Here are my top 25 2011 recruiting rankings. They take into account the strength of the Top 5 signees, the Top 10 signees and the average signing grade per player for the overall class. This list is not about the quantity of the freshmen signed but the overall quality of the class. Sometimes a team with a small class of just 15 players may rate higher than one with 30. (Keep in my mind these rankings could be tweaked by the time my magazine hits the newsstands in early June)

2011 Top 25 Frosh Recruiting Ratings

Top Classes By Conference

Here are some interesting notes on this year's signing ratings. Alabama signed my #1 class for the second time in three years. They signed two of my PS#1 players in PS#1 OL Cyrus Kouandjio and PS#1DB Ha’sean Clinton-Dix. Texas despite all the coaching turnover signed another deep class and could have the biggest frosh impact player in PS#1RB Malcolm Brown who could fill the void of Texas’ recent RB struggles. FSU HC Jimbo Fisher has done a great job since taking over and not only had a successful season on the field but also signed one of the best classes with four of my top 50 players in the country. Despite being on probation, USC continued their recruiting dominance as they signed the top class in the Pac 10 for the 10th straight season and are led by PS#1WR George Farmer!!

Breaking down by conference, naturally the SEC led the way with 9 teams in my top 25 followed by 5 teams from the PAC-10. Also represented well were the ACC and Big 10 who each had 4 teams.  I will have a complete final rankings of teams 1-75 in a later blog this spring.

Obviously recruiting rankings are a good tool to predict a team's future success, but are clearly just a part of a team's success. A good example of this is Cincinnati who won back-to back Big East Titles in 2008-09 despite finishing no higher than 6th in conference or #62 nationally since 2005.