Feb. 12, 2007

By Tom Lemming

CSTV Recruiting Expert

	TOM LEMMING Tom is CSTV's college football recruiting analyst, and writes for CSTV.com regularly. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- RANKINGS 1/23: Final Class Of 2008 Top 100 1/11: Stock Watch - 2009 Potential All-Americans 1/5: Stock Watch - All-American Bowl 1/4: Stock Watch - All-American Practice Week 8/2: 2008 Top 100 Overview 4/9: 2008 Updated Watch List 2/8: 2008 Early Watch List 2/5: Top 100 Latest 1/29: 2007 - Final Rankings 1/23: 2006 - Final Rankings 2008 TOP 25s 11/15: Inside Linebackers 11/14: Outside Linebackers 11/13: Athletes 11/13: Cornerbacks 11/12: Fullbacks 11/08: OGuards/Centers 11/01: Offensive Tackles 10/20: Defensive Ends 10/14: Tight Ends 10/04: Safeties 9/19: Defensive Tackles 9/12: Tailbacks 9/5: Pro-Style QBs 8/28: Dual Threat QBs ROAD TRIP 2007 12/16: Ten With Tom - Rich Rodriguez Edition 11/29: Ten With Tom - Recruiting Road to the BCS 6/7: Mailbag 5/23: History Lesson 5/11: Ten With Tom 3/29: North Carolina 3/16: East Coast Swing 2/28: Setting Up Shop 2/26: Texas NFL DRAFT 4/27: From Five-Star to First Rounder CONFERENCE BREAKDOWNS 07 2/13: SEC Breakdown 2/12: Pac-10 Breakdown 2/11: Big Ten Breakdown 2/10: Big East Breakdown 2/9: Big 12 Breakdown 2/8: ACC Breakdown SIGNING DAY 2/7: Winners and Losers 1/22: Countdown to Signing Day 1/15: Best Available BCS BOWLS 1/5: BCS Championship Game 12/31: BCS Orange Bowl 12/30: BCS Sugar Bowl 12/30: BCS Fiesta Bowl 12/30: BCS Rose Bowl CONFERENCE BREAKDOWNS 06 4/28: Pac-10 4/25: Big East 4/19: ACC 4/14: Big 12 4/12: Big Ten 4/6: SEC ROAD TRIP 06 7/14: Part IX 6/22: Part VIII 6/2: Utah 5/26: Colorado 5/16: Illinois 1/19: Part IV 1/12: Part III 1/06: Part II 12/30: Part I

The Pac-10 has once again become the big one and the little nine, mainly because USC completely dominates everyone they go up against.

Fortunately for the rest of the schools, the Trojans only had 17 scholarships this year. And if they had 25 scholarships every year, no one would stop them. I don't think they lost anyone to anybody out there. They get whoever they want, no matter how deep they are at that position, and that is the greatest recruiting job I've seen in 28 years. It's really all Pete Carroll. They lose Ed Orgeron and Lane Kiffin and don't miss a beat. Carroll is maybe the best recruiter of all-time.

Oregon had one of their best years ever, mainly due to their recruiting in the state of California. Head-to-head against Cal and UCLA, they did a great job.

Cal did a good job in Northern California. They got the guy they wanted, Jahvid Best. He's probably the best player of their bunch because he had a breakout senior year and he's one of the fastest players in the country. Cal was able to dominate Northern California mainly because, for some reason, USC didn't go after the players in that area.

UCLA was limited with scholarships. They got some good players like Ray Carter, a running back, who I think will be outstanding, and nose tackle Brian Price. But overall it was just an average class. I thought they would see it, but there was no spike after the Bruins' win over USC. I think they were just about done with their numbers when that happened. It could help them in 2008 to say to recruits that even though they don't have the talent of USC, they can still beat them.

Washington did okay and Arizona did okay. Arizona State you expected more from, but Dennis Erickson will have to improve on that next year. They lost the two best players in the state and the only real good player went to USC, so they have a ways to go.

There were no real poor teams, but the other schools have to step it up a bit and compete against USC in recruiting, or suffer the consequences. This could change soon because USC is so deep in talent that these kids just all can't keep going there. Tyrone Willingham and Washington, Mike Stoops and Arizona and Jeff Tedford and Cal are the three schools to keep eye on.

Five Impact Players

Marc Tyler, RB, USC - Probably the best all-around running back: running, catching and receiving. He had a severely broken leg and it remains to be seen how he responds to that in college. There's no question that he's one of two best backs in country

Chris Galippo, LB, USC - I knew he was a great linebacker. But I didn't know how great he was until I saw him for a week in San Antonio where he dominated as the best defensive player there. He should be an impact player as freshman, even though they're loaded at linebacker. They have to find room for him.

Joe McKNight, RB, USC - The most exciting player in high school last year. He is a game breaker as a running back and return guy. I know USC is eight deep with All-Americans at tailback, but he could be the best of all of them and could see playing time as a true freshman.

Everson Griffen, DE, USC - He proved to be one of the two best pass rushers in nation. He's big and strong and really came into his own as senior as a pass rusher. He could be a dominating end or tackle in college.

Jahvid Best, RB, Cal - He really came into his own as a senior, averaging 10 yards per carry. He's one of  the fastest kids in the nation. He's perfect for Cal's offense.

Team Rankings

1. USC

2. Oregon

3. Cal

4. Arizona State

5. Arizona

6. Washington

7. UCLA

8. Stanford

9. Washington State

10.  Oregon State