University of Texas coach Mack Brown said recent parity in the Big 12 has negatively impacted the Longhorns' recruiting efforts more than Texas A&M's successful move the SEC.
"A&M's always recruited well. Oklahoma's always recruited well," Brown said Tuesday on the SVP & Rusillo Show on ESPN Radio. "What's affected us more than anything right now is that everybody in our league's pretty good. Baylor's better, TCU's better, Oklahoma State continues to be good, Kansas is getting better, Kansas State's great, Texas Tech is going to get back.
"So you just start looking across the board at our league, it's not a league where there's some good one and some bad ones."
Recruiting ratings seem to conflict with Brown's statement, which was transcribed and publishing on The Dallas Morning News' web site.
Until recently, Texas has been almost an annual contender for the nation's top recruiting class under Brown. As recently as 2012, the Longhorns' recruiting class was ranked No.1 in the nation by Scout.com.
Texas A&M's 2012 recruiting class was ranked 21st nationally be Scout.com.
Fast forward a year later, and the tables turned. Texas A&M finished with the No. 6 recruiting class according to Scout.com while Texas dropped to No. 23.
What happened in a year? Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC, upset No. 1 ranked Alabama and saw its quarterback, Johnny Manziel, win the Heisman.
Texas A&M is currently No. 1 in the Scout.com rankings for the 2014 class, although Texas is not far behind at No. 4. Of course, a lot can change between now and February when prospects sign letters of intent.
Brown said the impact of A&M's success in the SEC hasn't altered Texas' approach to recruiting in the state.
"I don't think it's changed what we do because it's not in our league," Brown said. "There's about 375 kids that sign in the state of Texas to Division I-A [FBS] football scholarships every year, and there's probably way too much attention now put on which ones you get.
"Because it's not the ones you get as much as what you do with them once you get them. I think we had the second-best recruiting class in the country in '09 or '10 there, and we didn't win with them. So either we got the wrong ones that were rated wrong, or we didn't develop them. The key is that you get the guys that fit who you want at Texas and that you move forward with them."
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
