College Football Recruiting 2012: 8 Schools Recruiting Way Below Standards

Each recruiting cycle, we always see a couple programs rise up and have a better-than-usual year on the trail. They haul in a couple star recruits and have a solid overall class. 

Then we get other programs that are usually heavy handed on the trail, gobbling up recruits that, for some reason in that particular year, just don't seem as appealing to prospects as they usually are.

Here are eight schools that are recruiting below usual standards.

No.8 to No.4

I decided to group the bottom four because ranking these programs individually for this piece would be splitting hairs.

Cal only has eight commitments and the Bears usually find ways to get good talent from both SoCal and NorCal. This year, while the commits they have are good quality prospects, the numbers are down.

Syracuse is ranked by Scout.com as the No.54 team in recruiting rankings, but the Orange have 21 commitments and only one of their recruits is a four-star player. 'Cuse usually has a bit more quality than that.

Ole Miss is an SEC school and having the 60th-best class right now is not cutting it. Last year, the Rebels snatched up Tobias Singleton, Donte Moncrief and Nikolas Brassel. No magic this year.

Illinois started the season hot, but their recruiting class and hopes faded like the team's play. The Zookster could only muscle up 12 pledges this year and none are four-star prospects.

3. Georgia

Georgia being anywhere outside the Top 25 in recruiting is almost a no-no. The Peach State is too rich with talent for Georgia to not be frequently among the top 15 classes in the country.

But this 2012 cycle, the Dawgs have the 31st-ranked class according to Scout.com.

Sure, I love five-star OT John Theus and DT Jonathan Taylor, and yes they've made up some ground with DE Jordan Jenkins, but this is a down year for UGA based on UGA's standards.

2. Oklahoma State

If you're the No.3 team in the country, you naturally imagine you're also having a good year on the trail. Not the case in Oklahoma State's stance, as the Pokes are barely among the top 50 classes this year.

They have just 12 pledges and all 12 are three-star players. Mike Gundy has been a victim of the de-commitment as Bralon Addison left for Texas A&M and Dalton Santos backed out for Tennessee.

Even top safety prospect LaDarrell McNeil was close to committing to playing in Stillwater but decided on Knoxville instead.

1. Nebraska

The consensus is Nebraska has the worst class in the Big Ten. That's way below standards in Lincoln as the Cornhuskers usually get a solid share of talent, usually in the trenches.

Nebraska had a Top 25 class last year according to various outlets, and the preseason buzz of entering the Big Ten and having a good chance to go to the Rose Bowl was thought to be great factors for having a potentially great 2012 recruiting cycle.

Wrong. Very wrong. Big Red has just seven commitments. But there's hope for Bo Pelini's class, as three players are four-star prospects and five-star OLS Andrus Peat and Josh Garnett are pretty interested.