The past five years have been tumultuous at times for Pitt and Penn State, but both landed in the top 50 of Rivals.com’s five-year recruiting rankings released Wednesday.
The methodology was simple. Rivals averaged teams’ recruiting class rankings in the past five cycles going back to 2013, then ranked schools by their averages.
The Nittany Lions, who’ve navigated the fallout of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and the departure of former coach Bill O’Brien in early 2014, slotted in at No. 21 with an average ranking of 23.4. They were buoyed by a No. 12 ranked class in this past recruiting cycle and a No.