Using the 247sports composite rankings, we made 1st and 2nd All-star teams of the SEC's best high school recruits. How does your team stack up?

The chips are all blue

The SEC is the only conference in the country that is represented by players rated four- or five-stars at every single position. It's not unreasonable to suggest that these 50 players are better than the best 50 you could assemble from all of the other conferences. There are a lot of really, really good players left off this list. I would probably take the SEC's second, or hypothetical third teams over the first from any other league.

Tide washes over all

How good is Alabama's class? Consider the following stats:

4- and 5-stars signed: SEC 136 | Pac-12 51 | ACC 50 | Big Ten 49 | Big XII 31

Even in a conference that signed 136 total players rated four- or five-stars (more than double that of any other league), Alabama manages to fill almost a quarter of the slots, including 30-percent of the first team players. Alabama has twice as many representatives than every school but LSU. That is insane in a conference with so much talent across the board. Alabama's share of the SEC is like Ohio State's in the Big Ten or Florida State's in the ACC. It's hard to comprehend.

Shut out

Maybe James Franklin got out at the right time? Vanderbilt didn't place a single player on the team, while yearly cross-division opponent Ole Miss continually improving, and in-state rival Tennessee seems to be getting its recruiting together in a hurry. Vanderbilt signed a class that was comparable to its last three, but other schools are upping their talent level faster than the Commodores.

No reward for volume

Tennessee and Kentucky had very strong classes, but they were rated as such because of quality volume as much as elite talent. This team really highlights who signed the elite of the elite, so while those classes are huge for those programs, they do not represent quite as well in this format as some might expect.

Rebels a 1-year wonder?

After signing a top-5 recruiting class in 2013, many Ole Miss fans believed their program was going to recruit with the elite of the elite on a yearly basis. Ole Miss brought in a solid follow-up class (25 signees, six rated four- or five-stars), but 2013 was a special recruiting year for Ole Miss because of players having special relationships with the program, the hype of a new coach in Hugh Freeze, and some other factors. For Ole Miss to consistently recruit with the SEC's elite (50-percent blue chips and not 25-percent), it will need to start winning more games on the field, and that's tough in a division that signed more blue chip prospects than any other conference. The Rebels are still out-recruiting Mississippi State, however, a major feather in Freeze's cap.

I also wonder if Tennessee will be like Ole Miss next year. The Volunteers are not expected to be drastically better on the field, and they likely won't have the benefit of two four-star legacies (Bates, Kelly). Can they again bring in an elite class, or will it slip down to more historic levels? That's a storyline to watch.

Dominance on the defensive interior, as always

The SEC brought in 14 of the 25 high school defensive tackles rated four- or five-stars. That is a ridiculous numbers, but it's not unexpected. Elite interior defensive linemen are such a rare commodity, and the South has more of them than every other region (Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Texas/Midlands, West) combined. It has been the major factor separating the SEC's best from the best of most other conferences over the last decade or so. And that's not even mentioning junior college defensive tackles, the best of which are signed in an even greater proportion by the league on a yearly basis.

Second Team

More from SB Nation college football:

Follow @SBNationCFBFollow @SBNRecruiting

• Consensus top 25 2014 recruiting classes

• National Signing Day’s biggest winners and losers

• Numbers show recruiting matters very, very, very much

• Super-early 2014 advanced stats rankings, 1 through

• College football news | The SEC is taking over the country

• Long CFB reads | How Ryan Perrilloux completely disappeared

Using the 247sports composite rankings, we made all-star teams out of the ACC's best high school recruits. How does your team stack up?

The ACC did a decent job recruiting overall, coming in somewhat behind the Pac-12 and slightly ahead of the Big Ten in terms of blue chips signed per school. But the talent gap between the SEC and all other conferences, is only growing.

4- and 5-stars signed: SEC 136 | Pac-12 51 | ACC 50 | Big Ten 49 | Big XII 31

Florida State class of the league

Florida State was the only ACC team to have a top-5 class nationally, or even top-10 for that matter, so it makes sense that the Seminoles would have twice as many players on the first team than any other team in the league. Their dominance over the ACC in recruiting is similar to Ohio State's over the Big Ten.

Clemson and Miami alone in the second tier

Just as FSU lords over everyone, Miami and Clemson also really out-recruit most of the other schools in the league, having about double the members on the team than everyone but Florida State. Miami gets the nod because it has more on the first team. 18 of the 15 first-team spots and 31 of the 50 overall slots are occupied by these three schools.

Louisville collapses

Louisville already gained its biggest commitment in quite a while when the ACC asked it to join the league, but it is difficult to put into words how badly this class fell apart when Charlie Strong left for Texas.

Half of the league lacks multiple representatives

Louisville wasn't the only awful class. Pitt, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Duke, Syracuse and Wake Forest did not bring much to the talent pool here, with none of them having multiple representatives. They are not beating out their neighbors in the SEC (or the Big Ten in the Northeast) for much talent at all, and it drags the league down significantly. Several of these schools are private or have tough admission standards, but some of these recruiting efforts were fairly poor.

Good and bad: Heavy on sunshine state talent

12 of the 25 players on the all-recruit ACC first team are from the state of Florida. That makes sense, as two of the league's premier recruiting teams are in Florida, and Clemson also recruits Florida well. But there's also a noticeable lack of talent being brought in from other states that are common recruiting grounds for SEC teams. All four players on this team from Georgia are committed to Clemson. It seems very odd that other ACC schools weren't able to win any battles for Georgia players.

Great receivers...

Florida State and Clemson brought in ridiculous receiver hauls, and there were several four-star type receivers actually left off the team. It is perhaps the deepest position.

... Where are the defensive backs?

With all the great talent coming in to the league at receiver, it has to be a bit disconcerting for people who enjoy games under four hours that the league brought in a total of three defensive backs rated four or five stars. The culprit? FSU and Clemson went very light on defensive backs this year, and the rest of the league could not pick up the slack.

Second team

More from SB Nation college football:

Follow @SBNationCFBFollow @SBNRecruiting

• Consensus top 25 2014 recruiting classes

• National Signing Day’s biggest winners and losers

• Numbers show recruiting matters very, very, very much

• Super-early 2014 advanced stats rankings, 1 through

• College football news | The SEC is taking over the country

• Long CFB reads | How Ryan Perrilloux completely disappeared

FSU offers another Georgia Smith at LB

Ben Edwards is a safety recruit in the class of 2015 out of Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian School. He is listed at 6'0 and 195 pounds, and as of February 2014, he was a consensus three-star recruit and most recruiting services considered him a top-25 safety recruit.

As of early February 2014, Edwards held offers from Ohio State, Auburn, Missouri, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Stanford, among others -- a nice collection of football powers and top academic institutions.

Scouting Edwards: The first thing that pops with Edwards' highlight film is his hitting. He really punishes ball carriers, exploding though the hips and transferring his energy. This is just a fun film to watch. Often times, Edwards is the recipient of other players on his loaded team making the quarterback or ball carrier try a desperation play, and he is able to move in to deliver the blow to his unsuspecting victim. So violent is Edwards with some of these hits, that he was flagged at least three times in his four-minute highlight tape (some perhaps undeservedly).

Edwards is very good against the run. He closes in a hurry, and takes good angles to the football in his highlights. Of course, a highlight tape wouldn't show a player missing tackles due to bad angles, but it might show a player making a good play even when taking a poor angle, and there's not much of that here. Edwards also picks through traffic pretty well to get clean shots on the ball carrier.

While the big hits are great, Edwards could probably stand to wrap up a bit better. He won't always be on a team that overwhelms its opponent to the extent that Trinity does (at least five seniors will play defense for a BCS team), and he'll have to make more 1-on-1 type tackles at the college level.

Edwards does not seem like the most instinctive safety in pass coverage. Several of his better plays against the pass come from very poorly thrown balls, or bobbles by the receiver. I didn't see him jumping routes and picking off balls, or sticking with receiver step-for-step in coverage. That said, he is very opportunistic.

I think Edwards would fit very well as a third safety in a 4-2-5 or 3-3-5 type of defense, and he may be able to play at 210+ pounds in the future. His style of play reminds me a bit of Robensen Therezie, of Miami (Fla.) Jackson, who went on to play for Auburn in a similar role.

