FSU Football: 2017 Recruiting Class Again on Top For Florida FBS Programs
By Jason Parker
FSU football again had the top ranked class for the seven FBS programs in the Sunshine State – but are the others starting to catch up?
Over the past seven seasons, there is no doubt that the most dominant team in the state of Florida has resided in Tallahassee. FSU football has the winningest record among the state’s seven FBS programs – along with the most conference titles, national titles, players drafted…the list goes on and on.
On the field, the ‘Noles have dominated their fellow Sunshine State foes over that span – going 17-1 in their games against the four teams they have faced (7-0 vs. Miami, 6-1 vs. Florida, 3-0 vs. USF and 1-0 vs. Bethune-Cookman). Considering FSU was 6-16 against in-state programs the previous 10 seasons, you can say the balance of power has shifted to the state capital.
Along those same lines, the Seminoles have also bought home the top recruiting class in the state of Florida by Rivals 247 four of the previous seven classes since Jimbo Fisher took over as head coach before the 2010 season. You can now make that five out of the last eight (including four in a row) after the 2017 class is all said and done.
While both the rival Gators and Hurricanes did have impressive classes when everything was done, signees like Cam Akers, Marvin Wilson and many more kept FSU football the top team in Florida:
"No. 5 – Florida State (23 signees / 13 four and five star players)No. 9 – Florida (23 signees / 15 four star players)No. 11 – Miami (24 signees / 10 four star players)No. 53 – UCF (22 signees / 1 four star player)No. 73 – South Florida (18 signees / no four or five star players)No. 76 – Florida Atlantic (27 signees / no four or five star players)T-No. 97 – FIU (23 signees / no four or five star players)"
Florida State Seminoles Football
One of the things that stands out is that FSU football is the only program in the state of Florida to bring in a five star prospect. In fact, the Seminoles landed four of them – all while having three of the top five ranked players by Rivals in the 2017 class sign with the program.
As we talked about Friday, the Seminoles did lose some ground to their two biggest rivals when it came to the Sunshine State. FSU signed just 10 players from Florida – their lowest total since the 2012 class – while nearly two thirds of the classes for both the Gators and Hurricanes came from Florida.
If FSU football can continue their dominance on the field against opponents from the state of Florida – keeping win streaks alive against both Florida and Miami, for example – don’t be surprised if the Seminoles continue to have the top class each February for years to come.