a 5* JUCO doesnt earn near the points a 5* HS player earns.
They only award JUCOs points for their stars..
They award HS players points for their stars plus points for their overall ranking.
so a 4* HS player can earn more points than a 5* JUCO
Rivals has changed their methodology slightly.
Unlike the old formula, the new formula uses a prospect's Rivals Rating (RR), not the prospect's star rating, as the key factor in the formula to compute the point totals.
For what it is worth, however, 5-star athlete = ranking of 6.1.
4-star athlete = ranking from 5.8-6.0
3-star athlete = ranking from 5.5-5.7
2-star athlete = ranking, presumably, 5.2-5.4.
For a complete breakdown on Rivals ranking methodology and the tiered-bonus point system assigned to top-250 prospects, see
Rivals.com Football Recruiting - Rivals.com Football Team Recruiting Rankings Formula. To illustrate this process, however, let us take, as examples, Jalen Hurd and Todd Kelly, who currently have 6.0 rankings. They automatically receive 135 base points for that ranking. As the 19th-ranked prospect nationally, Hurd would receive an additional 61 points for a total of 196. Kelly is 61st, so that gives him an additional 40 points, for a total of 175.
We presently have no commitments with a 5.9 ranking, but Daniel Helm, DAndre Payne and Vic Wharton all have a 5.8 ranking, so they receive a base of 105 points. Helm and Payne are ranked 175th and 206th, respectively, so they receive bonuses of 18 and 11 points, respectively, which raise their final totals to 123 and 116 points. All of this is, of course, subject to significant change as updates are made to both individual and top 250 rankings, but it gives you some idea of precisely where these numerical values come from which go into final team rankings.
As was previously the case, only the 20 highest ranked signees count toward the overall class rank. It is worth noting, however, that
JUCO and Prep School national rankings do not have bonuses. Only those prospects RR rating will be considered in the point calculation. The significance of this statement is that, even if you should sign the nations no. 1-ranked JUCO prospect, his point total will be based solely upon his Rivals Ranking, which, as previously noted, ranges from 5.2-6.1. Within Rivals methodology, JUCO players simply are not eligible for bonus points.
To me, the new system seems like a more precise methodology and certainly will reward programs who sign a disproportionately high number of Top 250 or even Top 100 prospects.
