HERO Sports will take you conference-by-conference with FCS recruiting, and let you know who has the class to be coveted.
Today we rank the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
Today's ranking (below) takes into account only high school recruits who have committed to FCS schools (NOTE: JUCOs and other transfers will be evaluated later this spring). Further updates will continue through national signing day. How do we rank? We pay more attention to the scholarship offers an athlete received than any kind of star rating from a recruiting service. If an FCS recruit holds 17 offers and 6 are of the FBS variety? That will rank him above a recruit who holds three — we let the colleges do the evaluations of film, they're the ones who get paid well to do that. Full final rankings will be released for teams and prospects on Monday, Feb. 11 at 12 p.m. ET[divider]
LIVE: The FCS Commitment Tracker – Hour By Hour Until Signing Day
RECRUITING SCHEDULE: Conf. by Conf. – And The Grand Finale[divider]
BMAC'S MVFC TAKE:
RK | FCS SCHOOL | CONF. | CLASS |
1 | North Dakota State | MVFC | 38 |
2 | Northern Iowa | MVFC | 30 |
3 | Illinois State | MVFC | 27 |
4 | South Dakota State | MVFC | 33 |
5 | Southern Illinois | MVFC | 27 |
6 | Youngstown State | MVFC | 19 |
It's hard to argue the fact that not only does North Dakota State have the top class in the MVFC, it pretty much locked it all up in December before the Bison even won the FCS national championship. Even more impressive? The Bison did it with a coaching change … so if that doesn't tell you about stability in a program, I don't know what would. Not to be completely outdone though are the jobs South Dakota State (quality and quantity) and Northern Iowa have done (quality). And in general? This conference is clearly one of the best when it comes to the depth of talent it attracts, recruits and signs, and also how most of these programs are utilizing the early national signing period in December to keep the wolves of the Big Ten and Big 12 away.
THE WINNER?: North Dakota State by a few Bison lengths over SDSU … but I will say this, the Jackrabbits have been busy in January.
THE UPSTARTS?: This isn't the first time I've typed this in my recruiting coverage, but Southern Illinois put together a nice group — and the Salukis have beaten FBS programs for five of its current signees/commitments. Illinois State isn't exactly an "upstart" as the Redbirds have been rankable for years on the field, but ISU has also beaten out FBS programs for several of its current high school recruits.
HOTTEST IN JANUARY?: SDSU added nine commitments in January, by a mile the best in the MVFC. Illinois State has also done a nice job, as has Western Illinois — as the Leathernecks have been extremely active and picked up some nice commitments this month.[divider]
THE TOP MVFC PROSPECTS
(Ranked as of Feb. 6)
RK | FCS CHOICE | POS | PROSPECT | HOMETOWN | OTHER D-1 OPTIONS |
1 | YOUNGSTOWN ST. | DL | Cheriff Jamison | Youngstown, OH | Kentucky, 12 FBS offers |
2 | NORTHERN IOWA | LB | Cameron Baker | Council Bluffs, IA | Indiana, Iowa, Cent. Mich, NDSU |
3 | NDSU | LB | Luke Weerts | Batavia, IL | Kansas St., 6 FBS, 18 total |
4 | ILLINOIS STATE | WR | Jabari Khepera | Dallas, TX | 3 P5s, 5 FBS offers |
5 | ILLINOIS STATE | RB | Nigel White | Fort Lauderdale, FL | Louisville, Syracuse, Utah, 8 offers |
6 | NORTHERN IOWA | QB | Nate Martens | St. Louis, MO | Syracuse, Temple, 8 total |
