2010 SEC Football Recruiting Roundup

The conference that has produced the last four national champions is certainly living up to its usual lofty reputation with this year’s recruiting haul. The SEC leads the country in total signed recruits, average star ranking and teams ranked among the top 25 in composite star ranking. While the argument can be made that some rankings are inflated due to ESPN.com’s noted tilt towards southeastern recruits, the difference between the SEC and every league aside from the Pac Ten on the recruiting trail is simply too large to substantiate such accusations.

The SEC brought in a whopping 308 recruits (That’s an average of 26 per team, so you the SEC is clearly the national leader in over signing. Again.) for a national-best 3.206 league wide composite star rating. Here are the teams, ranked in order by their Average Star Rating (ASR).

• Florida Gators, 28 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.875

The Gators always recruit well but this might be Urban Meyer’s best effort yet. The platitudes for this class range from ‘Best in the SEC’ (Rivals.com) to ‘Best Class Ever’ (ESPN.com, Big Surprise there) but I’ll settle by saying that it might simply be Urban Meyer’s most acclaimed class heading into college. This class features nine consensus 150 players and 18 total selected by one of the services as one of their Top 150. Both numbers tie with Texas for the nation’s best. The Gators also finish with the country’s 3 rd highest ASR. In short, the only thing that this class is lacking is an elite quarterback and you can bet one of them will land in Gainesville in 2011.

• Alabama Crimson Tide, 29 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.586

The Tide followed up their National Championship by bringing in the 6 th ranked ASR in the country. Featuring 3 Consensus 150 players and 14 Top 150 overall signees, Nick Saban has put together a monster class which clearly ranks among the ten best in America despite losing Consensus 150 safety Keenan Allen on Signing Day.

• LSU Tigers, 27 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.512

At one point leading up to Signing Day, Tiger faithful were worried that this group was going to fall short of expectations after being stung by some untimely decommitments. However, Les Miles finished strong and brought in the 9 th best ASR in the country. While there are no Consensus 150 players headed to Baton Rouge this year, there are 9 Top 150 signess and LSU has really put together a great class.

• Georgia Bulldogs, 19 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.421

To underline the emphasis on oversigning in the SEC, I give you the Georgia Bulldogs, who boast the league’s smallest class with a paltry 19 members! The less-informed Bulldog fans will look at this class and complain about its low ranking (due to its size) but upon closer inspection this group really is a gem. Ranked 11 th nationally in ASR, there are four Consensus 150 players and 9 Top 150 signees overall! Down the road, Georgia fans will likely be very pleased with the Class of 2010.

• Auburn Tigers, 32 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.411

Auburn has made perhaps the biggest splash in SEC country this year. This is Head Coach Gene Chizik’s first full recruiting effort and it is a massive one. Literally. Numbering 32 strong, this class won’t outright flaunt NCAA signing rules as badly as Mississippi’s class did last year while resembling Jared before he found Subway (38 signees!) but it still reigns supreme as 2010’s largest class in the entire country. Numbers aside, this is really a quality class that features three Consensus 150 players and eight Top 150 signees. Auburn is going to be a consistent challenger in the SEC West if Chizik can keep this kind of effort up in the coming years.

• Tennessee Volunteers, 25 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.366

Tennessee looked to be on the verge of a recruiting meltdown when former coach Lane Kiffin bolted for Southern Cal only a few weeks before Signing Day. However, new coach Derek Dooley did an amazing job of not only holding the class in place but actually improving it! The Vols are 13 th nationally in ASR and will be bringing three Consensus 150 signees and nine Top 150 players in for this fall and that’s an enormous accomplishment for Dooley.

• Mississippi Rebels, 24 commitments, Average Star Rating: 3.173

A year after bringing in perhaps the biggest recruiting class since the NCAA instituted an 85 scholarship limit, Ole Miss checks in with a much more reasonable 24 member group. Heavy on in-state talent, the Rebels only boast one Top 150 signee but there are a lot of good football players in this group. Ranked 19 th nationally in ASR, this is the kind of class that will keep a team dangerous in the hyper-competitive SEC.

• South Carolina Gamecocks, 23 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.920

After a second consecutive brutal finish to their year, South Carolina managed to move into the offseason with a decent taste in their mouths thanks to a solid recruiting effort. Highlighted by the signature of Consensus 150 tailback Marcus Lattimore, the Gamecocks brought in enough highly thought of talent that there should continue to be no good reason for their average results on the field.