More from SB Nation college football:

Follow @SBNationCFBFollow @SBNRecruiting

• Behind-the-scenes feature: How Michael Sam decided to come out

• What if college football had promotion and relegation? Updated for 2014

• Bill Connelly: Missouri gains yet another reason to take pride in Sam

• Super-early 2014 advanced stats rankings, 1 through 125

• College football news | The SEC is taking over the country

• Long CFB reads | How Ryan Perrilloux completely disappeared

Update: Johnson was contacted by the Orlando Sentinel and he said that he is being recruited as a QB, but doesn't mind competition at the position.

So, this bit of Florida State football recruiting news is interesting.

Quarterback Deondre Francois, of Orlando (Fla.) Olympia High School, is claiming an offer from Florida State (Orlando Sentinel). Francois is a good player, a current three-star who claims offers from Florida, Clemson, Miami and others, though they cannot necessarily be verified. Francois claims that FSU told him he is their top quarterback.

I'm less interested in the legitimacy of the offer as I am about his comment about De'Andre Johnson, a quarterback who has been committed to Florida State for more than a year.

"They said [Johnson] has been with them since his freshman year and they're recruiting him as an athlete," Francois said. "They said...that I'm their top quarterback right now."

Florida State very well could be looking to take two quarterbacks in the 2015 class, but FSU recruiting Johnson as an athlete and not a quarterback, if that is in fact true, is news to me. If that's true, I wonder if Johnson is aware of that, and how recently that was changed?

Is Francois' offer real? Or is it more of an offer to come to camp? I'm not so sure. Florida State has junior days coming up on February 22 and March 1.

Every recent national champion first met a recruiting standard. Based on talent ratios, who's got the best shot at future titles? Who's within striking distance? And which conferences need to step it up?

Pete Volk and Chris Fuhrmeister also contributed to this story.

As recruiting rankings continue to grow more accurate, they're now to a point at which they can help tell us which teams are ready to compete for titles.

Every BCS champion since recruiting rankings could be accurately tracked (2005, or four classes after Scout joined Rivals in rating players) has met a benchmark: it's recruited more blue-chips (four- and five-star players) than lesser-rated players over its four previous signing classes.

And since those blue-chips are rare -- roughly 300 of them per year, with more than 10,000 scholarships to fill nationwide at the FBS level -- the teams that get blue-chips crush those who sign a lower-rated level of recruits.

Coaching stability, attrition management, player development, scouting, support and a host of other factors have a lot to do with a team's success. But even doing all of those things well, it is very hard for a program to stay at an elite level if it's not bringing in a lot of top talent.

So: what percentage of signees for each contender over the last four classes is made up of blue-chips? And what can we learn from that data?

Note: Player ratings are from the 247Sports Composite, which blends ratings from 247Sports, Scout, ESPN and Rivals. We tried to confirm accurate and complete signing class data for every team. This does not include walk-ons or players who never signed scholarship papers.

The 11 blue-chip programs

Let's first look at the 11 schools who've signed more blue-chips than non-blue-chips over the last four classes. Six play in the Southeast (five SEC teams and one ACC), which is unsurprising, considering that region of the country is far more talented than any other.

The 2014 national champion will likely come from among these 11 schools. After all, every national championship since 2002 has been won by programs in this list of 11.

Alabama: 73 percent blue-chip recruits

The Tide have undoubtedly been the most dominant team in college football over the past few years, with six straight 10-win seasons, three national titles in a four-year stretch and five BCS bowls in the past six seasons.

The class the Tide just inked was their fourth No. 1 in a row, likely Nick Saban's best yet. An Alabama scholarship offer commands instant attention from almost any recruit. The Tide market their "built by Bama" branding non-stop, making sure recruits know how many NFL players come through Tuscaloosa.

Alabama is the perfect model for the theory that recruiting success leads to on-field success. No team is all that close to what Alabama has accomplished, on the field or off. It's not just about oversigning, as many claim. Alabama's ratio is king.

If recent history is any indication, Alabama's incredible roster, featuring more raw talent than any other team in the nation, should make it one of the top contenders for the first College Football Playoff title.

Ohio State: 68 percent (17 percentage points better '13-14 than '11-12)

One of six teams above the 60 percent mark, Ohio State is a machine. In two seasons under Urban Meyer, the Buckeyes have gone 24-2 with a perfect 16-0 record in regular-season Big Ten play.

Ohio is the best recruiting state in the Midwest, and Ohio State has also shown the ability to recruit nationally, like winning five-star linebacker Raekwon McMillan out of SEC country. The Buckeyes have recruited at an even stronger rate under Meyer.

Ohio State has yet to win the Big Ten under Meyer, but it'll be the smart pick every year in which Meyer keeps outrecruiting the rest of the conference at such a ridiculous rate.

USC: 64 percent

USC is breaking in a new head coach in Steve Sarkisian after Lane Kiffin failed to replicate the Pete Carroll era at USC.

While USC's percentage is excellent, NCAA sanctions meant the Trojans signed just 75 players over the last four years, about 19 fewer than the average of the other 10 teams who eclipsed the 50 percent mark. Can the Trojans get back to meeting the mark while still taking full classes?

Notre Dame: 63 percent (25 percent better '13-14 than '11-12)

Notre Dame is located in the worst state for recruiting of any team eclipsing the half mark, but the Fighting Irish have always had to recruit nationally. Notre Dame has seen mixed on-field results through four years under Brian Kelly, with a 37-15 record boosted by a 12-1 title shot.

Now, Kelly is taking over play-calling duties, and the Irish are playing some tougher competition over the next few years -- Notre Dame will need its blue chips to turn into stars.

While Vegas has Alabama and Ohio State 5/1 and 9/1, respectively, to win the next national title, Notre Dame checks in at 40/1. That could have a lot to do with schedule and roster losses, but the data suggests Notre Dame is closer in talent to those two than the odds show.

LSU: 62 percent (17 percent better '13-14 than '11-12)

LSU has performed at a level of sustained success unmatched by nearly any other program in college football in the new millennium, never once falling below eight wins.

LSU brought in an excellent 2014 class. Some Tigers fans will lament the amount of talent that escaped Louisiana, which was as loaded as anyone can remember.

Despite being in a division with Alabama and Auburn, LSU has the sixth-best odds to win the title, at 16/1.

Texas: 60 percent (27 percent worse '13-14 than '11-12)

Can Charlie Strong fight off Texas A&M? Erich Schlagel, Getty

The Longhorns haven't made a BCS bowl since after the 2009 season --- a loss in the BCS Championship to the Tide, which Texas followed up with its first losing season since 1997.

The Horns are moving into a new era with former Louisville head coach Charlie Strong, and we'll see if he can take their loaded roster to new heights. In the final seasons of the Mack Brown era, development of talent was clearly lacking, as the Longhorns are the exemplar program for underachievement on this list.

Looking at Strong's track record at Louisville, that issue should be corrected, both through signing stars and making sure the lesser-rated signees are well-scouted and fit for the system. But, can he recruit at a high enough level? Texas' recruiting over the last two cycles brought in 27 percent less blue-chip talent than its 2011-12 classes. It's still Texas, but things are tougher now that A&M has established itself as a legitimate recruiting power.

Texas is posted at 40/1 odds to win the next title.

Florida State: 56 percent

The Noles will be strong contenders to repeat in 2014, as the odds-on favorite at 15/4.

Florida State's two-year recruiting trend is fairly flat, but Florida State fans are probably okay with that, given the crystal ball Jimbo Fisher and Jameis Winston just hoisted. It will be interesting to see what FSU does on the recruiting trail in 2014 coming off a title, as history shows that teams typically see a bump not a few weeks after winning the title, but in the year immediately following that title.

Michigan: 55 percent (16 percent better '13-14 than '11-12)

It's getting pretty close to reckoning time for Brady Hoke at Michigan. The Wolverines recruit at the highest level, but a 15-9 conference record over three years and diminishing win totals in each year of his tenure has his job in question entering a fourth year.

Michigan is also listed as 40/1 to win the championship.

