Iowa football: Predicting where the class of 2020 finishes in final rankings

The Iowa football team’s class of 2020 is nearly set, but with four months remaining until the first deadline, where will this class finish in rankings?

According to 247 Sports, the Iowa football team’s 2020 recruiting class currently ranks 22nd in the nation. While the Hawkeyes are likely to add between 2-3 more players as the deadline approaches depending on scholarship availability and the decision by guys like wide receiver Kaevion Mack and four-star tight end Theo Johnson, this class ranking isn’t lightly to move up much more.

The way 247 Sports evaluates class is basically by taking the number of guys signed and adding the value given to those players up so teams with more commitments tend to be ranked higher than teams with fewer commitments.

This is key in understanding that while there has been a significant amount of hype surrounding this class (and rightfully so), this class will still likely fall well within a standard deviation of historical Hawkeye recruiting rankings which are typically in the mid-40s range.

As of today, of the 21 teams ahead of the Iowa football team in the rankings, only 8 teams have the same or more hard commitments. Theoretically, if those classes stay put and Iowa’s class grows a bit more, they could surpass those teams, but it’s unlikely given those schools consist of Alabama, LSU, and Ohio State who have more five-star recruits in this class than the Iowa football team has on their entire roster.

Here’s where the movement happens though.

Out of the teams ranked 23-50, only five of them are within 3 commitments of Iowa’s 22 total commitments so there are quite a few teams that will be moving up.

Looking at class size and current point totals, I believe there will be 10 teams that will likely surpass the Iowa football team by the end of the 2020 recruiting season.

Kentucky
Northwestern
Tennessee
Stanford
Arkansas
NC State
Purdue
Missouri
Arizona State
Oklahoma State

If this happens as I anticipate we will be looking at the Iowa football team’s 2020 recruiting class ranked 32nd at the conclusion of the 2020 recruiting period, which is a bit lower than where they were ranked a few months ago when they were in the top-10, but it would still go down as the 5th best-recruiting class (on paper) in the Kirk Ferentz era.

Whether or not it will end up being one of the best classes post-graduation to every step foot in Iowa City we won’t know for at least five more years, but so far, it’s looking good.