Once again, the BCS has declared its final, pre-bowl rankings of the best 25 teams in college football.  Fans always dispute the standings by arguing that many of the voters are ill-informed or biased.  But the BCS ranking and the Associated Press poll establish the official pecking order.  So, how much of winning is recruiting the best high school players (according to the experts)?  How much is coaching, avoiding injuries, and luck?  This post reviews the recruiting classes from 2007-2011, so you can compare to the final standings.  Then, I list my top five overachieving and underachieving teams for 2011.

Each year ESPN publishes a list of the top 25 college recruiting classes.  Colleges recruited most of today’s players in 2007-2010.  Some 2011 recruits also saw action. We, at BizzyLife sports, looked at the ESPN class rankings and assigned points: 25 points for the #1 school and 1 point for the #25 school.  The 2007-2010 point totals follow:

(Others with points 2007-2010: 9: Arizona State; 8: Nebraska, Stanford; 7: Oregon; 6; NC State; 5: Rutgers, Ole Miss, 3; Minnesota, Miss. State; 2: Iowa, South Fla., Colo.)

When we add the 2011 recruiting class, the ranking changes a bit, as follows:

(Others with points 2007-2011: 13: Stanford; 12: Georgia Tech; 9: Arizona State; 8: California; 7: Arkansas; 6: Virginia, Ole Miss; 5: Rutgers; 4: Louisville; 3; Minnesota, Miss. State Oklahoma State; 2: Colorado, Iowa, South Fla., Washington)

When we compare recruit ranking to poll results, we can identify the top 5 overachieving teams and the top five underachievers.

Overachievers:

Many teams underachieved.  One way to rank the teams that did the least with the most would have been to look at won-lost records. I took the easier route.  Here are teams with the recruiting classes in the top 10 who ended the season unranked.

So, the booby prize goes to . . . . Florida.  And Coach of the Year should go to Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State.