Ohio State’s 2018 recruiting class would’ve been No. 1 in almost any other year

Ohio State’s recruiting class is incredible. Those analyzing recruiting are going to spend a lot of time analyzing Georgia’s No. 1 class that makes Kirby Smart look like he’s building the Death Star in Athens. But let’s not forget just how good Ohio State’s is.

With a 247Sports Composite class score of 317.06, here’s a list of the years in which Ohio State would have claimed a recruiting national championship since 2002, roughly the year in which the current internet rankings era began:

And here’s where the class ranks all time:

Ohio State’s 20 four-star signees are the most in any recruiting class all time, and the 94.29 average per player is tops too, ranking a negligible 0.6 points higher than Georgia’s.

It’s amazing one season produced two classes of this quality. Ohio State actually entered Signing Day No. 1 overall. But one thing that pushed UGA over the top actually has to do with OSU rival Michigan’s misfortune, so the Buckeyes can’t be too unhappy about it. The rival Wolverines only had one top-100 player committed in their class, LB Otis Reese, who flipped to Georgia and put the red and black over the top.

And as for whether these rankings matter? Urban Meyer seems to think so, if only in the sense of pure competition.

“..If they are keeping score, you try to win, and, but is that the end-all? Of course not. Will that matter? I think it matters that successful teams have great players. And the rankings, that’s something we keep an eye on, but that’s not an end all… I have fun with the number one class. I don’t want people to think that’s what we recruit for, it’s not at all. It’s something we keep an eye on. At Ohio State you should, the coaches here have always recruited very well. If you can’t recruit at Ohio State, you should — you’re not a very good recruiter.”

Ohio State is a truly national brand. Locking down the state is a nice talking point, but the Buckeyes don’t usually worry about it for two reasons. There’s not another big fish program in the state, and the state isn’t part of the big four talent states (Florida, Georgia, California, and Texas). Ohio certainly has the chops, and it’s tied with four other states for fifth-place in total blue-chips this year with 12, but it’s a distant fifth.

Five of Ohio State’s 26 signees came from Ohio. That’s really low.

That’s the lowest total and lowest percentage (19) of Ohioans in an Ohio State recruiting class since at least 1985.

The previous low was the previous class. Meyer’s 2017 class had seven in-state signees out of 21 (33 percent).

Since 2013 (Meyer’s first full-year class), Ohio State has signed 54 Ohioans out of 146 players, a percentage of 36.9.

The previous two coaches — Jim Tressel and John Cooper — signed classes that averaged 60.4 and 59.5 percent Ohio natives, respectively.

Four of the state’s top five players signed with OSU. Ohio State signed players from 13 states, and as many from Florida as it did from Ohio.

During Meyer’s Signing Day press conference he announced two things. One was that he had signed an extension through 2020, and the other that defensive coordinator Greg Schiano will stick in Columbus after flirting with the New England Patriots.

Both those signings mean more incredible recruiting classes to come.