• Arkansas Razorbacks , 25 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.866

At one point close to Signing Day, this class looked to be a major disappointment. However, a late surge propelled the Razorbacks into decent territory, even managing to sign two Top 150 players. Still, this is only the 5 th place class in the SEC West and Arkansas didn’t bring in Bobby Petrino to finish near the bottom of their division at anything.

• Mississippi State Bulldogs, 26 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.794

Dan Mullen’s first full class in Starkville is a solid group that would rank in the middle of any other BCS conference. The most interesting prospect for fans out there is a two star quarterback by the name of Dylan Favre who happens to be the nephew of a certain NFL legend. If he eventually earns his way onto the field, expect plenty of annoying montages with his retired, active, indecisive uncle.

• Kentucky Wildcats , 26 commitments , Average Star Rating: 2.724

This class officially marks the end of the Rich Brooks era in Lexington. Can new coach Joker Phillips, who has been groomed for this position for years, take the Wildcats to the next level in recruiting? UK fans have to hope so because this class is barely above the bottom of the SEC barrel.

• Vanderbilt Commodores, 24 commitments, Average Star Rating: 2.645

That unfortunate distinction belongs to the poor Commodores of Vanderbilt. While their class is certainly decent, the simple truth is that Vandy is never going to be able to recruit on the same level as most of their conference brethren and even a solid effort like this year’s won’t likely be enough to earn more than a single bowl appearance during their time in Nashville.

In a league that is truly defined by the balance between divisions, the recruiting breakdown really shows the parity between East and West. The top eight teams feature four teams from each division and only at the bottom do the sides distinguish themselves. Despite having the league’s lowest two rated teams, the East does have an advantage in collecting elite skill, bringing in more Consensus 150 players (17 to the West’s six) and Top 150 players (40 to the West’s 34). What does this all mean? Expect both divisions to continue to produce excellent champions to face off in the country’s best conference championship game for the foreseeable future.

SUPERLATIVES

Most Surprising (Best): Tennessee Volunteers

Tennessee’s class looked like it was on the verge of falling into disaster when Lane Kiffin slunk into the Knoxville night amidst the glow of the fires of student protest. However, Derek Dooley’s shocking recruiting effort not only saved an elite class but added a half of a dozen highly thought of players to the mix. In short, great success replaced almost certain disaster overnight and that is the biggest surprise of the recruiting season.

Most Surprising (Honorable Mention): Auburn Tigers

As there are so many highly touted efforts this year in the SEC and no truly disappointing ones thanks to a strong Razorback close, I felt it more appropriate to recognize another major surprise. Auburn’s ASR ranked 12 th nationally and Gene Chizik displayed the ability to big in top flight recruits from out of state, a task that former coach Tommy Tuberville struggled with at times during his tenure. While I won’t call this class one of the Top five in the country like many others will thanks to its bloated size alone, there is no questioning that it is a great collection of talent.

Worst Class Overall: Vanderbilt Commodores

Poor Vanderbilt. Despite a respectable class, they still finished with a composite ASR that ranked more than half of a star below the league average. In a league with considerable talent at the top, the Commodores are really going to have trouble breaking out of the SEC East basement.

Best Class Overall: Florida Gators

I won’t call the Gators’ class the best in the country like many other do based on its girth alone but there is no doubt that this is the best class in the SEC and a shoo-in among the top three in the country. Florida filled every need despite Urban Meyer’s health drama and this is really a great collection of talent.

I only have one negative thing to say about Florida’s 2010 recruiting class: When former defensive coordinator Charlie Strong left to take the reins at Louisville, Meyer went out and hired a veteran NFL coach to take over his defense. Now, that’s fine and dandy but what wasn’t copacetic to me was the fact that this same coach left the Gators the day immediately after this class signed their letters of intent. I’m not born yesterday: This departure was being discussed before Signing Day and I wonder how many Gator recruits are upset right now that the coach that they expected to play under bolted immediately after locking them in.

Potential underhanded tactics aside, this is an easy selection to make:

Florida is the winner of Collegesports-fans.com’s 2010 SEC Class Of The Year!

Matt Baxendell is collegesports-fans.com’s football writer. If you want to get in touch with him, email him at Matt.Baxendell@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @MattBaxendell