College Football Teams Who've Succeeded Despite Low Ranked Recruiting Classes
College football's infatuation with recruiting rankings is piquing. Summer camps receive national coverage, and signing days are among the most highly anticipated offseason days of the year.
But for every Alabama, Texas and Oregon, there are teams that are nipping at their heels despite not being loaded with blue chips.
Teams like Kansas State and Boise State epitomize what it takes to dine at 5-star restaurants on a 3-star budget.
Let's take a look at six schools that have found success over the past four seasons despite not having a single recruiting class ranked in the top 25.
Note: All recruiting class rankings are according to 247sports, unless otherwise noted.
North Dakota State
1 of 6
| Year | Class Ranking | Record | Conference Record |
| 2011 | Unranked | 14-1 | 7-1 |
| 2012 | 176 | 14-1 | 7-1 |
| 2013 | 209 | 15-0 | 8-0 |
| 2014 | 148 | 14-1 | 7-1 |
Wait, why is there an FCS team on this list? They don’t belong here!
That’s the type of mindset that has turned six straight FBS opponents into Bethe Correia and the North Dakota State Bison into Ronda Rousey.
Since 2007, the Bison are 6-0 against FBS opponents, won all on the road and five against Power Five teams.
In theory, the Bison played an FBS schedule of six straight road games, five against upper tier conference teams—including a 2013 matchup against the defending Big 12 champion Kansas State Wildcats—and are undefeated and bowl eligible.
How many teams can really say they’d be able to accomplish that in the FBS ranks?
Furthermore, not only has North Dakota State never had a class rank in the top 125 (the number of total FBS teams), but at least 23 FCS or lower teams have ranked ahead of it since 2011.
Yet the Bison have four straight FCS national championships, as many consecutive conference titles and are among the best dynasties in all of college sports.
That’s success. And they’ve done it with players on whom essentially every FBS school passes.
Kansas State
2 of 6
| Year | Class Ranking | Record | Conference Record |
| 2011 | 50 | 10-3 | 7-2 |
| 2012 | 74 | 11-2 | 8-1 |
| 2013 | 61 | 8-5 | 5-4 |
| 2014 | 49 | 9-4 | 7-2 |
There's probably no program in the country that epitomizes the "less is more" motto than the Kansas State Wildcats and their revered coach, Bill Snyder.
Since 2011, Kansas State has won 38 games, won a Big 12 title and reached a No. 1 ranking. It's also had a Heisman finalist in quarterback Collin Klein.
Yet the Wildcats rarely crack the 50's in recruiting class ranking. If anything, they rely on walk-ons more than four-star prospects.
K-State is routinely among the final list of conference title contenders in November, and Bill Snyder has twice now built a dynasty in the Little Apple of Manhattan, Kansas.
Some added context: The Kansas Jayhawks have had class rankings of 42, 81, 48 and 51 from 2011-14, respectively. Two of those marks were higher than their in-state rivals, yet Kansas has been arguably the worst FBS team this decade, and certainly the worst Power Five team.
Duke
3 of 6
| Year | Class Ranking | Record | Conference Record |
| 2011 | 62 | 3-9 | 1-7 |
| 2012 | 62 | 6-7 | 3-5 |
| 2013 | 70 | 10-4 | 6-2 |
| 2014 | 60 | 9-4 | 5-3 |
For as long as most of us can remember, up until two seasons ago, Duke football was less than a footnote to Cameron Indoor Stadium and Coach K.
David Cutcliffe has changed that, and he's done with without cracking the top 50 in class rankings.
In 2013, Duke's renaissance on the gridiron culminated with a Coastal Division title and berth into the ACC Championship Game, where they eventually fell, after running into the wall of Jameis Winston and Florida State.
Quietly last season, the Blue Devils won five games and had a 5-3 record in the ACC all while earning their third straight bowl berth.
Success is relative, but Duke has turned into a top 30 program in the past few seasons after spending most of its life as a doormat.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Marshall
4 of 6
| Year | Class Ranking | Record | Conference Record |
| 2011 | 60 | 7-6 | 5-3 |
| 2012 | 77 | 5-7 | 4-4 |
| 2013 | 57 | 10-4 | 7-1 |
| 2014 | 62 | 13-1 | 7-1 |
Last year, the Marshall Thundering Herd were on the precipice of being the only undefeated team in college football before a late-season loss to Western Kentucky spoiled a perfect season.
Nevertheless, in the past four seasons, Marshall has grabbed a conference title, a division title and won 35 games all while pulling in average recruits.
Rakeem Cato, who was one of the nation's best gunslingers last season, was just a 3-star prospect and ranked as the 1,313th-best player of the 2011 class, per 247sports.
Yet he's just the shining example of what good coaching and the spread system has done for Marshall.
TCU
5 of 6
| Year | Class Ranking | Record | Conference Record |
| 2011 | 29 | 12-1 | 8-1 |
| 2012 | 29 | 7-6 | 4-5 |
| 2013 | 35 | 4-8 | 2-7 |
| 2014 | 42 | 12-1 | 8-1 |
The TCU Horned Frogs have the highest average class ranking of any team on this list (33.75). Yet they haven't cracked the top 25 in class rankings and have turned into one of the best teams in college football.
In 2011, TCU's last year in the Mountain West, it went 12-1 and won the conference. That was followed by two years of growing pains in the Big 12, culminated by the its four-win 2013 campaign.
2014 saw the Horned Frogs surge back into relevancy, however, as they were on the doorstep of a playoff berth and split the Big 12 title with Baylor.
Like Marshall, the Horned Frogs were led by a quarterback who was mostly overlooked in high school. Per 247sports, Trevone Boykin ranked just 768th overall in his class and his only other offer was from UTEP.
TCU has turned into a powerhouse despite being a state dominated by Texas and Texas A&M when it comes to the recruiting trail.
Boise State
6 of 6
| Year | Class Ranking | Record | Conference Record |
| 2011 | 53 | 12-1 | 6-1 |
| 2012 | 60 | 11-2 | 7-1 |
| 2013 | 55 | 8-4 | 6-2 |
| 2014 | 68 | 12-2 | 7-1 |
Ah, the Boise State Broncos. The King of the Group of Five.
In the last four years, the Broncos haven't had a single top 50 class. Yet they've won 11 or more games three times and have two conference titles. Last year, they earned a berth into the Fiesta Bowl, where they are now 3-0 after beating Arizona.
The Broncos don't appear to be skipping a beat following the departure of Chris Petersen, as Bryan Harsin has hit the ground running.
It's hard to convince a high school blue chip prospect that Idaho is the place to be. In fact, for the most part, Boise State fails in that aspect.
That's what makes their success all the more impressive.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
