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NCAA, it is remarkable Golden was able to sign 25 blue-chip prospects from Florida. "It's the type of recruiting no one ex- pected from Golden or Miami. At the beginning of January, there was even a legitimate concern whether Golden would even be the head coach of the Hurricanes." Another school that has become a top-10-caliber recruiting force in recent years is Clemson. Both Rivals and the G&W Recruiting Report have ranked the Tigers' 20-member class 14th in the country. It includes 10 four-star prospects and 10 three-stars. Atop Clemson's list of four-star re- cruits are wide receiver Germone Hop- per of Charlotte, N.C., quarterback Chad Kelly of Buffalo, N.Y., defensive lineman Carlos Watkins of Forest City, N.C., defensive back Travis Blanks of Tallahassee, Fla., and defensive end Shaq Lawson of Central, S.C. Another new team on the national re- cruiting scene is Texas A&M. Both Ri- vals and the G&W Recruiting Report ranked the Aggies' class 15th. Many observers wondered how Texas A&M's move to the SEC would impact its recruiting. Would the Aggies still be able to recruit in their home state? Based on the evidence this year, the answer to that question is a resound- ing yes. The move to the SEC appears to have had a very positive impact on Texas A&M's recruiting. This is the first time in more than a decade that both Rivals and the G&W Recruiting Report have ranked its class among the top 15 in the country. And yes, the school clearly will still be able to recruit in Texas. Of the 19 prospects in the Aggies' class, 18 come from the Lone Star State. Their top Texas recruits are quarterback Matt Davis of Houston, offensive line- man Mike Matthews of Missouri City, linebacker Jordan Richmond of Den- ton and five-star running back Trey Williams of Spring. Out west, Southern Cal and Oregon have been competing for the recruit- ing championship in recent years. But that definitely wasn't the case this year. Stanford just might have had the best signing day of anyone in college football. Going into February, the Cardinal wasn't in any recruiting service's top- W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 20 list, but it ended up at No. 5 accord- ing to Rivals and No. 7 according to the G&W Recruiting Report. Of its 22 re- cruits, five committed on letter-of-in- tent day: defensive back Zach Hoff- pauir of Peoria, Ariz., five-star offen- sive lineman Kyle Murphy of San Clemente, Calif., five-star offensive line- man Andrus Peat of Tempe, Ariz., wide receiver Michael Rector of Tacoma, Wash., and five-star defensive lineman Aziz Shittu of Atwater, Calif. For the most part, the rich got rich- er this recruiting season. The SEC proved once again why it should be the most dominant conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision for at least the next three to four years. Ala- bama, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Texas A&M and South Carolina all should finish with top-20 classes. Texas and Oklahoma once again are atop the Big 12. Ohio State and Michi- gan are Nos. 1 and 2 in the Big Ten. Florida State and Clemson rule the At- lantic Coast Conference. Only the Pac-12 broke with tradition, as its top class this year belongs to Stanford. In addition, UCLA broke into the top 15, recruiting the league's third-best class according to Rivals. Once again, the conference that struggled the most in recruiting was the Big East. For the first time ever, the league doesn't have a single school ranked in the national top 20. Rutgers, at No. 24, is Rivals' top-rated Big East school. Finally, Notre Dame is, as usual, the top-rated Independent. Rivals has the Irish ranked No. 22, while the G&W Re- cruiting Report has them at No. 21. ch eck us out at gmanstatecollege.co m NEW & IMPROVED MEN U NEW SPECIALS, NEW LOOK 130 Hiester | 237.036 1 M A R C H 2 , 2 0 1 2 25

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