Florida: 54 percent (16 percent worse '13-14 than '11-12)

Florida is by far the most talented team that had a losing record in 2013. There's good reason why Will Muschamp is also on the hot seat. A terrible 4-8 season with a loss to then-FCS Georgia Southern will do that.

With another solid recruiting class in 2014, and new coordinator Kurt Roper to overhaul the offense, fans in Gainesville will want to see at least twice as many wins and appreciable improvement on offense. Florida's offensive recruiting has lagged behind its defensive hauls, but the talent Florida has brought in on the offensive side is still rated considerably higher than on most other teams.

A national title may be a bit much to ask at 50/1 odds, but a strong on-field campaign could really help recruiting, as many of the Sunshine State's top players for the class of 2015 grew up as Florida fans.

Auburn: 53 percent

After the disastrous 2012 campaign that saw the Tigers go winless in SEC play, Gus Malzahn took over and immediately led them to an SEC title and a place in the title game. Auburn makes the cut despite a 2013 class that doesn't quite measure up on paper to what the Tigers signed in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

The Plainsmen are currently listed as 20/1 to win the 2014 title.

Georgia: 51 percent

Georgia also just makes the cut. Mark Richt's squad could make things interesting with new defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, a top recruiter stolen away from Florida State.

Considering the amount of high-quality players the Dawgs bring in, it's a bit surprising they haven't won a conference title since 2005. Georgia is currently 28/1 to win the championship, tied for the 13th-best odds.

The next six

Thus ends the list of title contenders, if we're sticking with the trend of a blue-chip ratio of at least 50 percent.

So what about some others? It would be foolish to pretend that a team not reaching the 50 percent mark is disqualified from winning a title. If a school is to break through, it will likely be one that is fairly close to the mark that also boasts great talent development, scouting and a unique system. Here are six who are close.

Texas A&M: 47 percent (18 percent better '13-14 than '11-12)

Thanks to a combination of Johnny Football, Kevin Sumlin, on-field success, a move to the SEC and a very down Texas program, A&M has been on fire on the recruiting trail. Houston is one of the best recruiting cities in the country, and no team recruits better in Harris County than the Aggies.

Of their last 72 signees, 39 have been blue-chippers (54 percent). Another good recruiting year will move them into the upper echelon.

Still, A&M is in a division where three teams have brought in more recruited talent over the last four years. That -- combined with key losses, including Johnny Manziel -- has it posted at 66/1 to win it all. Maybe in 2015?

Oregon: 42 percent

Considering its location in a talent-light state, Oregon recruits about as well as can be expected. How close is Oregon to being on the 50 percent list? Try six players being rated as four-stars instead of three-stars over the last four years. That's it.

The Ducks also scout well, making sure their lesser-rated recruits have specific roles to play. The Ducks have developed players quite well, and have had great success with quarterbacks. Oregon has also benefitted from coaching staff turnover in the Pac-12 -- eight conference rivals made staff overhauls over the last three years, while the Ducks have been promoting from within for almost two decades now.

The Ducks return a great bit from a strong 2013 team, and are currently posted at 7/1 to win the national title, the third-best odds in the country.

Oklahoma: 42 percent (24 percent worse '13-14 than '11-12)

Despite the resurgent 2013 season, trouble could be looming for Oklahoma.

There is not enough in-state talent to sustain a dominant program, and the Sooners must do well in Texas to be an elite squad. Texas A&M's meteoric rise up the recruiting rankings is bad news for Oklahoma.

Oklahoma has done well in California of late, but with many Pac-12 staffs solidifying, there's a legitimate question as to the Sooners' long-term viability recruiting in California. Already we are seeing Oklahoma amidst a two-year dip in recruited talent compared to the 2011-12 classes.

Clemson: 42 percent

Life after Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins could be tough for Clemson in 2014 -- especially with division rival Florida State well ahead of it on this list -- but Dabo Swinney has been recruiting well, winning a lot of games and giving the Tigers a chance.

Some Tigers fans believe Clemson should be doing better on the trail and on the field, but only 14 schools have brought in a higher percentage of elite talent than the Tigers over a four-year period. Clemson is on a strong three-year trend.

UCLA: 41 percent (40 percent better '13-14 than '11-12)

Look who's responsible for the country's biggest recruiting turnaround. Ivan Pierre Aguierre, USA Today

No coach has been able to transform his roster's talent level over two years more than Jim Mora has. Ridiculous: 40 percent more blue-chip players in the most recent two signing classes than the previous two. And the three-year trend is great as well, with major outlier year 2011 dragging down the overall roster, much like with A&M and Clemson.

The Bruins should be a contender for the Pac-12 crown. UCLA is currently 18/1 to win the title, good for the seventh-best odds.

Stanford: 39 percent

Stanford recruits linemen well, but has trouble recruiting elite skill position talent, for whatever reason. It is almost the opposite of Oregon in that regard. Stanford has also made the best of its academic situation, but the tough admission standards do close Stanford off from a significant portion of the talent pool.

Stanford checks in at 25/1 odds this year after losing some key players off the 2013 squad.

Three more contenders

And here are the last three teams with 30/1 or better Vegas odds for the 2014 national title.

Ole Miss: 25 percent (14 percent better '13-14 than '11-12)

Ole Miss is likely on the Vegas lists because of its recent recruiting successes, notably in the 2013 class. After years near the bottom of the SEC recruiting rankings (including a 2012 class that received especially poor ratings), the Rebels pulled together a top-10 class headlined by four five-stars, including consensus top recruit Robert Nkemdiche.

If Ole Miss wins more games, perhaps it can bring its recruiting up to par with the elites of the league.

Ole Miss checks in at 33/1 odds for the title.

Michigan State: 16 percent

The Spartans have gone to seven straight bowl games under Mark Dantonio, and things continue to get better for the defense-minded Big Ten champs.

Based on the raw talent going to East Lansing, Michigan State is quite possibly the most overachieving program in the nation. Michigan State's player development is tremendous, and its scouting is quite good as well. There's an upward recruiting trend here, with 12 of its last 62 signees being blue-chips. And importantly, unlike some upstarts in the SEC, there is room for upward mobility in the Big Ten, because so many programs don't bring in any elite recruits.

Michigan State is 20/1 to win the championship.

Baylor: 13 percent

The Big 12 is wide-open right now. Can the Bears establish themselves for good? Jerome Miron, USA Today

And if Michigan State isn't America's biggest overachiever, that title must go to Baylor. But as injuries mounted in 2013, Baylor's lack of depth was exposed. Even playing in the weakest major conference, it's hard to consistently win big when only two out of every 15 new players are blue-chips.

The Big 12 has room for another power program. If Baylor can put together another big year, continue to scout well, and pair that momentum with its beautiful new stadium, the Bears could be that program.

Baylor is 25/1 to win the title, but history says that proposition doesn't offer value for a roster of this talent level.

By conference

Finally, let's take a look at each conference, with some observations on the teams we didn't already cover above.

SEC: 35.9 percent

The SEC is far and away the best recruiting conference in the country. Its top teams are the best, and it has more of them. But the true difference is that it doesn't have awful recruiting schools. Even Vanderbilt and Kentucky pull in around 10 percent blue-chips. And it is improving faster than any other conference. Scary.

Tennessee is pretty clearly on the rise under Butch Jones. The Volunteers inked a major class and saw their overall percentage jump by six percentage points. But will Tennessee be like Ole Miss, signing a great class and then falling back to earth? That's the challenge for Butch Jones. Tennessee has not won the SEC in the lifetime of most current recruits and has had only one winning season since the class of 2015 left elementary school.

South Carolina turned in its best class ratio so far under Steve Spurrier, but many recruiting media members feel that Spurrier's Gamecocks might not reach that next level. Typical of most overachievers, South Carolina scouts very well and finds players to fit its system, but the Gamecocks have never won an SEC title.

Another good scouting team is Missouri. The Tigers had a rough first year in the SEC, but had a great bounce-back year, playing in the SEC Championship. Can Missouri begin to bring in a higher level of recruit thanks to that newfound success and league membership? We'll see.

Arkansas fans preach scouting and player development, because of what Bret Bielema did at Wisconsin. But SB Nation's Matt Hinton examined Wisconsin's 2010-2013 success, finding ...

