National Signing Day 2012: Grading Each Conference on Their Recruiting Classes

Now that national signing day 2012 is pretty much over with and the majority of the top recruits have decided where they will play their college football, it's time to recap the day. We all know how the overall teams did, but what about the conferences as a whole?

Which conference landed the most star players or added the most depth? Which conferences swung for a home run, but ended up striking out? And which conferences didn't exactly have the best year in recruiting, but did just well enough to live another season?

Those questions will be answered and more.

Here are the report card grades for each conference on national signing day.

WAC: F

I dare somebody to find one player who's been recruited in the WAC that is worth mentioning. I'm sure you'll possibly find one or even two, but you surely won't find any who were recruited on national signing day.

In fact, only two teams in the entire conference even picked up a player today.

Idaho and New Mexico State picked up a combined four players, and two of them weren't even ranked; the other two are 2-star players.

Yuck.

Sun Belt: D

Much like the WAC, the Sun Belt Conference didn't land many talented players, but at least a majority of their teams picked up a player or two.

FIU picked up six players, with linebacker Patrick Jean being the best out of them, all with 3-stars. Troy picked up three players, and even Western Kentucky landed a 3-star player in defensive tackle Tyrone Pearson.

Can't expect the Sun Belt to land marquee players since their conference is nowhere near that level yet.

MWC: C

The MWC doesn't usually land top players anyway, so you really have to be fair with this grade and just give them an average letter.

Boise State, which has the best class in the conference, didn't do much; its only signing was 2-star cornerback Cedric Febis.

The team that did the best today, overall, had to be Colorado State. They picked up a total of five players, three on offense and the other two on the defensive side of the ball.

MAC: B

Much like the conferences graded before, it's really hard to convince a top prospect to want to play for a team in the MAC.

With that said, they still did a great job of landing a few solid players and adding depth to the majority of the teams.

Akron was the biggest winner in this whole thing, as they landed a total of 11 players on national signing day. (No, LeBron James was not one of them.) Schools like Temple, Ohio and Miami (OH) picked up a few 3-star players as well.

Overall, I think it was good day for the MAC, and I think some teams did fairly well.

Conference USA: C

The shocker of the day came in this conference, as 5-star wide receiver Deontay Greenberry decided to surprise everybody and become a member of the Houston Cougars.

That alone deserves a solid letter grade for this conference since it now has a star player.

The reason they only receive a C, though, is because there weren't many fireworks other than that. Nearly every team picked up a couple of players, but every singing looked microscopic compared to what the Cougars did.

Big East: C

I mean, what did you expect from a conference that is currently going through a face-lift?

Nothing too major happened in the Big East today.

West Virginia probably had the best day, landing two 3-star players—one on the offensive line and the other a speedster wide receiver. Cincinnati landed a solid cornerback in Tion Green, and even with a coaching change, Rutgers was able to pick up wide receiver Ian Thomas.

Overall, Pittsburgh picked up the best prospect in outside linebacker Deaysean Rippy, who is extremely athletic and is great in pass coverage.

Nothing too fancy in the Big East, but enough decent signings to keep its head above water.

Big Ten: B

The Big Ten recruiting class was controlled by the usual two teams: Michigan and Ohio State.

They continued to make their mark by landing key players on both sides of the ball. The Buckeyes picked up a solid defensive end in Jamal Marcus and a huge offensive tackle in Kyle Dodson. The Wolverines only had one commitment today, but it was a good one, with running back Dennis Norfleet.

The surprise of the day in this conference came from Nebraska. A team that was struggling early on in the recruiting process ended up sealing the deal on three 3-star players, including two defensive tackles and a 6'1" wide receiver who can also play quarterback.

Of course, this class could be better, but I think securing a few top players is enough to make this day above average for the Big Ten.

Big 12: D

What in the world happened to Big 12 recruiting?

Sure, the majority of the classes this year are above average, but there weren't many teams in this conference that did much today. Take Oklahoma and Texas out of the equation, and you don't have any top prospects going to the Big 12.

With that said, Texas landed a top outside linebacker in Torshiro Davis, and the Sooners picked up a 4-star wide receiver in Courtney Gardner. Oklahoma State didn't even pick up a player at all, and several of the teams in this conference were lucky if they picked up a 3-star player. 

Overall, these teams should be fine, but if we're judging today, they simply didn't produce.

Pac-12: B+

Just when you thought the Pac-12 was going to become even weaker with Andrew Luck leaving Stanford, the Cardinal shocked the college football world and landed several big players. Some of those players include a pair of top offensive tackles in Kyle Murphy and Andrus Peat. They'll join a line that will once again be ridiculous and will help create a great running game.

UCLA got a solid wide receiver in Jordan Payton, who transferred from USC, then Cal and then Washington. And of course you knew USC was going to get in on the action, as they picked up a couple of solid players in Leonard Williams and Nelson Agholor.

This conference appears to be getting stronger and hopefully will become more competitive than it was last season.

Other big pickups that helped this conference include WR Bralon Addison, OT Jeremiah Poutasi and RB Marion Grice.

SEC: A+

When you're the SEC, you expect a great recruiting class from every one of your teams.

That's exactly what they have, and national signing day only helped this conference out even more.

Since the Missouri Tigers are now a part of the SEC, the biggest signing goes to them, as they landed top prospect Dorial Green-Beckham. A player of his talent is just going to give fans even more reason to watch games in this conference, and he also makes the newbie in this conference that much more stronger.

LSU and Alabama did a decent job, despite missing out on a few players. The Tigers still landed a top linebacker in Kwon Alexander, and the Crimson Tide picked up a pair of 4-star defensive tackles. Even Auburn got in on the action, as they were able to seal the deal on 5-star offensive tackle Avery Young.

Overall, it was just another great day in the SEC, as they once again proved they are the conference to beat.

Other big pickups that helped this conference include OLB Josh Harvey-Clemons, WR Thomas Johnson, WR Cordarrelle Patterson, DE Dante Fowler and DT Dalvin Tomlinson.

ACC: A+

The ACC may have some pretty weak recruiting classes overall, but if we're giving a grade out mainly for national signing day, they get an A+.

Who cares if it mainly involves one team (the Florida State Seminoles)? You're talking about a team that absolutely cleaned house today.

They landed a top cornerback in Ronald Darby and a top defensive tackle in Eddie Goldman. They also still have a verbal commitment from the best dual-threat quarterback of this class in Jameis Winston.

And that doesn't even include top players that this team already had, like Mario Edwards, Mario Pender and Chris Casher. The list goes on and on.

Miami didn't do too shabby either, as they landed a top cornerback in Tracy Howard. 

Other big pickups that helped this conference include WR Joel Caleb and DE Ken Ekanem, both of whom went to Virginia Tech.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist who covers college football and the NFL. You can follow him on Twitter or email [e-mail]