It’s been six years since the Boston College Eagles last made the AP top 25 in football, with Massachusetts’ lone Power Five program failing to win more than seven games in a single season since going 8-5 in 2009. Under current head coach Jeff Hafley, the Eagles have gone 22-26 (.458), with one bowl appearance — that being last year’s 23-14 win over SMU in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
This year, oddsmakers at BetMGM Massachusetts give BC +15000 odds of winning the ACC, ranking in a tie with UVA for the third longest odds of any team in the conference, ahead of Wake Forest (+25000) and Stanford (+50000). Given that lack of Bay State success in Chestnut Hill, it is likely of little surprise that Massachusetts has struggled to pump out “blue-chip” recruits (those ranked as four or five star talent) over the last decade.
To get a sense of that football brain drain, BetMassahusetts.com utilized the annual recruiting rankings in the state from 247Sports.com to compile the states that have produced the most (or least) four-and-five-star prospects since 2014.
Most Blue Chip Recruits By State (Since 2014)
1. | Texas | 540 |
2. | Florida | 504 |
3. | California | 490 |
4. | Georgia | 364 |
5. | Louisiana | 168 |
6. | Ohio | 165 |
7. | North Carolina | 159 |
8. | Alabama | 158 |
9. | Virginia | 112 |
10. | Tennessee | 108 |
*35. | Massachusetts | 19 |
Stick with BetMassachusetts for more data like this across Massachusetts sports betting storylines.
Massachusetts Among Worst States At Producing Blue-Chip FB Recruits
Of the 50 states and Washington D.C. that BetMassachusetts.com compiled, the Bay State ranked 35th nationally when it came to four-and-five-star recruits since 2014, with 19 in total. The most productive year, blue-chip wise, for Massachusetts was in 2023, when six players were ranked by 247Sports as either a four or five star prospect, with two of those earning the highest total possible.
Last year, Massachusetts high schools produced two four-star prospects, while 2018 and 2022 were the only other years with more than two players of that caliber, with each year producing three blue-chip prospects. Conversely, there were three years between 2014 and 2024 with zero blue-chip prospects in Massachusetts, in 2014, 2015 and 2019, when the Bay State’s best players were three-star recruits.
On the national stage, Massachusetts ranked directly behind Oregon (23 blue-chip prospects), Washington D.C. and Colorado (24 blue-chip prospects each) and ahead of Connecticut and New York, which had 18 prospects each. Seven states had zero blue-chip prospects between 2014 and 2024, with Alaska, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Vermont and Wyoming all coming up short, while North Dakota and Rhode Island had one blue-chip prospect each.
On the flip side, the states with the most blue-chip prospects from 2014 to 2024 were football hotbeds like Texas (540 blue-chip prospects), Florida (504 blue-chip prospects), California (490 blue-chip prospects), Georgia (364 blue-chip prospects) and Louisiana (168 blue-chip prospects).
In the Bay State, it seems like there is a direct correlation between BC’s on-field slump and Massachusetts’ lack of elite high school talent, illustrating the plight of losing the direct pipeline from the preps stage to the highest level of collegiate football in America.
Also of interest: Boston College 2024 Win Total: Trends of 4.5 Win Total Teams.
USA Today photo by Eric Canha.
