Mountaintop View 12-15-21. All about recruiting, All Americans, NET Rankings

It’s signing day! Enjoy some recruiting-related links and other news as you wait for your favorite recruits to sign with your favorite teams!

A critical signing day for UNLV.

Really every class is, but this one especially. Coach Arroyo has recruited very well the past two classes and this one is a great opportunity to inject ready to play talent with the players who have been developing in the program since they stepped on campus. The plan is to mix transfers with high school talent. He wants to out-recruit the competition and is looking to upgrade no matter the position. They can take as many as 32 players (due to new transfer rules) and expect to add half of those during the December signing period.

Should early signing day be eliminated?

Speaking of the early signing period, is it worth having it? When it was founded in 2017, coaches and players alike praised it. However, there have been some negatives coming out of it as well. Namely, coaches are fired and hired quickly in November and December as teams hope to secure classes by the first signing day. This either kills recruiting classes (see Nevada) or leads to players signing in December to see coaches leave days or weeks after (see Hawaii a few years ago). Also, the Transfer Portal and transfer rules have changed everything. The NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee is looking into this situation.

The ballad of Utah State recruiting.

Jason Turner does a really nice job recapping what the past week or so has looked like for Utah State on the recruiting trail. It serves as an example of what college football recruiting is like, especially in the days leading up to signing day. Some last minute verbal pledges, flipping recruits committed to other schools and losing one or two. One thing is for sure, recruiting is never boring.

Sporting News All-Americans.

Rams and Cowboys off to strong starts.

On the horizon:

• Later today: Peak Perspective: Reviewing the 2018 MWC Recruiting Class
• Thursday: 5 Players to Watch: The New Mexico Bowl
• Thursday: 5 Players to Watch: The LA Bowl
• Friday: New Mexico Bowl Preview
• Friday: LA Bowl Preview