Photo courtesy of Alabama Athletics
NEW YORK (Sports Network) - Alabama has the top recruiting class in the country, according to Rivals.com, after getting written commitments from 18 football players on National Signing Day.
The players who signed national letters of intent Wednesday joined eight mid- year enrollees to make up the 2012 signing class for the reigning BCS national champions.
The Crimson Tide have a strong overall group with 14 four-star student- athletes and three five-star players, including Rivals.com's second-rated running back, T.J. Yeldon.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban, while happy with the results, cautioned the perils of bringing in such highly-regarded talent.
"I say this every year, but recruiting is not an exact science," Saban said. "No one knows for sure how these players are going to develop in the future. That's certainly something we work hard on here, as coaches and teachers, is to help these players develop."
Texas, coming off another disappointing season that saw the Longhorns go 8-5 and 4-5 in the Big 12, had Rivals.com's second-rated class with 28 signees, including two five-star commits.
Florida, Ohio State and Stanford rounded out the top five, with the Cardinal building off back-to-back BCS bowl appearances by welcoming three five-star recruits in defensive end Aziz Shittu and offensive linemen Kyle Murphy and Andrus Peat.
"We are excited to welcome one of the best recruiting classes in school history," said Stanford head coach David Shaw. "We say that not because of how high this class is rated, but instead because of the combination of ability, intelligence, toughness and character in this class."
Rivals.com's No. 1 ranked player, 6-foot-6 wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, is staying close to home after the Springfield, Missouri, native chose to attend Missouri.
Florida State, Michigan, USC, Miami-Florida and Oklahoma ranked No. 6 through 10 according to the noted recruiting website.