The Class of 2008 saw Brian Kelly take giant strides in moving the Bearcats into a Top 25 program. With big name prospects like D.J. Woods turning down Michigan and Ohio State, the Bearcats looked to be on the edge of breaking through and out of rankings in the mid-50’s and 60’s in team rankings.
The early haul by Kelly and his staff are placing the Bearcats in position to be considered one of the Big East best. In the just released Team Rankings by Scout.com Rutgers has the top spot for Big East teams with a ranking of eleventh. With 21 verbal pledges the Scarlet Knights get the Big East lead having 4 four-star and 13 three-star pledges.
West Virginia is the second Big East program in the rankings at nineteenth. The Mountaineers have received 15 verbal pledges getting 2 five-star, 3 four-star and 6 three-star recruits to say they’ll wear the Blue & Gold in college.
The third Big East program in the rankings is Brian Kelly’s University of Cincinnati Bearcats at thirty-eight. The Bearcats have verbal pledges from 20 recruits getting 6 three-star prospects so far.
While it’s still early and these rankings can change, I only see the Bearcats being able to go up. Several of the commitments are under ranked during the early process as I feel a few more will see their rankings rise in the coming months. Also, Brian Kelly and his staff are working on getting only “Blue Chip” prospects with any remaining scholarships for the Class of 2009 such as a Pat Muldoon.
To view the Scout.com team rankings click on the following link.
Scout.com Team Rankings