2015 Mizzou Football Recruiting: Examining the scholarship count

I've seen several questions about Mizzou's 2015 recruiting class bumping up against the 25 per year and 85 total limits, so I sat down and did the math. The chart below is not guaranteed correct but rather my best estimates based on previous recruiting classes and information released by the university and reports from the media.

[Editor's note: we will continue to update this post through National Signing Day, numbers in the chart may fluctuate. Most recent update: 1/31/15]

The 2015 recruiting class so far

Joining Mizzou this year will be Chase Abbington (a 2012 commit). Natereace Strong is already enrolled in Hinds Community College (along with Greg Taylor from the 2014 class). Much like Abbington's recruiting ranking counted toward the year he committed, Strong's will serve to slightly inflate the 2015 class. As you can tell by the key and the chart, Abbington and Marcell Frazier will have three years to play three, while recent commits Malik Cuellar and Tyler Howell will have three years to play two. Finally, Malik Cuellar and Tanner Owens have already enrolled at Mizzou this semester which means that, while they were commits during this recruiting cycle, their numbers will be retroactively counted to 2014, helping Mizzou avoid hitting that 25 scholarship per year cap.

That number in the bottom right corner, 89, means with the 8 commits Mizzou has secured in the past few weeks, they are (4) over the 85 total scholarship limit.

It is also possible Mizzou doesn't keep the entire 2015 class together, as I mentioned before. Natereace Strong is already enrolled in community college, Brandon Martin's high school is losing its charter, putting his academic eligibility at risk, and there has been some talk that Marquise Doherty could be drafted into the MLB system. These situations remain fluid.

I'm on an official visit to LSU and I get a call and tell me my school closed down what about signing day for me and graduate for us seniors

— Brandon Martin (@5_go_live_5) January 31, 2015

So what does that mean for the immediate future?

Nate Howard, the Wisconsin commit from St. Louis who just visited Mizzou this weekend He committed on Friday 1/30/15.

Terez Hall was also in town this past weekend and has yet to make up his mind. The potential gem of Mizzou's recruiting class, Terry Beckner Jr., is set to visit this coming weekend, along with DT Daquan Hawkins.

There are rumors of some late offers going out from the coaching staff, insurance offers in case some current commits don't pan out. I make no claims about being a recruiting guru, so some of this information may be dated.

We know there is a spot for Terry Beckner Jr. Mizzou reportedly really wants to add a linebacker to this class, so Terez Hall may have loose reservations, if they decide to commit.

No school can exceed the 25 per year scholarship limit (except by retroactively assigning counts to previous smaller classes) but they can exceed the 85 scholarship limit as long as they are under the cap before fall camp (I don't have an exact date). Due to the two early enrollees Cuellar and Owens, the 2015 class currently stands at 21, which means Mizzou has room for potentially 4 more commits in the 2015 class of 25, before National Signing Day on February 4.

All this means is, according to the chart above, Mizzou has to free up 4 scholarships if they want to sign the entire 2015 class as it stands now. These things have a way of sorting themselves out, as players transfer. I won't speculate about departures, but I'm sure some folks have their opinions.

RMN prides itself on its love for numbers and ultimately, 'crootin comes down to a numbers game. Please feel free to check my math. I hope this helped clarify where Mizzou stands heading into NSD.

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