... they were actually very ordinary in that span against blue-chip competition, putting up losing records against five-star (2-3), four-star (3-6) and even three-star (5-6) opponents. Much of Wisconsin's success is based on thorough, consistent dominance of its two-star peers in the Big Ten - Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue - against whom the Badgers have won 17 in a row. But they've hardly made a habit of playing over their heads.

Where are Bielema's Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue wins going to come from in the SEC? The SEC, and the West in particular, is probably the worst place in America to be counting on scouting and development beating big-time talent.

Thanks in large part to his family's strong reputation in Ohio, Mark Stoops seems to have Kentucky headed in the right direction on the recruiting trail.

Pac-12: 20.4 percent

After the recent run of solid coaching hires in the Pac-12, more of a premium will be placed on recruiting than ever before. And that could spell trouble for some staffs, as the talent west of the Rockies is somewhat limited. If all of these great coaching staffs win a few battles each, it will mean that the top programs in the conference get fewer elite kids.

Washington closed out 2014 extremely strong in the state, and if Chris Petersen can continue that, he might be able to increase the Huskies' win total by one or two per year.

California's recruiting is going down the tubes, and fast. No team in the country saw a 2011-2012 to 2013-2014 drop quite like Cal's, and it wasn't all that close.

Arizona State signed twice as many blue-chips in this recent class as it did in the previous three years -- combined. Keep Todd Graham in place for more than a year, and you shall receive results. After a promising 8-5 campaign in his debut year, Graham's Sun Devils shocked the Pac-12 by going 8-1 in conference play, winning the division and finishing with a top-25 ranking. If Arizona State can survive a potential down 2014 year on the field and bring in another good class, this could be a serious team on the rise.

Utah's move to the Pac-12 doesn't seem to have helped all that much with its recruiting, though its percentage of stars signed hasn't decreased quite as rapidly as its winning percentage.

Big Ten: 18.6 percent

Who's No. 3 on the recruiting trail after these two? Gregory Shamus, Getty

The Big Ten gets a bad rap at times, but it's basically right there or better than most other conferences. There is some serious jockeying for the No. 3 slot, and some of the lesser teams are fighting tooth-and-nail to make moves out of the cellar. But there is a lot of cellar here, with six schools recruiting in the single digits.

Nebraska's move to the Big Ten has not helped its recruiting at all. If anything, it has hurt quite a bit. The two-year drop of 28 percent compared to the '11-12 classes is one of the biggest in the country, and coach Bo Pelini's perpetual hot-seat status doesn't help either. Nebraska is a weak state for high school talent, and Nebraska has not been nationally relevant in any way since current recruits began elementary school.

James Franklin is an awesome recruiter, and Penn State's sanctions will hurt less over the next few years. However, even with all the excitement about Franklin's first class, it was right in line with the 20 percent clip Penn State had recruited at over the three classes before his arrival. It will take time before Penn State can match Ohio State and Michigan on the recruiting trail.

Wisconsin seems to be making some moves under new head coach Gary Andersen, thanks perhaps in part to the success of the former head coach. And that's not easy, because its state produces very little elite recruiting talent.

The two teams entering the league, Maryland and Rutgers, bring a similar level of talent, but the programs seem to be going in opposite directions. Rutgers' recruiting is plummeting. Maryland, meanwhile, has overcome ridiculous injuries on the field and made the best of it, and its recruiting is on the way up. Penn State's hiring of Franklin will make things tougher on the Terrapins in the D.C. area than Bill O'Brien did, though.

ACC: 16.5 percent

The ACC is a league with some heavy hitters and some real disappointments. The good thing is that nobody's fallen like Nebraska, Rutgers, or Cal have. All of the big two-year trends for ACC teams are positive. And Florida State winning a title might help to counteract some of the negative recruiting the league faces from its SEC counterparts, who occupy much of the same footprint.

We talk about the player development and scouting at Michigan State and Baylor, but Duke winning the ACC Coastal with zero blue-chips on its roster is something to behold. History says that's not sustainable, and while Duke is probably getting a higher quality of three-star than it used to get (something this measure is not designed to register), it's still not popular with top recruits. It is nowhere close to becoming Stanford East.

While Miami is a long way off from having a championship roster, its improvement in 2013-2014 compared to 2011-2012 is very impressive. Many believe Miami reached for players in the class of 2012 who were not Miami quality, simply to have a full roster in case the NCAA came down hard. With NCAA sanctions being extremely light, Miami's recruiting is on the way back up. In the 2011-2012 classes, Miami signed 40 players who were not blue-chips. In 2013-2014? Just 28.

Not everyone can be Texas A&M. Like Utah, Colorado, TCU, Missouri, and Nebraska, the move to a new conference has not yet had a quantifiable impact on recruiting for Pitt and Syracuse.

The hope is that Louisville will be more like Texas A&M. Unfortunately for the ACC, Charlie Strong's departure turned what would be likely been Louisville's best class in quite a while (off back-to-back great years) into its worst in a four-year stretch. Maryland, the team that Louisville is replacing, has more recruiting momentum. After signing just 38 players in the last two years, if Louisville were to surprise with a 10-win season in its first year in the ACC, it would be in position to capitalize and take a big, impactful class.

Mike London has the recruiting side of things down pat, but he could be running short on time to win.

Georgia Tech's defeatist recruiting is a drain on the ACC's talent. Elite players simply do not want to play in that offense. To have the ACC's only Georgia school forfeiting all of Atlanta's elite players to SEC schools is a major negative.

Big 12: 16.0 percent

The Big 12 is in trouble. Other than the SEC, which is up four percentage points over the last two years, all other leagues are essentially flat. Then there is the Big 12, which is down an incredible seven percentage points. That's not a big deal for a single team, but when a league posts that number, it means that talent isn't being redistributed within the league. It's leaving for other conferences.

Texas and Oklahoma have to carry this league. There really are no other options. Oklahoma State and Baylor are nice, but them winning the league is a lot like Virginia Tech and Boston College winning divisions on a yearly basis upon entering the ACC -- it means that teams with next-level potential are not operating at close to peak efficiency. The Cowboys and Bears work well as second-tier programs bolstering the league's reputation for depth. If Texas A&M, the third or fourth-best program in the SEC West can consistently beat Texas and Oklahoma for prospects, then the future of the Big 12 is bleak. There is probably reason to believe that the two programs will rebound, however, as they have great tradition, facilities, and recruiting bases. The newness of A&M will wear off if recruits stop signing up to finish third or fourth in the SEC West.

Texas Tech, a program that used to compete with Texas A&M for recruits, has also taken a huge dive. Getting players to Lubbock is never easy, but it is somewhat surprising that the charismatic Kliff Kingsbury has not been able to find a boost. In 2011-2012, the Red Raiders signed 13 blue-chip prospects. In 2013-2014? Just one.

Part of the problem is that the Big 12 replaced Nebraska and Missouri with West Virginia and TCU. Both have struggled mightily in the league, and the Big 12 might have bought high on both programs. TCU is, at best, fifth in the buffet line for Texas recruits, and the state of West Virginia offers very little talent. Both have been exposed in making the jump to a tougher league.

Kansas State consistently outperforms its recruiting rankings by a huge margin. Why? Similar to other programs that do so, it knows its own system, wins on the margins, develops well, and finds hidden gems in the junior colleges with which Bill Snyder has decades of good relationships.

Top 10 mid-majors: 1.6 percent

The Bulls are outrecruiting every other mid-major. When will that start paying off? Kim Klement, USA Today

The top teams: Boise State, BYU, Marshall, Cincinnati, East Carolina, San Diego State, Houston, UConn, UCF, and USF.

Mid-majors rarely sign elite recruits. If we counted all the teams in all five non-power conferences (the American, Conference USA, the MAC, the Mountain West, and the Sun Belt, plus independents besides Notre Dame), that 1.6 percent blue-chip rate would shrink to near zero. In the 2014 class, only three teams in those five conferences signed four-stars, and only one each (Boise State, Marshall, and UCF).

Fans of these teams sometimes say that recruiting services ignore their players and that they are as good as any. One could point to counter-examples like Utah and TCU, which dominated the second circuit for years before joining BCS conferences and tanking.

