Spence Joins Teammate Among College Football's Best

LINK TO THE COUNTDOWN I Washington is 85th

CORAL GABLES, Fla.– Sean Spence has joined teammate Brandon Washington on Rivals.com’s countdown of the Top 100 players in college football.

Nearly a month after the daily countdown pegged Washington as the 85th-best player nationally, the site listed Spence at No. 59 on Tuesday.

Here’s the write-up from Rivals on naming Spence in its Top 100….

THE BUZZ: As a true freshman, Spence stepped into a feature role and made his first career sack against Tim Tebow … and hasn’t looked back. Spence heads into his fourth season as a starter with a reputation as one of the ACC’s most prolific tacklers. He had 111 tackles – 16 for loss – to earn second-team all-conference honors last season. Spence is accustomed to winning: His Miami Northwestern team finished the 2007 season atop the national rankings.

The site states that “`Top’ doesn’t necessarily mean the most pro potential or even the most talent. Instead, it’s a mix of what the player has accomplished and how we think the player will do this season. But production does trump potential.”

Spence returns for senior season as the second-leading tackler in the ACC after recording 111 total tackles a season ago. The second-team All-ACC performer led the Canes with 16 tackles for a loss in 2010 en route to being named the team’s defensive MVP. In his career, Spence has recorded 212 tackles in 36 games.

Already this summer, Spence has been named a preseason All-ACC performer by Blue Ribbon Yearbook, Lindy’s Sports, Athlon Sports and Phil Steele. He was also named to the inaugural Pony Express Award watch list alongside teammate Ray-Ray Armstrong for the top tandem in college football.

The rankings for the Top 100 are determined by Rivals.com writers Olin Buchanan, Tom Dienhart, David Fox, Mike Huguenin and Steve Megargee.