Just about all the major recruits are now in and it's easy enough to see how schools will finish in the Rivals rankings. (I'm using Rivals rankings because they have been the rankings I've used for the past several years when we tally the signing day results.)
So, how did your school do?
Let's dive in and check it out.
The SEC leads the way with the most dominant recruiting class performance in signing day history. A remarkable seven of the top nine classes in the country are from the SEC.
Here's how SEC schools rank nationally at 3 eastern.
1. Alabama
2. LSU
5. Tennessee
6. Texas A&M
7. Florida
8. Auburn
9. Georgia
15. Kentucky
18. Ole Miss
24. South Carolina (This number will jump because the Cocks still have two four star commits coming and they haven't signed their full allotment of 20 recruits to count yet).
28. Arkansas
35. Missouri
41. Mississippi State
49. Vanderbilt
That's an average recruiting class ranking of 17.6
The ACC signed the second best classes:
4. Florida State
11. Miami
12. Clemson
22. North Carolina
24. Virginia Tech
30. NC State
40. Virginia
42. Boston College
44. Pittsburgh
46. Louisville
48. Georgia Tech
51. Syracuse
58. Wake Forest
58. Duke
The average ACC recruiting class was 35
The Big 12 signed the third best average recruiting classes.
14. Oklahoma
19. Texas
26. Oklahoma State
34. Baylor
37. West Virginia
43. Texas Tech
47. Kansas State
50. TCU
54. Kansas
56. Iowa State
The average Big 12 recruiting class was 38.
The Pac 12 signed the 4th best averag recruiting class.
13. Stanford
16. Southern Cal
17. UCLA
20. Arizona State
27. Arizona
29. Oregon
38. Washington
45. California
54. Oregon State
63. Colorado
67. Washington State
70. Utah
The average Pac 12 recruiting class was ranked 38.25
The Big 10 signed the worst recruiting classes of the five major conferences.
3. Ohio State
21. Michigan State
23. Penn State
31. Michigan
32. Nebraska
33. Wisconsin
36. Indiana
52. Minnesota
53. Maryland
57. Rutgers
60. Iowa
65. Northwestern
71. Illinois
74. Purdue
The average Big Ten class was ranked 43.1
...
The biggest takeaways from looking at all five of the major conferences -- Notre Dame finished 10th -- is that there are just a handful of teams recruiting at an elite SEC level. For instance, the best classes in the Pac 12 and the Big 12 would be the 8th best classes in the SEC. The second best class in the Big 10? It would be the 11th best class in the SEC.
Aside from Florida State, Miami, and Clemson in the ACC no other conference had more than two schools in the top 15. The SEC had eight.
Now, recruiting rankings don't always equate with on-field success, but it's worth remembering this fact -- no team won a BCS title without at least two top ten recruiting classes in the four years preceding its title. (And every SEC team had at least three top ten titles).
Sure, maybe your school signed a bevy of underranked studs who will lead to a championship.
But chances are, they didn't.
Star rankings don't determine individual success, but they do determine championship teams.
And judging by the greatest signing day haul in the history of the sport, the SEC's dominance isn't fading anytime fast.
