I have seen a lot of delusional fans in my day, especially when it comes to recruiting. Some people think their school of choice will land every five-star prospect, others foolishly think they have a chance with a given guy (Michigan fans: Pryor isn't signing with the Wolverines. Give it up). One of the most common brands of craziness comes to comparing the relative merits of certain schools. With that, I present today's evidence: Syracuse football fans (apparently they exist) who think their school is more prestigious than Michigan (no, seriously).

I stumbled upon this goldmine when scouring the internets for information on recent OL offeree Eric Shrive. It comes from the Scout free board (I know, not the best place to find level-headed, rational people) devoted to Syracuse, and concerns the fact that several board members think Michigan's offer to Shrive does not mean he is deserving of one from mighty Syracuse.

I don't know what it is but I'm just not feeling it. I don't think getting an offer from Michigan anymore to be considered "a BIG offer". I see Michigan and think West Virginia.

Another goes on to clarify slightly that Michigan is still a big(ish) offer, it's just not as big now that Rich Rodriguez is the coach.

Hard to explain. It's not an offer FROM Michigan per say, it's an offer from Rich Rodriquez. I never viewed West Virginia as being a BIG TIME offer and that's sort of how I view Michigan now. It's Rich Rod.

Rich Rodriguez has been one of the most successful coaches in America, at a place not exactly set up for success (unlike Michigan). Also, YOU'RE SYRACUSE.

All-time record:
Michigan 869-288-38 (.747)
West Virginia 664-442-45 (.596)
Syracuse 670-462-49 (.588)

Record Since Rich Rodriguez has been at West Virginia (2001):
Michigan 64-24 (.727)
West Virginia 61-26 (.701)
Syracuse 33-51 (.393)

If Pasqualoni was the head coach of Miami U would you consider that to be a BIG TIME offer or would you sort of view it in a different light?

If Pasqualoni was the coach at Miami U (which I assume is supposed to be UMiami), it would be a big offer if a) Pasqualoni was one game away from playing in the BCS championship game this past year, and his team had won 3 straight bowl games, including BCS games they weren't supposed to win, and b) Miami had been one play away from being in the BCS Championship game two years ago, and had been to a bowl game for 30 straight years, and hadn't completely sucked recently. One poster starts to grasp the big picture, realizing that, over time and in recent history,

Syracuse football doesn't hold a candle to Michigan football.
I would think gameday atmosphere could be a big part of the answer here. I love SU, but it will be tough for them to be considered a big time fb school when there's 30K, most of which straggles in around game time and sits on their hands (when not booing a third-down draw).

Michigan plays in front of 100K at the big house, has a huge athletic budget, the most wins in NCAA history (unless ND has more, but I think it's Michigan), plays in a bigger football conference (even if it's mostly perception) and always seems to appear in the top 25 at some point.

Then others come to drag it back down.

If I were a recruit, I would perceive Michigan to be a great offer for those reasons you listed. That being said, I am not in favor of writers who are supposed to be objective, singling out one offer as being better than another. This is not meant to slam Matt, as I think he does a great job (based on reading the few articles of his Scout provides as free, basically about fringe recruits) .

Sorry, guy. Michigan is a better offer than Syracuse, in much the same way that USC is a better offer than (insert school name here). Now, is it the best choice of schools for a particular recruit? Maybe not. But a bigger offer, it definitely is.

p.s. YOU'RE SYRACUSE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

Labels: eric shrive, espn messageboard, recruiting

This entry was posted by Tim, on Friday, February 22, 2008. You can leave your response.

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