Recruiting: on the rise and decline

To determine this, we must compare a team's incoming talent to its outgoing talent; 4-5 recruiting averages both correlate at similar levels to team success, and since a majority of players departing after the 2009 season came from the recruiting classes of 2005 and 2006, we will combine each team's 2010 haul to their averages from the 2005 and 2006 recruiting classes. (Once again, all data for this exercise comes from Rivals.com because all FBS teams are assigned grades/ratings.)

Since most of the top-ranked recruiting classes went to teams who have always recruited well, the teams who have seen the biggest upgrades are not necessarily the ones at the top. In the top chart to the right, you can see the ten teams who have most improved their overall talent level as compared to the 2005 and 2006 recruiting classes.

Most people like to go class-by-class with recruiting, as in, "Oh, Texas' class is amazing!" OK, cool. That's one way to do things. What if you looked at schools and conferences in five-year stretches, though? Wouldn't you learn a little bit more? Isn't the whole point of recruiting discussion to have the best knowledge? Well, pairing A with B, you get... your need to be an Insider.

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