Which College Basketball Power Conferences Get the Best Recruits?

College basketball recruiting has become an arms race for talented players who can step in and immediately change a program's fortunes. Looking at which individual programs are doing well on the recruiting trail has been a popular way to predict success, but elite programs landing great players also has a trickle-down effect on their conferences.

Seven conferences within Division I have established themselves as the lead dogs when it comes to elite recruiting over the past few years. Much has been made of the Power Five conferences from the football side of things (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC), but the AAC and Big East have also landed plenty of 5-star prospects and top-100 players to stay in the upper echelon of the sport.

Over the past five recruiting classes (2011-15), there have been 121 5-star college basketball prospects, according to the 247 Sports composite rankings, and 119 of them ended up in those seven conferences. Four others signed with UNLV (Mountain West), and the fifth player, Emmanuel Mudiay, was committed to SMU out of the AAC but opted to go to China to play professionally for one year.

So while there are plenty of other potential multi-bid leagues like the Mountain West, Missouri Valley and Atlantic 10, those conference just don't have the same kind of recruiting presence as the top conferences.

These conference recruiting rankings are based not only on the 5-star recruits that can instantly change things, but also the overall recruiting in the conference from top to bottom.

7. AAC

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

UConn head coach Kevin Ollie

5-stars in last 5 years: 6

Cream of the crop: The American is still establishing its roots as an athletic powerhouse, but traditional basketball powers like UConn, Memphis and Cincinnati still continue to land top-100 players. SMU under head coach Larry Brown has also become a strong recruiting program in recent years.

Bottom of the barrel: While the top of the American can fight with nearly anyone for recruits, bottom-tier programs like East Carolina and Tulane have struggled to land the caliber of player necessary to compete for conference titles.

Special advantage: The American is only in its third season, but with UConn winning a national title and three All-Americans in the league's first season, it points to a future in which the American can compete with the more established big boys.

6. Big East

Laurence Kesterson/Associated Press/Associated Press

Villanova head coach Jay Wright

5-stars in last 5 years: 5

Cream of the crop: Villanova and head coach Jay Wright have been landing top-flight recruits for years, but other programs in the league have been consistently strong on the trail, including Providence, Xavier and Georgetown.

Bottom of the barrel: DePaul has been one of the worst high-major programs in college basketball since joining the Big East. The Blue Demons have won more than 12 games in a season once since 2005 and haven't done well recruiting Big East talent.

Special advantage: The "new" Big East can boast that it's the best basketball-only conference in the country. With multimillion-dollar coaching salaries and a national television deal with Fox, the league doesn't look to be going away anytime soon.

5. Big Ten

Associated Press

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo

5-stars in last 5 years: 12

Cream of the crop: Programs like Indiana and Michigan State consistently land McDonald's All-Americans, while programs like Michigan, Maryland and Purdue have also landed pro-caliber players in the last few seasons.

Bottom of the barrel: Rutgers has struggled mightily in recruiting since the firing of head coach Mike Rice, as they've been stuck in the bottom of a deep league.

Special advantage: The Big Ten Network is a well-established television presence by now, and with game coverage, studio shows and in-depth looks at athletes with shows like The Journey, the conference can boast the best in-house television network of any league in the country.

4. Big 12

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press/Associated Press

Kansas head coach Bill Self

5-stars in last 5 years: 14

Cream of the crop: Kansas is the clear class of the conference when it comes to recruiting, and the Jayhawks have won 11 consecutive Big 12 regular-season titles to show for it. With multiple one-and-done NBA lottery picks, Kansas can compete for any player in the country.

Bottom of the barrel: TCU and Texas Tech have struggled to find the kinds of players that help lead to NCAA tournament appearances, even though both schools reside in a state rich with talented basketball prospects.

Special advantage: The Big 12 has been the toughest conference in the country top-to-bottom during the regular season the last few years, and that's attractive to elite recruits who want to play against good competition in nearly every conference game.

3. Pac-12

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press/Associated Press

Arizona head coach Sean Miller

5-stars in last 5 years: 20

Cream of the crop: Arizona and UCLA have been the conference's elite recruiters for the better part of the last decade, and that trend only looks to be continuing going forward.

Bottom of the barrel: Since Tony Bennett left for Virginia in 2009, Washington State has struggled to find consistent footing on the floor and recruit Pac-12-caliber players. The Cougars have had to turn to the junior college ranks quite a bit and haven't been a factor with many top-100 recruits.

Special advantage: Geographically speaking, the Pac-12 is in a unique recruiting position since it doesn't have to compete with many other major conferences if a West Coast recruit wants to stay local. California produces a ton of high-level recruits, many of which stay in the conference.

2. SEC

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press/Associated Press

Kentucky head coach John Calipari

5-stars in last 5 years: 33

Cream of the crop: Kentucky is a different level than anyone in the country besides Duke when it comes to current recruiting. The success of the Wildcats has meant that other programs have had to step up, and LSU is the most recent example of a program that has elevated to elite status when it comes to recruiting.

Bottom of the barrel: In the past few seasons, the SEC has imported a lot of talented coaches who can really recruit, such as Bruce Pearl (Auburn), Ben Howland (Mississippi State) and Avery Johnson (Alabama). But under second-year head coach Kim Anderson, Missouri has never figured things out on or off the floor.

Special advantage: Kentucky is such a national focal point for the common college basketball fan that it's created more buzz around the SEC as a whole. Plus, with the league's success in football and the creation of the SEC Network, things are continuing to look up. The SEC isn't just a recruiting juggernaut in football anymore.

1. ACC

Gerry Broome/Associated Press/Associated Press

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski

5-stars in last 5 years: 26

Cream of the crop: Duke has carried the ACC torch when it comes to elite recruiting, but historically great programs like North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse and Louisville are also recruiting monsters nearly every single season.

Bottom of the barrel: Boston College started strong when it entered the ACC in 2005, but the Eagles have been to one NCAA tournament since 2007, and they've not been able to keep elite local players at home.

Special advantage: The basketball history of the ACC is unmatched when it comes to program legacies and current Hall of Fame coaches still involved in the league. Now that the league spans the entire East Coast, its local recruiting territory has also increased significantly.

Recruiting rankings per 247Sports.