College Football Recruiting 2013: Power Ranking Classes of the BCS Bowl Teams

Getting to play in a BCS bowl game is a goal of every college football program when the season begins. These are the five best bowl games to play in, they bring both the school and conference a lot of money and provide the program the biggest stage to play on. 

Only 10 programs per year are awarded the opportunity to play in a BCS bowl, and yes, they do have a great impact on a program's recruiting.

This piece will be simple and straightforward as we'll rank the recruiting classes of the teams playing in BCS bowls.

Whether it's the national title game, the Rose, Orange, Fiesta or Sugar, a BCS bowl game is big time and gives a program a chance to showcase and market itself on a large, visible platform.

Commitment list via 247sports.com.

10. Northern Illinois

The Northern Illinois Huskies are the little guy at the dinner table who wants some respect. They'll be playing Florida State in the Orange Bowl, and even though the coach is gone NIU still will be fired up.

Their 2013 recruiting class has 13 commitments and is led by athletic, 6'1" WR Corey Winfield. This class isn't flashy and won't be highly touted, but this is the type of group that helped NIU get where it is today.

9. Louisville

The Louisville Cardinals, in my estimation, have been a bit of recruiting disappointment this year. Charlie Strong's class is not where I thought it would be, but he got a jolt this weekend when WR Richard Benjamin pledged to Louisville.

Benjamin gives Strong a total of 10 commitments. The speedy WR prospect joins QB Kyle Bolin and LB Danny Elam as top prospects in the Cardinals' class.

8. Kansas State

Even though they struck out on top JUCO DT Marquel Combs, the Kansas State Wildcats hit a homer a few days ago when they got DE Jamone Boyd and LB Nick Ramirez to commit.

They both immediately became Bill Snyder's crowning jewels for the 2013 recruiting class of 18 commitments.

K-State also recently received a pledge from JUCO CB Nate Jackson while also still boasting commitments from OLB Tanner Wood and WR LeAndrew Gordon.

7. Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Badgers won't win a lot of style points with this class and really need to hire coach soon to keep it together. However, this is still a pretty solid group of typical Wisconsin players.

A total of 18 players have pledged to play at Camp Randall. Recruits like WR Rob Wheelwright, DE Alec James, LB Garret Dooley, RB Corey Clement and OL Jack Keeler are among the leaders of this class.

Barry Alvarez will lead the team against Stanford, but the question is who will lead the team after that.

6. Stanford

David Shaw's class is a small 10-man group and probably won't be growing too much between now and National Signing Day. Yet, Shaw has solid quality and shouldn't be fazed by anything.

QB Ryan Burns is his headliner and should be the next great QB on The Farm. TE Greg Taboada is a super athletic player who could play DE. 

WR Francis Owusu is a big 6'2", 200-pound target and LB Peter Kalambayi fits Stanford's physical, 3-4 defense perfectly as an ILB. 

5. Oregon

Chip Kelly has Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl and will pose a huge challenge to Kansas State's BCS hopes. Could this be Kelly's final game as coach at Oregon?

Time will only tell.

Until then, preparing for the showdown in the desert and adding to his class of 11 commitments are Kelly's main tasks. He has commitments from stud RBs Thomas Tyner and Dontre Wilson, along with the Robinson twins and OT Evan Voeller. 

4. Florida State

Jimbo Fisher and his program will play the role of Goliath in the Orange Bowl vs. Northern Illinois. Florida State has had a solid recruiting year, and Fisher wants to finish strong.

He has 17 commitments including pledges from RB Ryan Green and OL Austin Golson. Keeping Golson must be a priority until National Signing Day.

Also in this class are recruits OG Ira Denson, LB E.J. Levenberry and WR Isaiah Jones. 

3. Notre Dame

Brian Kelly has done a very good job at Notre Dame and has the Fighting Irish playing for a national title.

That along with currently having a Top Five to 10 recruiting class should pretty much mean the Irish are "back."

This is an excellent class that Kelly has built, made up of 22 quality commitments. LB Jaylon Smith and RB Greg Bryant are the headliners, but LB Alex Anzalone, WR Torii Hunter Jr., OL Hunter Bivin and CB Devin Butler are also good talents.

2. Alabama

Kelly's team will face mighty Alabama in the title game, as the Crimson Tide are eying a second consecutive national title and their third under Nick Saban.

'Bama holds 20 commitments at this time, and this class is among the elite nationally. Big-time prospects like RB Derrick Henry, TE O.J. Howard, DE Jonathan Allen, QB Cooper Bateman, DL DeMarcus Walker and CB Maurice Smith are in this class.

The rich get richer.

1. Florida

The Florida Gators are in the Sugar Bowl and are on the verge of signing arguably the nation's best recruiting class. Will Muschamp has gotten 25 commitments thus far, and UF has very good talent coming to Gainesville.

CB Vernon Hargreaves III is the headliner of a class that also includes RB Kelvin Taylor, DT Caleb Brantley, LB Daniel McMillan, WR Ahmad Fulwood, LB Matt Rolin and ATH Alvin Bailey.

Don't be shocked if Florida has the No. 1 recruiting class at the end of signing day.

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.