College basketball: Michigan State vs. Florida - Dec. 12, 2015

Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio looked on as the football team was honored for winning the 2015 Big Ten championship in the first half of their NCAA basketball game against Florida at the Breslin Center.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

EAST LANSING --Nick Saban and Mark Dantonio profess not to pay much attention to recruiting rankings, likely for different reasons.

Dantonio says he and his Michigan State football staff have their own ratings system, and he doesn't put much stock in the national recruiting rankings.

"I'm excited about the type of people they are, more than anything," said Dantonio, who despite not having signed a consensus top 20 recruiting class in his nine seasons at MSU is the Big Ten's winningest coach the past five years.

"All the guys we have recruited have always been good players, and what separates a three star from a four star, I'm really not quite sure," Dantonio said. "But all of our guys, as evidenced by how many guys we have in the NFL right now, work very hard and develop. We're graduating our players and we're in a good place."

Dantonio is leading his No. 3-ranked Spartans (12-1) against No. 2 Alabama (12-1) at the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl at 8 p.m. Dec. 31 in Arlington, Texas.

The Crimson Tide is favored by as many as 10 points, largely because of the perception that Alabama has much better talent.

Saban has conceded that when Alabama offers a scholarship to a player they might get a "Bama Bump" in the rating system -- a theory the Tide's No. 1 class recruiting rank (247sports) the past five years might just validate.

"Sometimes I don't know what comes first in recruiting rankings, the cart or the horse," Saban said in an AL.com story.

"When a guy gets recruited by what I'm going to call high profile programs, he gets ranked higher. That's where I question the validity of how accurate some of those things may be."

Former Florida and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said at last year's SEC Media Days the Crimson Tide's accumulation of talent appears unprecedented.

"I think they've had five No. 1 recruiting classes out of the last six years, which has got to make [Saban] the greatest recruiter in the history of college football," Spurrier said.

"Arguably they've got the greatest collection of football players ever assembled on a college team, if the recruiting services are correct. It's just amazing how they've been able to stack and keep loading up on players each year."

MSU senior captain and starting outside linebacker Darien Harris, a three-star recruit when he came to East Lansing, acknowledged the Spartans are aware of the differences in recruiting rankings.

"We don't get the big recruits and we talk about that all the time, but that's not really our thing and it doesn't really bother us," Harris said. "And the fact that the coaches can take us as two- and three-star recruits and develop us into high-caliber players is a testament to this program.

"One thing that I remember Joel (Heath) said before the Ohio State game was 'They put their pads on just like we do,' (and) one foot, one leg has got to go in the football pants at a time," Harris said. "At the end of the day, they're still our peers. We still have the same dreams, goals and aspirations coming out of high school, and we're still the same level and caliber of players. They're ranked two, we're ranked three, and it's for a reason."

Here's a deeper look at each program's recruiting rankings.

The 247sports recruiting class rankings:

2011

Alabama - No. 1 (26 signees, three 5-stars)

Michigan State - No. 32 (21 signees, no 5-stars)

2012

Alabama - No. 1 (26 signees, three 5-stars)

Michigan State - No. 33 (23 signees, no 5-stars)

2013

Alabama - No. 1 (26 signees, six 5-stars)

Michigan State - No. 35 (19 signees, no 5-stars)

2014

Alabama - No. 1 (29 signees, six 5-stars)

Michigan State - No. 25 (22 signees, one 5-star)

2015

Alabama - No. 1 (24 signees, six 5-stars)

Michigan State - No. 22 (21 signees, no 5-stars)

How projected starters were ranked in 247sports composite coming out of high school:

Offense

Alabama - QB Jake Coker No. 535 (2014)

MSU - QB Connor Cook, No. 965 (2011)

Alabama - RB Derrick Henry*, No. 12 (2013)

MSU - RB Gerald Holmes, No. 682 (2013)

Alabama - FB Michael Nysewander, NR (2011)

MSU - FB Trevon Pendleton, NR (2011)

Alabama - WR Calvin Ridley*, No 11 (2015)

MSU - WR Aaron Burbridge, No. 90 (2012)

Alabama - WR ArDarius Stewart, No 87 (2013)

MSU - WR Macgarrett Kings, No. 606 (2012)

Alabama - TE O.J. Howard*, No. 19 (2013)

MSU - TE Paul Lang, No. 1,384 (2011)

Alabama - LT Cam Robinson*, No. 4 (2014)

MSU - LT Jack Conklin, NR (2012)

Alabama - LG Ross Pierschbacher, No. 74 (2014)

MSU - LG Brian Allen, No. 310 (2014)

Alabama - C Ryan Kelly, No. 235 (2011)

MSU - C Jack Allen, No. 545 (2011)

Alabama - RG Alphonse Taylor, No. 263 (2012)

MSU - RG Donavon Clark, No. 363 (2011)

Alabama - RT Dominick Jackson, No. 2 in 2014 (junior college recruit)

MSU - RT Kodi Kieler, No 1,048 (2012)

Defense

Alabama - DE A'Shawn Robinson*, No. 34 (2013)

MSU - DE Lawrence Thomas, No. 46 (2011)

Alabama - DE Jarran Reed, No. 13 in 2014 (junior college recruit)

MSU - DT Joel Heath, No. 412 (2011)

Alabama - NT Darren Lake, No. 581 (2012)

MSU - DT Malik McDowell*, No. 32 (2014)

Alabama - JACK Denzel Devall, No. 138 (2012)

MSU - DE Shilique Calhoun, No. 937 (2011)

Alabama - SLB Dillon Lee, No. 101 (2012)

MSU - SLB Jon Reschke, No. 188 (2013)

Alabama - MLB Reggie Ragland, No. 41 (2012)

MSU - MLB Riley Bullough, No. 570 (2012)

Alabama - WLB Reuben Foster*, No. 6 (2013)

MSU - WLB Darien Harris, No. 619 (2011)

Alabama - CB Cyrus Jones, No. 43 (2012)

MSU - CB Arjen Colquhoun, No. 982 (2011)

Alabama - CB Marlon Humphrey*, No. 12 (2014)

MSU - CB Darian Hicks, No. 572 (2013)

Alabama - SS Eddie Jackson, No. 351 (2013)

MSU - SS Montae Nicholson, No. 201 (2014)

Alabama - FS Geno Matias-Smith, No. 61 (2012)

MSU - FS Demetrious Cox, No. 189 (2012)

Specialists

Alabama - P JK Scott, No. 1,117 (No. 2 kicker, 2014)

MSU - P Jake Hartbarger, No. 1,127 (No. 1 punter, 2014)

Alabama - K Adam Griffith, No. 662 (No. 1 kicker, 2012)

MSU - K Michael Geiger, No. 1,184 (No. 5 kicker, 2013)

* denotes 5-star

Here's a list of the 10 winningest programs since 2010 and their average recruiting ranking over past four years:

1. Alabama - 1.0 average recruiting class rank (69 wins)

2. Oregon - 17.5 average recruiting class rank (68 wins)

3. Florida State - 5.0 average recruiting rank (67 wins)

4. Michigan State - 29.25 average recruiting rank (65 wins)

5. Stanford - 23.75 average recruiting rank (65 wins)

6. Northern Illinois - 99.25 average recruiting rank (64 wins)

7. Oklahoma - 14.25 average recruiting rank (62 wins)

8. Boise State - 59.25 average recruiting rank (62 wins)

9. Clemson - 14 average recruiting rank (61 wins)

10. LSU - 6.5 average recruiting rank (60 wins)

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