College Football Recruiting 2013: 7 Teams Whose 2013 Class Will Surprise

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It's easier to make predictions on the success of recruiting classes that are highly ranked. Making predictions on lowly ranked classes is where it gets tougher in terms of projecting their success. I don't like taking the easy route all the time, so let's do the tougher task, shall we?

This read will look at seven programs who may not have recruiting classes that are getting much love, but they will surprise people as a whole in the next four or five years. The programs are bringing in classes that I think will give them more bang for the buck than people believe right now.

You'll be surprised at just how surprised you can be when a recruiting class surprisingly surprises a program. 

7. Texas

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Yeah, I know the Longhorns are, well, the Longhorns, but their recruiting is supposedly down this year. That's laughable because has anyone really looked at their class?

The OL prospects alone are awesome, as Darius James, Kent Perkins and Jake Raulerson are upper-echelon prospects. DT A'Shawn Robinson is a stud, and I think they'll get something out of Tyrone Swoopes whether it be at QB or somewhere else.

6. Stanford

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The Cardinal program likely won't bring in a big class and this 12-man group they have now gets knocked because of its small numbers.

Still, it's a great class that will surprise people. QB Ryan Burns will be starting soon enough for David Shaw and he'll throw to WR Francis Owusu. LB Peter Kalambayi fits the scheme well, and be it at DE or TE, Greg Taboada is too athletically gifted to not become an impact player. 

5. Boise State

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Doesn't it seem like every year Boise State is in the hunt for a BCS bowl and we scratch our heads and ask "where did these players come from?" Well, that'll happen again with the Broncos' 23-commit 2013 recruiting class.

Chris Petersen and his staff are great teachers and developers of talent. This class isn't highly ranked, but it'll be maximized at BSU. 

4. Arizona

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Rich Rodriguez has a class made up of 27 commitments and he has the kind of players that fit his schemes. We saw what Rich-Rod can do at West Virginia when he's left alone to build a program.

Arizona will give him that chance and time that Michigan didn't. The Wildcats will see this 2013 class be a surprising foundation to a few teams that battle hard in the Pac-12 in a season or two. 

3. Kansas

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Kansas is not a recruiting powerhouse by any means and not much great talent comes from the state. Charlie Weis knows this and that is why he's gone strong on the JUCO route.

Sixteen of Weis' 25 commitments are JC prospects, most notably DT Marquel Combs. Weis is too good of a coach to not squeeze as much as he can out of this class and have it overachieve, which will surprise a lot of people. 

2. California

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The Bears hired Sonny Dykes to run their program and I'm fully convinced he will succeed in Berkeley. Dykes is an offensive-minded coach and has put his stamp on class that totals out to 21 commitments.

Watch out for speedy RB Khalfani Muhammad, as even though he lacks ideal height, he has excellent quickness, burst and speed. QB Jared Goff is a solid field general and Dykes has assembled a great staff to help develop this group to help Cal win big games. 

1. Indiana

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ESPNU ranks Indiana's class No. 40 in the country, and to the Hoosiers, that's equal to having a top-15 class. The group is highlighted by ATH Rashard Fant, S Antonio Allen and DT Darius Latham.

This class will make an impact that is felt early and it'll increase the talent level Kevin Wilson has at his disposal. Combine that with Wilson being a solid coach and you have a situation with a program that'll surprise some teams in the Big Ten in the coming seasons. 

Edwin Weathersby is the College Football Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. He 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 (formerly 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.