Which College Football Powerhouses Are Way Behind in Recruiting This Year?

Looking at some of the early recruiting rankings right now, there are some unusual teams toward the bottom of most lists.

There comes a time in every program's cycle where they get off to a bad start on the trail and fall behind. Sometimes they recover to finish strong, while other times see them never able to get back on their feet.

This 2012 cycle has a couple teams of such regard. Here are some usual powerhouse recruiting programs that are having an off-year and are behind in 2012 recruiting.

California

Cal's class is a bit perplexing to many recruiting fans.

On one hand, they only have four commitments: QB Zach Kline, WR Bryce Treggs, LB Michael Barton and LB Hardy Nickerson.

On the other, their four commitments are pretty good players. 

So there's some quality, but the Bears need to get their numbers up. They're not on a good pace right now. 

Oregon

I'm not sure what the deal is with the Ducks this year.

Is the Willie Lyles situation throwing recruits off the route to Eugene that much? The investigation is ongoing, so there's more to Oregon making this list.

The Ducks have just eight commitments, and their best players are TE Evan Baylis and QB Jake Rodrigues.

They're not bad recruits at all, but Oregon is usually inside the top 15 or 20 most years, and Scout.com has them at just 48th right now.

Georgia

The Bulldogs are one of the standout programs in the SEC.

So why does Scout.com list them at just 31st? Not good.

There's solid quality in this class with OT John Theus as the headliner, and DT Johnathan Taylor and DE Leonard Floyd also being top-tier UGA commitments.

But there's no other big-name recruits in this class for Georgia right now. The Bulldogs have a chance to make a move up, but they need to get going.

Nebraska

What a difference a year makes, huh?

In 2011, Big Red hauled in a Top 25 class according to many experts, but this year they rank in the 60s.

Don't recruits know the Cornhuskers are moving to the Big Ten this year? And are going to contend for the Rose Bowl this year?

Maybe not, because Nebraska has just six commitments right now. If they lose out on Andrus Peat, Big Red may fail to sign a single 5-star prospect this year.