7 | MISSOURI STATE | LB | Lucas Eatman | San Antonio, TX | Syracuse, 6 FBS offers |
8 | NORTHERN IOWA | QB | Justin Fomby | Lawrenceville, GA | Missouri, Ga. State, USA |
9 | SOUTHERN ILL. | DB | P.J. Jules | Orlando, FL | Syracuse, FAU, BCU, Rhody |
10 | NORTHERN IOWA | WR | Logan Wolf | Cedar Falls, IA | Iowa, 5 MVFC |
11 | NDSU | DL | Reed Ryan | Waunakee, WI | 7 FBS offers, 14 total |
12 | SOUTHERN ILL. | DL | Nate Thurman | St. Louis, MO | Kentucky, Bowling Green, EIU |
13 | SDSU | RB | Devin Blakley | LaGrange Park, IL | Miami (OH) decommit, Iowa St. offer |
14 | ILLINOIS STATE | RB | Cole Mueller | Wentzville, MO | Kansas decommitment |
15 | NORTHERN IOWA | DB | Omar Brown | Minneapolis, MN | Indiana, NDSU, South Dakota |
16 | NDSU | DB | Cameron Smith | St. Petersburg, FL | Rhode Island decommit, 5 FBS offers |
17 | SDSU | DL | Jarod DePriest | Farmington, IL | 5 FBS, multiple MVFC |
18 | YOUNGSTOWN ST. | LB | Gianni Rizzo | Irwin, PA | 2 FBS, 15 total offers |
19 | NORTHERN IOWA | OL | Kobe Rios | Rock Island, IL | 2 FBS, 9 total |
20 | NDSU | DL | Javier Derritt | Lenexa, KS | 2 FBS offers, 12 total offers |
21 | NDSU | LB | Luke Dwyer | Zurich, IL | 2 FBS offers, 15 total |
22 | WEST. ILLINOIS | WR | Kahlil Overton | Dallas, TX | FAU, 10 FCS offers |
23 | YOUNGSTOWN ST. | LB | Alex Howard | Cincinnati, OH | 4 FBS offers, 2 FCS |
24 | SDSU | DB | Diamond Evans | LaGrange Park, IL | 1 FBS, 11 total |
25 | NDSU | TE | Travis Yohnke | Parkers Prairie, MN | Eastern Mich., 6 total offers |
26 | ILLINOIS STATE | DL | Dallas Culpepper | Beech Grove, IN | 3 MAC offers, Indiana State |
27 | WEST. ILLINOIS | TE | Blake Muntz | Richmond, KY | Ball St, EastMich, BowlGreen |
28 | NDSU | RB | Jalen Bussey | Tampa, FL | Southern Miss, 4 offers |
29 | ILLINOIS STATE | RB | Pha'leak Brown | Chester, SC | Cincy, ODU, Rice |
30 | NORTH DAKOTA | DB | Caleb Nelson | Folsom, CA | San Jose State, 4 offers |
31 | NORTH DAKOTA | TE | Billy Riviere | Plymouth, MN | Air Force, Eastern Mich. |
32 | WEST. ILLINOIS | DB | Tryvis Ousley | Chicago, IL | 2 FBS offers, 5 total |
33 | SOUTHERN ILL. | TE | Avery Taggart | Eureka, MO | BowlGreen, WIU, SEMO, EKU |
34 | NORTHERN IOWA | OL | Tristan Roper | Blue Springs, MO | Kent State, 8 FCS offers |
35 | YOUNGSTOWN ST. | DL | Jelani Stafford | Coal Center, PA | Buffalo, 8 total offers |
36 | ILLINOIS STATE | TE | Chris Bement | Braceville, IL | East Mich, 7 FCS offers |
37 | ILLINOIS STATE | LB | Matthew Wedig | Beloit, WI | Navy, EastMich, 5 total |
38 | NDSU | DL | Will Mostaert | Lakeville, MN | Air Force, 6 FCS offers |
39 | SDSU | LB | Thomas Motzko | Highland Park, IL | Air Force, 7 FCS offers |
40 | ILLINOIS STATE | OL | Paul Liseno | Holmdel, NJ | PWO Rutgers, West Mich, 4 FCS |
41 | SDSU | LB | Payton Shafer | Cottage Grove, MN | 2 FBS offers |
42 | SDSU | DB | Luke Reimer | Lincoln, NE | Buffalo, SDSU, So. Dak., UND |
43 | ILLINOIS STATE | DB | Jalen Carr | Orlando, FL | Air Force, Idaho |
44 | ILLINOIS STATE | ATH | Sean Paradise | Douglasville, GA | Navy, Tenn. Tech, FAMU, |
45 | INDIANA STATE | DL | Deandre Johnson | Chicago, IL | Navy |
46 | SDSU | TE | Tucker Kraft | Timber Lake, SD | Wyoming |
47 | SOUTHERN ILL. | TE | Branson Combs | Evansville, IN | Ball State, Eastern Kentucky |
48 | SOUTHERN ILL. | DB | Jakari Patterson | Colerain, OH | Akron |
49 | SOUTHERN ILL. | WR | Jordan Cox | Milton, GA | Bowling Green |
50 | NORTHERN IOWA | LB | Caleb Lomica | Alleman, IA | Central Michigan, South Dakota |