10 Programs That Hurt Their Recruiting Chances with Bad Week 1 Outings

Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

Week 1 of the 2012 college football season is just about a wrap, sans the Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech game for tonight. This was an exciting opening week to kick off a potentially amazing season, and there is more in store.

Just continuing our quick recaps of Week 1 from a recruiting perspective, for this piece we'll look at 10 schools who hurt their recruiting chances with poor showings this opening weekend. Each game in college football is very crucial, as a win can shoot you up the rankings, while a loss can bury you in the rankings and also leave a bad taste in recruits' mouths.

These 10 programs may want to be handing out Trident Layers to prospects right about now.

10. Wisconsin

Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

The Badgers won their game, but didn't you expect a better showing from Bret Bielema's squad? He's a great coach and his team is expected to contend for a Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth this year.

Struggling to shake off an inferior Northern Iowa team is not the best way to open the season, but I rank them here because they'll still do fine in recruiting around their region.

We all expect a better outing in Week 2 from the ballers at Camp Randall. 

9. Colorado

Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

Jon Embree has the work ethic and plan, if given time, to get the Buffs back to competing consistently. What do you think he is going to need to do to really make that plan come to fruition?

Recruit! And how do you impress recruits? By winning and showing growth, for one.

What Charlie Strong did yesterday by having his Louisville team beat their arch-rivals of Kentucky in Week 1 to show everyone that Louisville is growing, Embree couldn't do with Colorado.

A win over rival Colorado State would have been huge for the Buffaloes' recruiting momentum. 

8. Boston College

Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

No offense to the BC brass, but I have serious concerns about where this program is going. The Eagles are not a sexy stop on the recruiting trail (which is a bit surprising to me) and the team hasn't had much recent success.

So a loss to Miami at home to open the season will definitely add another cinder block on BC's recruiting shoulders. 

7. Maryland

Mitch Stringer-US PRESSWIRE

Randy Edsall didn't have an overly impressive first season for the Terps, so coming into his opening game in Week 1, he really needed to present an improving football team.

William & Mary didn't see that on Saturday, as they stuck with Maryland, just losing by a point, 7-6. Maryland has young talent on the roster like Stefon Diggs and Wes Brown, but more is needed to get the Terrapins out of the ACC cellar. 

A showing like they had on Saturday is not going to help attract more talented prospects. 

6. Kentucky

Mark Zerof-US PRESSWIRE

Joker Phillips may be on the hot seat and him losing to rival Louisville will only make that chair warmer. The Cardinal just are the hotter program in the Blue Grass state right now, and Kentucky is going to have a hard time finding any elite talent to come play in Lexington.

5. FIU

Jim Brown-US PRESSWIRE

Mario Cristobal is likely due to leave for a bigger job after this season, but for now, he's still the leader at FIU. Cristobal has done a remarkable job with the program and the Panthers are major players in the Sun Belt race.

Losing to Duke is not going to cut it, which speaks to the great job Cristobal has done in Miami for FIU since his arrival. He's a tireless recruiter and will have to spend even more time selling his plan to recruits after falling to a lowly Blue Devil squad. 

4. Pitt

Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

Paul Chryst left Wisconsin to take over the Pitt program and while the Panthers are a program n transition, they hurt themselves recruiting-wise losing to 31-17 to Youngstown State. 

Robert Foster and Dorian Johnson are not going to be impressed with the Panthers losing to an FCS school. With Pitt trying to land the two elite recruits, they must perform better vs. Cincinnati this Thursday night. 

3. California

Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

What a turn of events for Cal over the past nine months. Last January, they had what was going to be a top-10 recruiting class, only to see ace recruiter Tosh Lupoi leave for Washington and the class fall apart.

Now, the 2013 recruiting cycle has been a bit harsh to Jeff Tedford's program, and Saturday came a loss to Nevada to start the season. 

A once hot Cal program is cold as ice on the recruiting trail, and losing to Nevada isn't heating anything up.

2. NC State

Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

The Wolfpack lost to Tennessee on Friday night, which is not going to help them gain some traction on the recruiting trail. Even head coach Tom O'Brien told the News and Observer that it was a "bad performance."

For some reason, NC State hasn't ascended much with O'Brien and they haven't been able to land many highly touted recruits.

The loss to Tennessee won't help with that. 

1. Washington State

Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

If Wazzu would have come out and showed off the classic Mike Leach offense, on a Thursday night game, recruits would have taken notice.

Sure, the Cougars are not going to land many 5-star and high 4-star prospects, but Leach can attract some solid talent to the Pacific Northwest. Losing to BYU set him back a tad on the trail because the offense couldn't get started and that's what everyone wanted to see.

It was a missed showcase opportunity for Leach.

Edwin Weathersby has worked in scouting/player personnel departments for three professional football teams, including the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena League. He spent a year evaluating prep prospects and writing specific recruiting and scouting content articles for Student Sports Football (now ESPN Rise-HS). A syndicated scout and writer, he's also contributed to WeAreSC.com, GatorBait.net and Diamonds in the Rough Inc., a College Football and NFL draft magazine.