I agree. Maryland was #4 in the B1G at an average rating of 87.37—with 23 commits. Gophers averaged 87.18, a negligible difference—but came in 8th because we had only 18 commits who counted in the ranking. This was because PJ and his coaches, after watching our run defense last year, deviated from the normal script and plugged in some highly experienced transfers to help us transition to all the young defensive talent we have on board. And they picked up a high 4* transfer WR along the way, too. None of these transfers count in our class ranking. Maryland “ranked” No. 4 in the B1G, but I think our class, in totality, is every bit as good as Maryland’s—and perhaps better, in terms of addressing immediate team needs.
For the most part I think the majority of fans are very happy with this class and are not getting caught up in obsessing about the numbers. There really just seem to be a handful that can't get past that #8 team ranking and feel like this class is below average because of it.
The average recruit ranking is a far better metric for how to grade the classes. Although that is super subjective as well since the different sites can have very different opinions on players. By that metric:
Ohio State is at the top by a pretty wide margin
Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State would make up the next tier
Minnesota, Iowa, Maryland, and Nebraska would be the next tier, just slightly behind the 2nd group.
Rutgers, Northwestern, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State and Illinois would be the final tier. Not all that far behind the third group.
Hopefully over these next few years we find a way to bump up into that next tier of recruiting. But we 100% can compete in the West with classes like this one.