Michigan's 2013 Recruiting Class Ranked #1 In The Nation

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Everybody had been wondering where Michigan's 2013 recruiting class would be ranked when the first set of rankings were released.  Well, Michigan fans got what they wanted.  Two of the four recruiting sites have ranked Michigan's 2013 recruiting class as #1 in the nation.  Scout released their rankings today and had Michigan slotted #1 and closely followed by Texas.  Texas has a great class so far with 14 verbal commitments and 11 of those commits being ranked as a 4* or higher.  The other recruiting service that has released team rankings so far, 247sports, also has Michigan ranked above Texas for the #1 spot in the country.  247 have Texas with a higher average score than Michigan, but because Michigan has already secured 17 verbal commitments, 247 has put Michigan as #1 in the country.

These type of rankings can be very exciting for fans, but it's important to keep it in perspective.  Being ranked as the #1 recruiting class, or extremely high for that matter, doesn't guarantee any on-field results.  It surely builds momentum for the program and increases their odds for winning later on, but teams like Notre Dame and USC have been ranked very high in the rankings for the last 5 or so years and haven't been able to accomplish much.  Obviously, USC has had some unusual circumstances, but that's the reality of college football.  You may do all the right things on the recruiting trail, but it's not going to guarantee success in the long run.

Having said that, this is still a pretty big accomplishment for Michigan.  Obviously, the recruiting classes are not wrapped up and there is a long way to go before the final rankings are released, but this shows the great start Michigan has gotten this year.  With Michigan's 17 commits, it's estimated by most that Michigan will be looking to take 5-7 more recruits in this class.  With Michigan in position to land some big-time recruits like Ty Isaac and Henry Poggi, I don't think there's any doubt that Michigan will finish near the top, if not #1 for the 2013 class.  Especially with some big performances from some of Michigan's recruits like Shane Morris and those invited to the competition in Columbus last weekend.

I bring up last weekend's events because they're just a hint of what this class could become over the next few months.  A lot of players have been underrated and will likely be moved up on the recruiting boards in the near future.  For instance, there's a ton of speculation that Shane Morris, Dymonte Thomas, Chris Fox, and David Dawson could move up to receive 5* status by time the class is finished.  Since many recruiting sites don't give out a lot of 5* ratings until the end of the recruiting year, there are still some recruits on Michigan's roster that could be moved up.

Obviously, some players in Texas or other school's classes could move up as well, but if you look at the number of 5* rankings sites like Rivals and Scout handed out last year and where players like Shane Morris are slotted, I would be very surprised if they didn't move up.  This won't do much to change the quality of the player Michigan will actually be getting on campus, but it does help Michigan in trying to secure the #1 class for 2013.  Like I said, being ranked #1 doesn't guarantee anything on the field, but it does give a lot of momentum to the program and may attractive other potential recruits, which could make the 2013 or 2014 classes even stronger.  With these kind of developments, there's not a lot of doubt that this could be a historic class for the Wolverines.