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Rivals100: By the Numbers

This week, Rivals.com updated their annual curation of the nation's top 100 football prospects for the class of 2017 and five Oklahoma commitments made the cut.

The Rivals100 has not only become a yearly tradition for college football fanatics, recruiting junkies, or just casual followers checking in on their team's newest haul of potential stars - the list has been empirically reliable as a statistical predictor of future success.

Just skim through recent team rankings and you will see the likes of Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State, and more recently Clemson consistently landing a greater share of Rivals100 signees than the rest. It's no coincidence that those programs have combined to win every national title since 2011.

Reviewing the 16 years of the Rivals100 from 2002 to 2017 is a glimpse at the story of the Sooner football program, the cyclical ebbs and flows of the recruiting, plus the intertwined relationship between winning on the field and winning on the recruiting trail.

Here are the numbers that make up the story.


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3.9

On average, Oklahoma has signed 3.9 Rivals100 members per years since 2002.

4.6

In years OU has won an outright Big 12 title, that number jumps to 4.6, and in years without an outright conference championship, that number falls to just 3.3.

5.5

In years with a national title or College Football Playoff appearance, Oklahoma's average number of Rivals100 signees climbs to a robust 5.5.

5

Oklahoma's five commitments in the 2017 Rivals100 are their most since the class of 2009.

8

The most Sooner signees in the Rivals100 in a single class was eight in 2005.

25

The Sooners signed 25 Rivals100 members from 2002-2005.

6

Oklahoma signed just six in four years from 2012-15.

Although, OU has landed eight Rivals100 members in their last two classes.

1

On four different occasions (2007, 2012, 2013, 2015), OU signed just one member of the Rivals100.

2

The Sooners already have two commitments (Brey Walker and Cameron Rising) in the early class of 2018 Rivals100.

0

Since 2002, there have been zero final Rivals100 rankings without an Oklahoma signee.

12

OU's in-state rival, Oklahoma State, has failed to land a Rivals100 member 12 times since 2002.

Their rival south of the Red River, Texas, currently has no commitments inside the Rivals100. If that holds, it would mark the first such instance for the Longhorns since 2002.

94

The most common ranking for a Sooner commitment in the Rivals100?

Since 2002, four OU commitments in the Rivals100 have finished ranked at No. 94.

Chris Robison, Mykel Jones, Roy Finch, and Nic Harris.

29

If Brey Walker somehow remains at his current spot in the 2018 rankings, that would also give Oklahoma four No. 29 overall players, joining Jacob Phillips, Stephen Good, and Lawrence Dampeer.

14

Oklahoma has signed 14 members of the Rivals100 that have gone on to be NFL Draft selections - the last being Jordan Phillips who was selected in the second round of the 2015 draft by the Miami Dolphins.

Five of those 14 were signed in the 2005 class.

Curtis Lofton, Reggie Smith, Malcolm Kelly, Keenan Clayton, Nic Harris

10

Three of the four Rivals100 members to sign with Oklahoma in 2006 (Gerald McCoy, Jermaine Gresham, and DeMarco Murray) would go on to combine to reach 10 Pro Bowls - a number that could continue to grow since all three are still in the NFL.

4

McCoy and Gresham are two of the four Sooner Rivals100 members to be NFL first-round draft picks.

The others being Adrian Peterson and Davin Joseph.

13

Oklahoma has signed 13 defensive backs from the Rivals100, more than any other position.

Wide receiver and running back are tied for second with 10.

Tight end is the only position without multiple members.

OU Signees by Rivals100 Ranking
Ranking Player(s)

1

Adrian Peterson

2

3

4

Rhett Bomar, Gerald McCoy

5

6


7

8

Joe Mixon

9

10

11

DeMarcus Granger

12

Trey Metoyer

13

R.J. Washington

14

Brandon Williams, Caleb Kelly

15

Chris Patterson

16

17

18

19

Jermie Calhoun

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

Ryan Reynolds

27

28

29

Lawrence Dampeer, Stephen Good, Jacob Phillips*, Brey Walker**

30

31

Zach Latimer

32

33

34

Jermaine Gresham

35

DeMarco Murray

36

Jamarkus McFarland

37

38

39

40

41

42

Adron Tennell

43

Gabe Lynn

44

Ronnell Lewis

45

46

Austin Box

47

DaBryan Blanton

48

Keith Ford

49

Marcus Walker

50

Jordan Phillips

51

Tony Cade

52

Jameel Owens, Justin McCay, Cameron Rising**

53

Brandon Braxton, Brennan Clay, Steven Parker

54


55

56

57

58

59

60

Jason Carter

61

62

Curtis Lofton, Tony Jefferson, Durron Neal

63

D.J. Wolfe

64

Reggie Smith

65

Alonzo Dotson, Addison Gumbs

66

67

68

Malcolm Kelly

69

Joshua Jarboe

70

Tommy Grady

71

72

Cedarian Lamb*

73

Justin Chaisson

74

Aaron Miller, Keenan Clayton

75

76

Michiah Quick

77

Eric Huggins, Austin Kendall

78

Kevin Brent

79

80

81

82

Demarrio Pleasant

83

Neville Gallimore

84

85

86

Stacy McGee

87

Michael Hawkins

88

89

90

Joseph Ibiloye

91

92

93

94

Nic Harris, Roy Finch, Mykel Jones, Chris Robison*

95

96

97

Charleston Rambo*

98

Davin Joseph

99

100

*2017 Commitment **2018 Commitment
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