National Signing Day 2012: Strong Classes That Will Lead to Bowl Success

Recruiting is an inexact science, but these schools have found a formula that will lead big-time bowl success. 

Not surprisingly, that formula begins with talent, but there is much more to it than that. It is important to remember that these recruiting classes do not exist in a vacuum. All of these recruits will be joining a host of other players. 

That means teams can address needs in bunches. This is about getting the puzzle pieces to fit and finding enough pieces so that at least one of them will fit. 

Here are three schools that got it. 

Texas 

Texas took the guesswork out of this recruiting process. They went for big-time talent and lots of it. Scout.com ranks them as having the No. 1 class in the nation—and for good reason. 

Out of the 28 players that have currently signed a letter of intent to Texas, 19 are players that Scout ranked as a 4- or 5-star prospects. Of those 19, seven are in their top 100. No other school succeeded more in those regards. 

Texas chose to hit defense hard. 18 of those commitments are from players on the defensive side. The Longhorns already have a solid young nucleus on defense, and this class is going to push them right over the top. 

The Longhorns are going to have one of the nation's top defenses for the foreseeable future. 

Ohio State

Urban Meyer did not lose his recruiting touch during his hiatus from coaching. Despite getting a late start on the recruiting season, he has been pulling in recruits left and right. 

The Buckeyes' recruiting class is currently ranked third by Scout. They are tied with Ohio State with seven players in the top 100. 

Highlighting this class is a stud RB in Brionte Dunn and two 4-star offensive linemen to block for him. 

The real highlight of this class comes on the defensive side of the ball. The Buckeyes have the makings of a dominant defensive line. 

Three 5-star defensive linemen and one 4-star have signed their letter of intent with the Buckeyes. This defense is going to get scary in a hurry.  

Stanford

Overall, the Cardinal class is not ranked nearly as high as the other two schools, but they have nailed this class. 

They have four offensive linemen that are a 4-star player or higher. This school is building a dominant tradition of offensive linemen, and this class ensures that this is going to continue.

Joining these powerful linemen is a running back that goes by the name of Barry Sanders Jr. Sanders may not be as talented as his father, no one is, but he is a stud all the same. He is a 4-star prospect and will excel behind this dominant line. 

Stanford doesn't currently have a QB in this class, but that is of little concern. They are loaded with QB depth, as they having been preparing for the departure of Andrew Luck.