Your turn

What do you think? Which of those 11 blue-chip teams is most poised to change its fortunes, for better or worse? Who's best prepared to crash the upper echelon? Can any other conference ever hope to challenge the SEC's recruiting level? And which team without an elite roster could win a championship anyway?

More from SB Nation college football:

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• Leach, Gundy, Freeze, Rodriguez hate NCAA rule proposal

• Mizzou students defend against Westboro Baptist protest

• Equanimeous St. Brown, Zach Morris, and the 2015 recruiting All-Name Team

• College football news | Bill Connelly’s 128-team countdown has begun

• Long CFB reads | How Ryan Perrilloux completely disappeared

FSU working on neutral site games

Toliver is one of the best players in the Class of 2015.

Cornerback Kevin Toliver II is one of the top players in the Class of 2015, sporting a great combination of size and natural ability. Toliver, out of Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Fla., stands 6'2 and weighs in at 185 pounds. As of early February, he's listed as a five-star prospect by 247 Sports, Rivals and Scout, and a four-star by ESPN. The 247 Sports composite and ranked as the No. 1 high school player in the class, and Rivals ranks him first at his position and third in the nation.

Already claiming an impressive list of scholarship offers, Toliver has drawn interest from more than 40 top programs around the country, including LSU, Auburn, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Florida, Texas A&M, Alabama, Florida State, Michigan State and USC, among many others.

Fans can follow Toliver II on Twitter at @Toliver_Era.

So what makes Toliver II special? Like other top prospects, it is the combination of size and athleticism. Many prospects have size or athleticism, but only the truly special ones are elite in both areas. Toliver is going to eventually be the size of a college safety, but he has the speed and quickness to stay at cornerback. And with so many teams demanding size at corner, particularly in the Southeast (LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, to name a few), there is not enough to go around. And players who can play a smaller man's position at a bigger man's size win games for their teams.

It's not just that Toliver II has size, however, it's also that he is able to use that size and translate it to great physicality. Toliver is one of the best at jamming opponents that I have ever seen in the high school ranks. I once saw him almost get tossed out of a 7-on-7 competition for being too physical at the line. Toliver has the length and the strength to jam even the strongest college receivers.

But one can only press for so long, and it's what Toliver does after the press that makes him one of the best in the country. He quickly transitions into coverage with the receiver, sticking with him step for step. He changes direction well for his size, and his top-end speed is very good as well. He is not a player who seems likely to end up moving to safety.

And in the red zone, Toliver combines his physicality and length with great leaping ability. This makes him very valuable against jump balls when teams run out of real estate.

Like a lot of players on the loaded Trinity Christian team, Toliver tries to hit more than he wraps up, so his tackling will need a bit of work at the college level.

I expect Toliver will be a high-level starter in a major conference for multiple years and a future NFL player. If he develops well, he may end up spending only three years at the college level.

What makes Ivey so coveted by college teams?

Florida-based offensive lineman Martez Ivey is widely considered one of the top tackle prospects in the nation. Ivey, who is currently playing at Apopka High School in Apopka, Fla., carries a composite five-star rating, and his 6'6, 280-lb. frame makes him a no-doubt tackle at the next level. Ivey received five-star grades from 247 Sports and Scout, with the latter ranking him as the nation's top tackle prospect in February 2014. Rivals and ESPN are not so bullish, giving Ivey a four-star ranking.

As of February, Ivey held offers from 16 top programs, including Florida, Florida State, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Miami, and Clemson.

Ivey is available on Twitter at @tezivey.

What makes Ivey so good? Athleticism and the potential to add size. Ivey is very athletic, and he has good quickness off the football with quick acceleration. He can pull and quickly turn the corner. He also shows the ability to bend quite well.

And he does all of that with an extremely impressive frame. Ivey should clearly be able to play when he's north of 300 pounds, as he is currently a quite trim 275-ish pounds, with long arms, big hands and a decent base.

In the run game, Ivey shows good power for his size, snapping his hips into the defender. He does have too much of a tendency to lunge, however, which gets him in trouble with his balance. That could improve as he gains more upper body strength, improving his punch. And I think part of this is related to his stance, as he plays in a very run-oriented Wing-T offense, sometimes even lining up at guard. His stance has a lot of weight on his front hand, and is not the typical tackle stance. This did improve as a junior.

While I believe Ivey will be a good pass protector at the college level, that is almost entirely based on his size, length and light feet. He simply doesn't have much film of pass protecting to evaluate.

I like Ivey's tenacity, and though he might not have quite the feel for the game of some other elite tackles, he did improve a lot physically and on the field from his sophomore to his junior year. I believe he has a chance to be a multi-year starter for a major conference school.

What makes Town so in demand for college teams?

California-based pro-style quarterback Ricky Town is widely considered one of the top passing prospects in the nation and top players in the Golden State. Town, who currently plays at St. Bonaventure High School in Ventura, Cal., is the consensus No. 2 player in California and a top five overall prospect. He has received five-star ratings from Rivals, Scout and 247 Sports; both Scout and 247 rank Town as the nation's top pro-style quarterback recruit. ESPN has given Town a four-star rating.

The 6'4, 190-lb. Town had received ten offers from across the country by February, including Southern Cal, Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Stanford, Texas, Tennessee, UCLA, and Arizona State.

Town is on Twitter at @RickyTownQB.

Town is an impressive prospect. Having seen him in person, and on film, I believe he is one of the best pro-style quarterback recruits in the class of 2015. I am not, however, ready to say he is the best pro-style quarterback recruit in the class. He does not necessarily "pop" to me like Christian Hackenberg did in the class of 2013, or like Kyle Allen did in 2014.

But there are many things to like about Town. First, he has a consistent, compact stroke. I'd like to see him hold the ball a bit higher, but a consistent throwing motion that is mechanically sound is one of the keys to good quarterbacking. His motion actually reminds me a bit of Jay Cutler's, though perhaps a bit more robotic. He also does a nice job with play fakes, which helps to hold the rush.

On tape we are able to see Town be pressured a lot, because his offensive line is not great. He does drive the ball with authority though, and he is able to quickly release it to get it to his playmakers. And he moves well within the pocket, though he is far from what I would consider to be a dual-threat quarterback.

And while Town makes the difficult throws, I would like to see him have better accuracy within the target. Too often he does not hit his receivers in stride. That and his somewhat robotic style are two things I would like to see him improve before naming him the top pro-style quarterback recruit for 2015.

But he has major tools, and that can be seen in the NFL-type throws in which he fits the ball into tight windows down the field. If Town continues to develop, he has the physical tools to be one of the best quarterbacks in college football down the line.

Thompson might have more potential than any recruit in the country.

With a year to go before Signing Day, Trent Thompson has established himself as the top defensive tackle prospect in the nation and one of the best defensive recruits available in the Class of 2015. The 6'4, 292-lb. defensive lineman out of Westover High School in Albany, Ga. is the consensus top player in the state of Georgia, top defensive tackle, and a top 10 overall recruit.

As of February, Thompson has received five-star grades from 247 Sports, Scout, and Rivals, the last of which named him as the top overall recruit in this year's crop. ESPN gives Thompson a four-star rating, but still calls him the top defensive tackle in the country. He holds fifteen reported offers as of February, including Florida State, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan State, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Mississippi State.

Thompson is an awesome prospect. While there are certainly more dominant high school players, there might not be one with more upside. Thompson is a trim 6'3.5 and 290 pounds, with the ability to add another 15 or 20 pounds of good weight in the coming years. He had good length and impressively is young for his grade level. Because of his youth, so much of his potential has yet to be tapped.

Thompson shows great explosion off the ball for a man of his size. His first step is excellent, reminiscent of some defensive ends. And he comes off the ball with good bend at times, though that will be something to improve at the college level. He blows opposing blockers off the ball, though I would like to see him to a better job of attacking a half-man (again, something that will improve with more experience, maturity and college coaching). Once he beats a blocker, his burst to the ball carrier is incredible, and he engulfs running backs. This is a player who is extremely raw, yet has the physical ability to not only take on, but whip double teams. His finish is violent and he really punishes players.

Thompson is definitely a player who profiles well against the pass, with his excellent burst. If he learns some pass rush techniques, that will make him even more dangerous.

