What Top Analyst's Take on Big Ten Means For MSU Football Recruiting
Just a few short years ago, it seemed to be that the king of college football was the SEC, an untouchable collective of blue-chip talent, world-class coaching and recruiting, and bottomless budgets and fervor for the sport.
With the exception of an Urban Meyer-led Ohio State, it seemed that no one could match the SEC's best, whether that be Nick Saban's Alabama or a slew of great teams from LSU or Georgia.
Now, with the transfer portal, NIL, and conference re-alignment, there has been a drastic change. The once almighty SEC looks vulnerable. Beatable.
Analyst Joel Klatt, one of the biggest experts in college football, went so far as to claim that the Big Ten is on top.
“The narrative that the SEC is clearly the best conference needs to die,” he said on "The Joel Klatt Show" last week. “It needs to die because it’s pretty clear that it’s over. And I think there are some people that are going to sit there and say, ‘Oh, Klatt’s going to try to take a victory lap or relish in this.’ I’m not relishing in this actually at all. It’s just it just needs to die."
"The games have played out. So let’s just try to evaluate the games for what they are. ... Big Ten, 4-1 over the SEC in bowl games this year. Do I think the Big Ten was a really good conference this year? Yeah. I cover the Big Ten, by the way. Do I think that the SEC was really good this year? Yeah. They were really deep this year. But the Big Ten-SEC matchups in the bowl season would suggest that the Big Ten has not only held their own but done better than that."
Klatt gave the superb example of a weak Michigan Wolverines squad dominating the Crimson Tide without any of their star players, something that would have been considered impossible just 10 years ago.
The Big Ten on top of the college football world means that Michigan State will have its work cut out. Recruiting will be cranked up to an even more difficult scale. Jonathan Smith's goal of building pipelines throughout the home state (which is seeing a boom in talent) and Midwest will be strenuous.
The Spartans will have to dig deep in their NIL wallet to compete, too. That is the hard truth of the modern college football landscape. And that's not just for recruiting -- that's for retaining talent as well.
That being said, the Spartans have a great pitch to recruits; NFL scouts love prospects from competitive conferences. Look at how well the SEC was drafted. Combining tough, physical Big Ten football with boom in talent and coaching and modern schemes, the conference's talent will look all the more adaptable to the NFL.
Long story short: who you play for and who you play against matters if your dream is to make it to the NFL. Right now, the Big Ten looks like the place to be. Smith and Co. must adjust to that notion.
Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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