they influence choices as much as was implied, or that football staffs can rest easy knowing they are recruiting an academically focused recruit with other choices 20 or even 40 slots down the list.

U of Texas, for example, is not that high on that list and yet I doubt they fear losing kids to UCLA based on academic rankings simply because UCLA is a few spots higher on this US News list.

I suspect that your average Michigan football player believes their education at Michigan will be superior to the education, or lack thereof, that a UCB football player will get at UCB.  I definitely believe the football staff at Michigan will go toe to toe with UCBs academic services for athletes.  And yet Michigan is several slots down the list.  So even if one believes the rankings, I think a very credible argument could be made that the quality of academic experiences for players would create a very different set of rankings.  At a minimum, that is what those staffs would tell recruits.

I also suspect that any of the top 50 would challenge the notion that their academics are inferior to any other school in the top 50.  That assessment of the programs deeper down the list bothered me a touch.

Collectively that is what I meant by way too much.  My guess is any staff with a program in the top 50 can illustrate a sufficiently compelling academic mission to land most athletes that might have offers from programs in the top 25.