Best of the best talk will wait

A strong argument can be made that Florida's 2006 recruiting class is the best in school history.

It included Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes, two of the elite prospects in the nation. It contributed greatly to two national championships in three seasons. It went on to become the winningest senior class in the history of the SEC.

It was a heck of a class, but it wasn't even No. 1 in the nation on national signing day four years ago. That distinction went to Southern Cal, which overtook the Gators on signing day with the late addition of five-star wide receiver Vidal Hazelton.

The point here is that being the No. 1 class on signing day does not mean a school will end up having the No. 1 class two, three or four years down the road (when rankings really mean something).

That Southern Cal class that edged out Florida for the recruiting national championship in 2006 went on to win zero national championships on the field, while the No. 2 Florida class went on to win two BCS national titles (and, by the way, Hazelton turned out to be a bust at USC and has transferred to Cincinnati).

Following Wednesday's National Signing Day, another Florida vs. Southern Cal debate may be under way for the next few years.

The Gators had the consensus No. 1 class, with USC coming in second. But perhaps the nation's most visible recruiting service, Rivals.com, crowned the Trojans its recruiting national champions Wednesday night after five-star offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson gave his commitment to USC (although he has not signed his letter of intent yet).

Who's really No. 1? We'll find out on the field over the next few seasons.

Going on the consensus, this is the Gators third No. 1 class in the nation and second under Urban Meyer. The other top classes were in 2000 and 2007.

At the time, many considered the 2000 class to be the best in school history, slightly ahead of the 1992 class that included Danny Wuerffel, James Bates, Dexter Daniels and many other high school stars.

But the 2000 class, based on performance on the field, did not turn out to be better. The 1992 class won four SEC titles and a national championship. The 2000 class — whose marquee player, quarterback Brock Berlin, ended up transferring to Miami — contributed only slightly to an SEC title in 2000, but won no other SEC or national titles.

The 2007 class certainly has a chance to rank close to the 2006 class. The 2007 class contributed greatly to the 2008 national title, and five members are departing early for the NFL (cornerback Joe Haden, defensive end Carlos Dunlap, center Maurkice Pouncey, tight end Aaron Hernandez and safety Major Wright). As many as four of those players could be first-round draft picks. The rest of the 2007 class, which includes quarterback John Brantley and center Michael Pouncey, has one more season to go.

The 2007 recruiting class is expected to get a considerable boost from the 2010 class Meyer has put together.

Many of the recruiting experts and analysts have said this could be the best class in Florida history. It includes four five-star recruits, one (Ronald Powell) who is the No. 1-ranked prospect in the nation.

Is this the best recruiting class in school history?

Give it a few years and then we'll know.

Contact Robbie Andreu at 352-374-5022 or at andreur@gvillesun.com.