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There’s no doubt about it. The Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference are what you would consider “recruiting rivals” as a whole given that their recruiting footprints overlap.
To put it in simpler terms, both conferences as a whole annually covet the top prospects in the south.
The battle is not fought closer than in the talent-rich state of Florida, where the ACC has two Power 5 programs (Florida State and Miami) compared to the SEC’s one (Florida). It’s a state where both leagues as a whole have equal success.
Here are some numerical bullet points looking at the most recently completed recruiting cycle.
-In the Class of 2015, ACC programs signed 74 prospects from the state of Florida compared to 51 for the SEC.
-There were nine five-star prospects in the state of Florida for the 2015 cycle. The SEC signed five, the ACC signed four.
-Combined, the two leagues signed 39 of the top 50 prospects in the Sunshine State for 2015. The ACC landed 20. The SEC 19.
You can’t say that either conference is winning here. Obviously the ACC signs a higher number of players from Florida, but it should given that it has two third of the power five programs in the state, so give the ACC the quantity (which may not be a negative thing considering there typically is all sorts of talent from Florida that is under the radar and makes it to the NFL), but as far as quality is concerned, it is even.
With Texas and Georgia also part of the SEC’s footprint, it can afford to be a bit more selective in talent-rich Florida. That being said, it’s never a bad idea to step up the efforts down there. In fact, I would argue that taking certain skill positions out of south Florida (cornerback, wide receiver) at the three-star level or below trumps taking those positions out of the Atlanta area most of the time.
Recruiting writer for Saturday Down South
