Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Sport
Zach Helfand

BRIEF: College football fall forecast

Feb. 15--Coaches, in occasional fits of modesty, say it all the time: A team is only as good as its players.

Well, if that's true, expect to see some familiar schools atop the college football rankings in the fall.

We averaged the scores of the last five football recruiting classes, according to 247Sports.com's composite rating. We then weighted the significance of each class -- for example, a team's senior class affects the ranking more than the freshmen -- and came up with our own rating.

Which shows it should be an interesting season for local fans next fall.

Despite NCAA sanctions that limited the size of recent USC recruiting classes, the Trojans have the most talented roster in the Pac-12 Conference, according to our analysis.

And UCLA is not far behind in talent with its most skilled roster in a decade.

Here's the top 10:

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Florida State

4. Florida

5. Louisiana State

6. Georgia

7. USC

8. Auburn

9. Notre Dame

10. Texas

Others: 14. UCLA; 18. Oregon.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.