JAFO I barely know half those guys...
Take a look at this as far as the 2014 (2013, 2012, 2011) recruiting class ranking:
https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... sses/29708
https://sports.yahoo.com/news/inside-la ... 04689.html
INSIDE LACROSSE'S RECRUITING CLASS RANKINGS: 2011-2014
RANK____2014 ________2013_______2012___________2011
1.___Johns Hopkins__Maryland____North Carolina___Maryland
2.___Notre Dame____Syracuse____Virginia_________North Carolina
3.___Duke_________North Carolina_Duke__________Harvard
4.___Maryland_____Virginia_______Harvard________Virginia
5.___North Carolina_Duke________Johns Hopkins___Johns Hopkins
6.___Villanova_____Johns Hopkins_Maryland_______Syracuse
7.___Virginia_______Harvard_____Penn State______Duke
8.___Denver_______Notre Dame__Notre Dame_____Notre Dame
9.___Harvard______Penn State___Syracuse________Cornell
10.__Princeton_____Princeton____Princeton_______Massachusetts
11.__Penn State____Denver_____Pennsylvania_____Pennsylvania
12.__Pennsylvania__Cornell_____Fairfield_________Princeton
13.__Bucknell______Yale_______Brown___________Navy
14.__Towson_______Towson____Denver__________Army
15.__Yale_________Georgetown_Loyola__________Towson
16.__Ohio State____Pennsylvania_Ohio State______Hofstra
17.__Syracuse______Villanova___Georgetown_____Villanova
18.__Loyola________Michigan___Navy____________Albany
19.__Michigan______Hofstra____Michigan________ Georgetown
20.__Georgetown___Brown_____Hobart__________Denver
By the 2014 ranking I should have been pleased if Yale finished 2017 14th or better in the country. Final four Albany was not on the 2014 list. ND and Hopkins did not make the 2018 final four. North Carolina did not have a good 2018. Harvard, Princeton, Penn all ranked ahead of Yale and Cornell. Big Red nowhere to be found in 2014 list (in fairness, their best recent talent is on the younger side). Across the four years of recruiting classes: Yale ranked no higher than 13 and not present in the 2012 and 2011 class rankings. Year after year, the list is generally composed of the same schools so it's hitting the two-three exceptions that's the real challenge.
I remember when Loyola won the National Championship back in 2012. At the beginning of the year, they weren't even ranked in the top 20. They had a great set of seniors and juniors too. I searched for the corresponding 2009 Top 20 recruiting class ranking and it is no longer up (did find a press releases from a some schools touting their great recruiting classes}.
In fact, for any given year, I can predict the top 10 (okay, 11) class (for free):
Denver
Duke
Harvard
John Hopkins
Maryland
Notre Dame
Penn State
Princeton or Cornell (maybe Penn, too)
Syracuse
Virginia
then subtract two and add two from: Albany, Army, Georgetown, Massachusetts, Navy, Penn, Towson, Villanova, and Yale.
there you have it, the Top 10. If you include all these schools in a broader ranking, there's your Top 20.
Back to my original point, I don't worry about IL's Top 100 ranking of players or Top 20 recruiting classes. I pay attention mainly to Coach Shay's comments about the players and team progress, who they play in fall ball and in scrimmages, early season games, then see how the team develops and gels.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)