College Football Recruiting 2012: BCS Top 25 Schools That Always Recruit Well

You take a look at the BCS Standings and you see some teams in there that are surprises. Then you see the usual suspects and you ask, "Why is this school always good?"

Easy. 

They recruit well—so well that, every year, they usually have top-tier classes. Here are several teams in the current BCS Top 25 that always recruit well, year in and year out.

Texas: No. 22 in BCS

The Longhorns have endured two consecutive substandard years on the field, but they've had two consecutive steady-the-ship dominant recruiting classes.

Mack Brown rarely leaves Texas to recruit, as he feels the state is amazingly rich in talent. Brown has been able to build his team almost entirely with Texans.

Texas usually finds itself in the Top Five in recruiting every year and featured one of the best classes of all time in 2002—the Vince Young-led class that won a BCS title. 

Michigan: No. 16 in BCS

It's been a rollercoaster past couple of years for Michigan on the field and on the recruiting trail. Under Lloyd Carr, Big Blue always saw itself among the top schools in recruiting each February.

Rich Rodriguez's way of things was not well-received and the Wolverines dipped on the field and somewhat on the trail.

Now, Brady Hoke got this team to 10 wins and has a Top Five class; it seems Michigan is on its way back to its traditional senses. If Hoke continues this, Michigan will be competing for Big Ten titles year in and year out, due to recruiting, like they always did under Carr.

Georgia: No. 14 in BCS

Mark Richt heard some talk last year that his fence around the Peach State was leaky and prospects were getting out. So he went all-in to take the best prospects from Georgia and make them Bulldogs.

He did a good job.

Georgia isn't as dominant a program as Alabama and LSU are right now, but the Dawgs get their share of talent on the trail. It starts with the state of Georgia, which has elite talent every year. Then the Dawgs sprinkle out into the rest of the South and go head-to-head with other SEC schools for talent.

Oklahoma: No. 10 in BCS

Oklahoma is almost like a quiet, stealth juggernaut. They aren't always in the spotlight, but they get the job done.

Bob Stoops does the most logical thing to find talent: He goes into Texas. The Sooner state has talent, but it's not a hotbed state per se. What Stoops does is gobble up Oklahoma's best prep stars, then dips into Texas and takes some talent from his archrival.

Stoops will also reach out nationally to see what he can get; and every February, you see Oklahoma with a Top 10 class.

Alabama: No. 2 in BCS

Alabama's classes really picked up when Nick Saban arrived in 2007. Before that, for most of the 2000s, 'Bama had little to boast and brag about on the field and in recruiting.

Saban has made Alabama an elite program because he and his staff evaluate prospects successfully. Saban has a thorough approach to recruiting and his methodical process is proven to work.

Jimbo Fisher and Will Muschamp even use key principles of Saban's approach at Florida State and Florida, respectively. Saban knows that the South is richer than Bill Gates with talent, and he searches every nook and cranny in the region for a good player. He then reaches out nationally to see if anyone else is interested in playing in Tuscaloosa.

LSU: No.1 in BCS

The Tigers do an excellent job of cleaning up in Louisiana—easy to do when you are the clear-cut dominant program in your state. Alabama has Auburn, Florida has Florida State and even Michigan has to deal with Michigan State and Ohio State regionally.

But LSU cleans up Louisiana, then does a fantastic job of spreading throughout the South, plucking players from Texas to Florida and everywhere in between. Les Miles understands how stocked the South is with recruits and uses most of his resources to scour the home region.

The Tigers will go national, but only for a player they deem is worthy of pursuing from afar. This method has led them to consistent elite recruiting classes and BCS bowl appearances.