If Thompson continues to develop, works on his hands, and becomes more disciplined, learning to pursue down the line more, he could easily be a first round pick in 2018 after three years of college football.

Lucier-South is a rangy defensive end.

Keisean Lucier-South is one of the tallest defensive ends in the Class of 2015, and he'll bring quickness off the edge to his college of choice.

Lucier-South, out of Lutheran-Orange County (Calif.) High School, stands 6'5 and weighs in at 215 pounds and he runs a reported 4.7-second 40-yard dash. As of February 2014, he's listed as a five-star prospect by Scout, and a four-star by 247 Sports, Rivals and ESPN. In the 247 Sports composite ratings, he is ranked 43rd among all high school prospects in America, fifth among strong-side defensive ends and sixth among players from the state of California.

Lucier-South holds 19 scholarship offers from schools around the country. He's drawing interest from top programs such as Michigan, Notre Dame, Texas, UCLA, USC, Louisville, Miami, Missouri and Oregon.

Fans can follow Lucier-South on Twitter at @KLSouth16.

Derrell Warren, West Coast Recruiting Analyst:Lucier-South is a long athletic, defensive end with a huge wingspan. He carries a lankier frame with a fairly wide shoulder base, but is a bit narrow through the waist. He should be able to eventually top out in the neighborhood of 260-265 pounds while retaining his agility.

Against the run, Lucier-South will need to add more functional strength in order to hold the weak side edge at the next level, specifically core and lower body strength. He'll need to improve at anchoring at the point of attack and bringing his hips through contact.

Lucier-South has a very high motor and flashes really good speed in space, excelling in backside pursuit. He can redirect his momentum very well when quarterbacks have either stepped up into the pocket or are trying to escape it.

He's a physical player who doesn't shy away from contact. Is very instinctive in the way he's able to "stack" a blocker and in the very next motion disengage, get "skinny" and slide through gaps to create penetration.

Lucier-South probably carries the most overall upside as a pass-rusher. Off the edge, Lucier-South is a nice blend of length, agility, and closing speed. He carries a good first step and comes off the ball with full extension of his arms, using his length to keep offensive linemen away from his frame. Like a boxer uses his jab, he utilizes his arm length to control the distance between himself and offensive lineman.

Lucier-South also has very powerful hands. There are several instances in which he uses them to knock offensive linemen off-balance and even to the turf. At 6'6, he isn't an ideal edge bender but has the burst to gain the edge along with the foot quickness and body control to execute sudden changes of direction.

Iman Marshall may be the best cornerback in the class of 2015.

Iman Marshall has a case to make as the best cornerback in the 2015 recruiting class. The Long Beach (Calif.) Poly prospect is rated among the top four players at his position across the four major recruiting sites.

As of early February, Scout and 247sports are the most bullish. The former ranks Marshall as the No. 2 cornerback in his class, behind Kendall Sheffield out of Texas, and the No. 6 prospect overall. At 247sports, Marshall is the No. 2 cornerback and No. 12 prospect. Rivals ranks him as fourth-best cornerback, and the 10th-best prospect. ESPN has Marshall much further down as the No. 41 player in the country, but he is still the No. 4 player at his position.

Unsurprisingly, several big-time school have already extended offers to the 6'1, 190-pound defensive back. USC, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Alabama, UCLA, Stanford, Michigan, Oregon and Florida State are among the suitors on Marshall's impressive offer sheet as of February.

You can follow Marshall on Twitter @ImanMarshall

Derrell Warren, West Coast Recruiting Analyst (@yssd): Marshall has been one of the premier cornerbacks on the West Coast since his sophomore year. He might be the best defensive back to come from the storied Long Beach Poly program since Donovan Warren.

Carrying size that would be considered nearly ideal for a high school safety, Marshall is a huge framed corner. Nicknamed "Biggie", it should come as a surprise that he figures to be able to work himself into the 205-210 pound range once he's a high level strength and conditioning program at the next level. Physically, he bears a resemblance to current Dallas Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr.

One of the primary traits that makes Marshall such a coveted recruit is his unique blend of physicality and movement skills for his size. This allows him to have the versatility in coverage to match the physicality of bigger receiver receivers and to mirror smaller, more explosive ones.

At first glance, one would assume that Marshall to be strictly a press-corner. However, his quick feet and fluid hips allow him to thrive in off-man situations as well. Marshall carries very good reactive quickness. He's able to recognize routes, transition cleanly out of backpedal and drive on routes just as a receiver comes out of their stem. His lateral suddenness allows to him to stay attached to pass catchers and not get beaten at the break point of routes.

While Marshall locates the ball in the air well, I would like to see him make better adjustments to put himself in better position to come down with interceptions.

Marshall doesn't always gain full extension when jamming. He seems to be more reliant on strength than technique. Though he does keep his head over his feet, and does a nice job mirroring receivers out of their release.

His aggressive nature in coverage tends to give separation on double moves. He does, however, show the recovery speed to get back on the hip of receivers if initially beaten out of the break.

While he isn't necessarily "grabby," Marshall does have a tendency to keep his hands on the receiver beyond the five yards allowed. Much of that seems to be due to him being a bit late to jam receivers at the line at times & therefore extending the process of re-routing them past that five yard barrier.

Ultimately, Marshall projects as a multi-year starter with true NFL upside. At this stage his profiles as more of a physical lock-down corner than one who will generate a ton of turnovers.

Landing even one of these elite targets would be a big victory for FSU.

Earlier this week, we established that teams in the BCS era that win National Championships bring in at least 50 percent four- and five-star prospects over the previous four classes. And Florida State under Jimbo Fisher has done just that, only being out-recruited by a handful of schools during his tenure.

Thursday, we take a look at some junior scouting reports for some of Florida State's top targets. It's a bit early for a recruiting board, as FSU's board is far from settled, but there are some prospects on whom FSU is very high.

First up is Trent Thompson, a fantastic defensive tackle prospect who I think has a much higher ceiling than former Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley. Thompson is from Georgia, and the Bulldogs have the lead over FSU, but Florida State is pretty clearly his No. 2. There is no prize for second place in recruiting, but FSU is in better position than almost anyone else here and is hard after Thompson.

Next is Kevin Tolliver II. Florida State has very little chance with the Jacksonville cornerback, as most view him as a lock to stick with his commitment to LSU. But he is one of the best corners I've scouted in years and is a major freak.

Also high on the board is Apopka offensive tackle Martez Ivey, for whom FSU also trails Florida at this early juncture. This will be a bit of a theme. Early on, many of the top players in the state are Florida fans, but it is indeed early, and nobody saw FSU landing Dalvin Cook, Ermon Lane, Travis Rudolph, Timmy Jernigan, etc., at the same point in their respective high school careers. I think Ivey has a very high ceiling, but he is not as polished as some.

Also: Jimbo Fisher has also offered Ricky Town, a QB from California committed to USC. I give FSU almost no shot to sign him, but if you want to read about him, here you go. And FSU recently offered Texas cornerback Kendall Sheffield, but most expect him to be an A&M - Texas battle.

Florida State hosts one of its junior days Saturday. Junior days are important for recruiting, as many of FSU's top targets get a chance to visit the program, understand what goes on at Florida State, and what makes Tallahassee special, including learning about the academics and history of the program. FSU will also host a junior day on March 1, and prospects and their families can meet the coaches during both events. In case you're wondering, the trips cannot be paid for by the schools.

Note: This list is not intended to be exhaustive or comprehensive. It's simply what I've seen on social media and gathered via texting,etc. Junior day lists are notoriously off, as the school cannot release any official list or even acknowledge to the media who is coming. There will be star players who show up unannounced, and there will also be players listed below who likely cancel or head to other junior days. Also note that there is a 7-on-7 going on this weekend, and that some of these players, and others, may elect to participate in that rather than visit.

With that said, here are some of the top names I'm expecting for the February 22 junior day.

Florida State QB commitment De'Andre Johnson, of Jacksonville (Fla.) First Coast High School will be checking out a campus with which he is already very familiar. Florida State is probably going to take two quarterbacks, however, and Johnson said recently that he is OK with that.

