Signing Day: The Top Recruiting Classes

The headline says it all, this is about the top college football recruiting classes in 2009. Like Rivals, we're calling Alabama the top recruiter after a stellar final day saw the 'Tide seal the deal with in-state five star cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and four star linebacker Tana Patrick. They also picked up the south's best back in Floridian Trent Richardson.

Nipping at their heel was another SEC power with Nick Saban connections: LSU. The Tigers inked the country's top receiver, Louisiana's Rueben Randle. They also got an early enrollment from Texas quarterback Russell Shepard. On defense they picked up five-star cornerback Janzen Jackson and five-star defensive tackle Chris Davenport. Just a monster, monster class.

After the jump, the rest of the real power elite recruiting classes at the end of signing day.

Checking in a notch behind but still a robust third place is perennial recruiting power USC. The Trojans lost a handful of top-notch recruits throughout the last few months, but still put together a ridiculous class. The headliner is the nation's top quarterback Matt Barkley, but USC loaded up on versatile players particularly in the secondary. In fact, they quietly may have assembled the best group of defensive backs in many a year. Keep an eye out for James Boyd, a rare quarterback/defensive end combo athlete.

After the Trojans we begin to see some separation. Ohio State, Texas and Florida State were all within range of each other. The Buckeyes didn't find a long-term backup solution in case Terrelle Pryor goes down, but they stockpiled physical defenders to go with a few fleet backs and receivers. Everyone has been buzzing about receiver Duron Carter, the son of NFL legend Cris Carter.

Texas did its usual ho hum top five, cornering all but a few of Texas' best prospects. Austin-bred quarterback Garrett Gilbert is a five-star clearly targeted to take over for Colt McCoy after his senior season.

Florida State surprised many by putting together such an impressive class. They flat-out stole cornerback Greg Reid from Florida to pair with defensive tackle Jacobbi McDaniel. The rest of their class is loaded with four-star depth.

Rounding out the elite group of signing classes are the Michigan Wolverines and Florida Gators. Michigan inked Detroit five-star defensive tackle William Campbell and mean Ohio safety Justin Turner. Several players decommitted at the last moment, but Michigan assembled a ton of high level athletes to play in Rich Rodriguez's speed driven offensive and defensive systems.

Florida got knocked around a bit today, but ignore the naysayers, even with decommits and a low number of players, the Gators rocked. Receiver Andre DeBose will thrive in Florida's attack and linebacker Jelani Jenkins is a heady, surprisingly young elite athlete who has a tremendous ceiling. Stopping the run is job one at all levels of football and the Gators quietly added five-star defensive tackle Gary Brown. Urban Meyer had the luxury of a young team playing at a high level this year and could tinker a bit with his recruiting class.

From here some more separation emerges. North Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma and Miami all had fine classes but I don't feel they quite matched up with this elite group this year.

FanHouse takes you into the belly of the college football beast that is recruiting. We'll be around before, during and after Signing Day '09.