Don't Get Too Excited...

Coming from an FSU fan, this is hard to admit: having a great recruiting class does not always equate to having great success. As I was searching ESPN, I found these interesting statistics to prove my point.

2004 top 5 recruiting classes
No. 1 – USC
No. 2 – LSU
No. 3 – Florida State
No. 4 – Miami
No. 5 – Michigan

2006 Associated Press final rankings
LSU – No. 3
USC – No. 4
Michigan – No. 8
Florida State – UR
Miami – UR

2005 top 5 recruiting classes
No. 1 – USC
No. 2 – Florida State
No. 3 – Oklahoma
No. 4 – Tennessee
No. 5 – Nebraska

2007 Associated Press final rankings
USC – No. 3
Oklahoma – No. 8
Tennessee – No. 12
Florida State – UR
Nebraska – UR

2006 top 5 recruiting classes
No. 1 – USC
No. 2 – Florida
No. 3 – Florida State
No. 4 – Georgia
No. 5 – Texas

2008 Associated Press final rankings
Florida – No. 1
USC – No. 3
Texas – No. 4
Georgia – No. 13
Florida State – No. 21

2007 top 5 recruiting classes
No. 1 – Florida
No. 2 – USC
No. 3 – Tennessee
No. 4 – LSU
No. 5 – Texas

2009 Associated Press final rankings
Texas – No. 2
Florida – No. 3
LSU – No. 17
USC – No. 22
Tennessee – UR

2008 top 5 recruiting classes
No. 1 – Alabama
No. 2 – Notre Dame
No. 3 – Florida
No. 4 – Ohio State
No. 5 – Miami

2010 Associated Press final rankings
Ohio State –No. 5
Alabama – No. 10
Notre Dame – UR
Florida – UR
Miami – UR

After reading these statistics again, I was amazed at the amount of talent FSU and UM had obtained in this period of time, but the little success they achieved. As a 'Nole, I'm used to the disappointment, but that seems like a common theme for FSU and UM lately. FSU seems to be turning it around, though, while UM has a new era under Al Golden.

----Brian