Running back Jordan Scarlett, one of the best players in the country, should be along with many of the top players from Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas. Scarlett has all the major offers from around the Southeast, and I compare him to a young Fred Taylor stylistically. He is very high on FSU's recruiting board. Scarlett, a recent transfer to Aquinas from University School, is committed to FAU, but most believe that is just to bring attention to the school of his old coach who is now coaching at FAU.

Running back Karan Higdon, a three-star from Sarasota (Fla.) Riverview, is a current USF commit, but coach Todd Johnson's star player will be making the trip to check out Tallahassee. He does not currently have an FSU offer, but with the Seminoles looking to take at least two backs in the class, he could earn one in the future. Johnson has done a great job of turning around Riverview.

The receiver group is quite good indeed. 2016 superstar Sam Bruce, of Aquinas and the nephew of NFL legend Isaac, will be there with the rest of the Raiders. That includes Devante Peete, a 2015 receiver who, again, has all the major offers in the country. Tallahassee (Fla.) Lincoln John Burt is also expected, as is Miami (Fla.) Central's Da'Vante Phillips. Peete, Burt and Phillips are all among the best 10 receivers in the country, and they all have most or all of the major offers in the country. Also of note: various Central players have tweeted about being at differing junior days, so don't be surprised if they end up at the March event.

On the offensive line, the big name expected is Abdul Bello, a really fast rising offensive tackle from Montverde (Fla.) Academy. I expect him to end up as one of the ten best offensive tackle recruits in the country, and early on, he is a Florida v. Florida State battle.

FSU Defensive tackle commit Kendrick Norton, of Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian is excited to be making the trip. Island Coast defensive lineman Marlon Gonzalez also told me he was coming, but I am not sure of his status. Malik Walker, of Montezuma (Ga.) Macon County will also be there -- he's a rising defensive end.

The linebacker group is an excellent one, including Roquan Smith, also of Macon County, whom we profiled last week. Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes' Brian Bell is also going to be coming down.

The defensive back group is awesome. Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) Plantation CB Tarvarus McFadden will be coming up. McFadden is one of the nation's best. Aquinas cornerback Damon Arnette, one of the fastest-rising prospects in the country, should also be there, as should Aquinas cornerback Rashard Causey. The former two have FSU offers. And they'll surely be shown around by FSU 5-star safety commit Derwin James, who should also be in attendance.

This will be updated and edited at least twice through the weekend to reflect cancellations and new visits.

Florida State landed three football recruit commitments Saturday resulting from its junior day event -- offensive lineman Cole Minshew, linebacker Brian Bell, and c/o 2016 defensive tackle Cedric Wood. Of course, verbal commitments 50 (or in the case of the 2016 commitment, 102 weeks) from National Signing Day are virtually meaningless, but there's a good chance that some of FSU's early commitments will stick. Let's take a look at the three new commitments.

Cole Minshew, offensive guard

Minshew is 6'4, 300 and from Douglas (Ga.) Coffee County, a traditionally good program. He is age appropriate for his grade level, which suggests he could have more growing to do, and he does not carry much bad weight, if any, which is great for a 300-pound man who won't turn 18 for another 13 months. He has offers from Miami and Mississippi State. He is currently a consensus three-star, but I really do not care about star rankings 50 weeks out, as we are still very much in the evaluation period.

A few things pop out on film. First, I cannot find any film of Minshew's sophomore year. That could explain why he has only received recent offers. Second, like Minshew's balance, which helps him maintain a solid base and football position. He sticks with opposing defenders quite well, and he moves well laterally. And his leg drive is good. Of course, these are just highlights, but these look like the highlights of a BCS quality lineman's junior year.

Florida State still needs two or three more offensive linemen in the class.

Brian Bell, linebacker

FSU got another from Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes County in Bell, a consensus three-star (again, at this stage, that doesn't mean much). 6'2, 218 as a junior is good size. FSU has also had Telvin Smith, Greg Reid, Gerald Demps and Tyler Hunter from Lowndes HS. Bell also had offers from Clemson, Georgia Tech and Cincinnati.

And there's a lot to like about his film. He quickly diagnoses the play, has good speed in getting to the ball carrier, and when he gets there, he strikes, stopping the runner's momentum and keeping his own feet moving. Bell has a wrestling background and you can definitely see that in how he maintains balance and doesn't overextend himself.  I'd like to see him in a camp setting, but his film in coverage is impressive, and he may also be valuable in nickel and sub packages -- something FSU needs as rivals Clemson, Florida and, to an extent, Miami all run spread offenses.

FSU still needs one or two more linebackers in the class.

Cedric Wood, Defensive Line

I've seen Wood a few times at FSU for visits as the 2016 prospect plays for Tallahassee (Fla.) Godby. He's has a lot of tools. 6'2, 265 is fine size for a player headed into his junior year. I like his get off, his punch, his ability to snap his hips and generate power with leverage, his agility, and his pursuit. He's raw, but he'll get better over the next two years. The only question is whether he plays 3-tech or 5-tech.

Couple people said its to early how I see it I'm late because I was born a Seminole;)#nolenation

— cedric wood (@trouble__49) February 23, 2014

On the whole, it looks like FSU landed verbal commitments from three good football players.

Per a report from Pete Roussel, Florida State will hire Bill Miller, of Minnesota, as its linebackers coach. As you can see from his bio below, he coached at UF from '03-04, and Miami from '95-98.

School bio:

Bill Miller, who is in his second stint on the University of Minnesota coaching staff, adds 36 years of collegiate coaching experience to the Gopher staff. The well-respected Miller holds the title of assistant head coach and is also responsible for coaching the linebackers.

Miller helped shape a defense in 2013 that allowed only 289 points, which was the first time that Minnesota allowed less than 300 points since 2004.

Miller had to replace two starters at linebacker in 2013 and did an adiramble job with his corps. Junior college transfer Damien Wilson was second on the team with 78 tackles, while Aaron Hill finished third with 64. James Manuel was sixth on the team with 54 tackles. Miller's linebackers also made big plays in 2013, as Hill scored two touchdowns and Manuel scored one.

Miller has worked with virtually a who's who in the college football coaching world. In addition to working with coach Jerry Kill, Miller served on staffs under Nick Saban, Jimmy Johnson, Ron Zook, Dirk Koetter, Chuck Shelton, Pat Jones, College Football Hall of Fame member Chris Ault and the late Bud Elliott.

He was a semifinalst for the Broyles Award, which is presented annually to college football's Assistant Coach of the Year, while at Michigan State (2000) and Florida (2003). Miller has been on staff with five teams that have won conference championships and has coached in 11 bowl games.

Prior to joining the Gophers, Miller most recently coached the linebackers and served as the co-defensive coordinator for Kansas in 2009.

Miller's previous experience at Minnesota was from 1986-88, when he served as the Gophers' defensive backs coach on John Gutekunst's staff. He helped lead Minnesota to a 20-17 win at Michigan as the Gophers handed the previously unbeaten and second-ranked Wolverines their first loss of the season. The win helped Minnesota qualify for the 1986 Liberty Bowl where they played Tennessee.

Miller coached the linebackers at Louisville in 2008 and had been promoted to defensive coordinator before accepting the aforementioned position at Kansas. Miller was the defensive coordinator at Western Michigan in 2007.

He was the defensive coordinator at Arizona State from 2005-06 on coach Koetter's staff and quickly turned around the Sun Devil defense. In one year, he took the Arizona State defense from last in the Pac-10 to second (behind USC) in total defense.

In 2003-04, Miller was the associate head coach and linebackers coach at Florida. He spent 1999-2002 at Michigan State as the Spartans' defensive coordinator on coach Saban's staff. While in East Lansing, Miller's defense finished first in the Big Ten in total defense and the Spartans beat Florida in the 2000 Citrus Bowl.

From 1995-98, he ran the defense for Miami (Fla.) and won two Big East championships as a member of coach Butch Davis' staff. From 1989-94, Miller was the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma State.

He coordinated the defense at Nevada from 1983-85. His defense led the Big Sky in total defense twice as the Wolf Pack won two Big Sky championships during his tenure.

His first full-time job in collegiate coaching was in 1981, when he coached the secondary at Drake for two seasons. Miller got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Texas-Arlington in 1978 on coach Elliott's staff. He followed that with a stint as a graduate assistant for two seasons (1979-80) at Oklahoma State under coach Johnson.

Miller, who also coached in the 1991 Blue-Gray Football Classic, is a graduate of Hutchinson (Kan.) High School. He played two years at Hutchinson Junior College in 1974-75 and then finished his collegiate career playing safety at Texas-Arlington in 1976-77.

Miller, who earned his bachelor's degree in psychology from Texas-Arlington in 1978, and his wife Lisa have two grown children, Cole and Jackson. Cole recently received his degree in economics and international relations from Michigan State, while Jackson is a student at Michigan State.

THE MILLER FILE

Coaching Experience
2011: Minnesota - Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers
2009: Kansas - Linebackers/Co-Defensive Coordinator
2008: Louisville - Linebackers
2007: Western Michigan - Defensive Coordinator
2005-06: Arizona - Defensive Coordinator
2003-04: Florida - Associate Head Coach/Linebackers
1999-02: Michigan State - Defensive Coordinator
1995-98: Miami (Fla.) - Defensive Coordinator
1989-94: Oklahoma State - Defensive Coordinator
1986-88: Minnesota - Defensive Backs
1983-85: Nevada - Defensive Coordinator
1981-82: Drake - Defensive Backs
1979-80: Oklahoma State - Graduate Assistant
1978: Texas-Arlington - Graduate Assistant

Playing Experience
Hutchinson Junior College, 1974-75
Texas-Arlington, 1976-77

College
B.S., Texas-Arlington, 1978

High School
Hutchinson (Kan.), 1974

Below is the release from the conference.

The Atlantic Coast Conference Reaches Agreement for Charlotte to Host its Football Championship Game
Six-Year Pact Keeps the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium through the 2019 Season

CHARLOTTE, N.C.-The Atlantic Coast Conference and the Charlotte Sports Foundation have reached an agreement which will keep the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game in Charlotte through the end of this decade, ACC Commissioner John Swofford announced Monday.

The agreement covers the next six championship games, beginning with this year's 10th Annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship, and concludes after the 2019 season. The announcement was made at an 11 a.m. press conference at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, the site of the last four ACC title games.

The additional six years provides that, at the conclusion of the current contract in 2019, the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game will have been played in Charlotte for 10 consecutive years.

"We are pleased to announce that Charlotte will continue to be the home of the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship through the 2019 season," said Swofford. "The Charlotte Sports Foundation, Bank of America Stadium, the Carolina Panthers and entire City of Charlotte have been outstanding partners and continue to facilitate the growth and success of the game and our many ancillary events. This annual weekend is a true celebration of ACC Football."

The four Dr Pepper ACC Championship Games which have been held in Charlotte have been extremely successful from a fan experience and attendance standpoint, as the games have averaged nearly 70,000 fans per contest (69,632). That includes sellout crowds in both 2010 and 2011 and an ACC Football Championship record crowd of 73,675 in 2011. Over the last four years, the ACC ranks second among all conferences in total attendance at its football championship games.

"The Charlotte Sports Foundation, on behalf of the city of Charlotte, is very proud to be able to announce a multi-year extension of the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship in Charlotte," said Johnny Harris, Chairman of the Charlotte Sports Foundation.

"Our Board is dedicated to the long-term health of this game in Charlotte, and it remains committed to working together to ensure Bank of America Stadium is its home for a very long time. This is a continuation of a great partnership between Charlotte and the Atlantic Coast Conference."

"The Charlotte Sports Foundation is honored to partner with the ACC for a six-year extension of the contract for the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship," said Will Webb, Executive Director of the Charlotte Sports Foundation. "Our goal is to have the entire Charlotte region embrace this tremendous Championship Game."

The actual dates of the six Championship Games in the agreement are:
December 6, 2014
December 5, 2015
December 3, 2016
December 2, 2017
December 1, 2018
December 7, 2019

Following the 2013 season, the ACC:

• Is home to the defending national champion in Florida State
• Is the first conference in history to have 11 bowl teams in the same year (2013)
• Is the first conference since 1932 to have 11 teams with winning records in a single season (2013)
• Is the first conference in history to have its football student-athletes capture the Heisman Trophy, the Nagurski Trophy, the Outland Trophy, the Doak Walker Award, the Lombardi Award, the Bednarik Award and the Davey O'Brien Award in the same year (2013)

About the Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference, now in its 61st year of competition and 15 members strong, has long enjoyed the reputation as one of the strongest and most competitive intercollegiate conferences in the nation. ACC members continue to build upon the cornerstones on which the league was founded in 1953 with a consistent balance of academics, athletics and integrity.  For more information, visit theACC.com and follow @theACC and on facebook.com/theACC.

The Charlotte Sports Foundation
The Charlotte Sports Foundation, a non-profit organization, runs the Belk Bowl and serves as the local organizing committee for the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game. The foundation's mission is to create, recruit and execute high-caliber athletic events for the City of Charlotte. In addition to adding new highly visible participatory events and elevating existing ones, the foundation also works to secure additional professional, collegiate and amateur events that will enrich Charlotte's sports landscape.

We will update these more as they come out Today.

Florida State has a bunch of players participating in the combine. Some have already gone through their timing and measurements over the weekend, and some are still up today.

Kelvin Benjamin made himself some real money over the weekend. The superstar receiver came in at 6'5, 240, with 101/4" hands and 34 7/8" arms. He had 13 reps on the bench, which is OK given his long arms, and he posted a very respectable 4.61 40-yard dash time. His 60-yard shuttle was 12.08, his 20-yard shuttle was 4.39, and his 3-cone drill was a 7.33. Those are all quite good, and definitely justify his decision to come out early.

Running backs Devanta Freeman and James Wilder, jr. went through their timing portions Saturday to mixed results.

Freeman came in at 5'8 and 206 pounds, which is about what was expected. He had 29 3/8" arms and 9 5/8" hands. His 40-yard dash was a 4.58, which isn't great, but isn't bad. And it was about as expected, considering Freeman is not an explosive back. He posted a 31.5" vertical jump and a 118" broad jump. His 20-yard shuttle was 4.26, and his 3-cone drill was 7.11. He did not bench. Freeman remains someone who I think will be drafted.

Wilder came in at 6'3, 232, with 32" arms and 9 3/4" hands. That's about what I expected, and he physically looked to be in great shape, as always. He also did 18 reps on the bench press. He broad jumped 121" and had an excellent vertical of 35". He benched 18. His 40-time was a horrendous 4.86, owing mostly to poor starts. He needs coaching on his 40-yard running form, but acceleration has never been his best trait. Unless he turns it around in a major way at pro day, Wilder lost money this weekend.

Center Bryan Stork came in at 6'4, 315, with 32 1/4" arms and 10 1/8" hands. Those are all very solid numbers for a center. Stork did not bench or work out, perhaps delaying to his pro day (this is common).

The following players are scheduled to work out Monday or Tuesday.

Timmy Jernigan came in at 6' 1 5/8", 299, with 31 5/8" arms and 9 5/8" hands. That 6'2" (rounded) number is probably important, and the arm and hand measurements confirm what we already knew: Jernigan is very good despite not being long. He benched 27 reps, which is good, but I thought he perhaps could get 30 given his shorter arms and build. Jernigan's 40-yard time was 5.09 and a 10-yard split of 1.72. His second run was a 4.93. If that stands, or his official were anything close to that, it's great.

Telvin Smith posted a solid 6'3, 218, with 10 1/4" hands and 32 1/2" arms. He can put on weight in the NFL, since they have better processes to put on mass. That's good length and hand size. Smith's first time was 4.48 in the 40, and his second was a blazing 4.41! His official time was 4.52.

Christian Jones came in at 6'3, 240, with 9 5'8" hands and 33 1/2" arms. That's excellent arm length and size. He ran a 4.63 40 on his first attempt, and a 4.60 on the second. Official time 4.74.

Terrence Brooks came in at 5'11, 198, with 9" hands and 31" arms. That's decent size.

Lamarcus Joyner came in at 5'8, 184, with 31 1'2" arms and 9 1/2" hands. That confirms what we have always said: Joyner's arms and hands are that of a much bigger player.