Recruiting Round Up: January 19

All the different recruiting sites have their ways of calculating points for ranking all the classes. That's how people determine who has the top class of the year. However, that's not the end-all-be-all.

There's a reason why sportscasting wags usually call USC the most talented team in the country even though the Trojans rarely finish with the No. 1 ranked class. That's because Pete Carroll would bring in classes with the highest average star rating. Even right now this year with all the turmoil, USC has the highest average star rating on Rivals and Scout, just like it almost always does.

Average star rating is something that is often overlooked, but it can be more instructive. The points systems tend to favor large classes over small ones, but schools don't need large classes every year. A program that is running up against the 85 scholarship limit can't sign as many as one that has been racked by attrition or early NFL draft entries.

It's fun to look at the point rankings and compare classes that way. Don't forget to check the average star ratings too though.

After the jump are this week's rankings where Mississippi State surges and Tennessee nose dives. All the recruiting services during the last week updated their player rankings for the last time, so there has been some shuffling due to that.

RIVALS

Overall Team Rankings

1. Florida (no change from last week)

3. Alabama (-)

4. Auburn (+1)

6. LSU (+3)

8. Georgia (+2)

13. Tennessee (-7)

32. South Carolina (-6)

35. Mississippi State (+10)

36. Ole Miss (-2)

54. Arkansas (+5)

59. Kentucky (-4)

83. Vanderbilt (-7)

Top Ten Most Highly Ranked Players Committed to SEC Schools

1. DE Ronald Powell, Florida

4. DT Sharrif Floyd, Florida

5. DB Keenan Allen, Alabama

7. DT Dominique Easley, Florida

9. WR Da'Rick Rogers, Georgia

11. RB Michael Dyer, Auburn

19. ATH Spencer Ware, LSU

22. OL Shon Coleman, Auburn

23. DB DeMarcus Milliner, Alabama

25. DB Matt Elam, Florida

SCOUT

Overall Team Rankings

1. Florida (-)

4. Alabama (-)

5. Auburn (+4)

7. LSU (-1)

10. Georgia (-)

26. Tennessee (-19)

32. South Carolina (-1)

34. Ole Miss (-1)

40. Mississippi State (+10)

44. Arkansas (+5)

46. Vanderbilt (-6)

47. Kentucky (-3)

Top Ten Most Highly Ranked Players Committed to SEC Schools

2. DE Ronald Powell, Florida

5. S Keenan Allen, Alabama

6. DT Sharrif Floyd, Florida

12. DT Dominique Easley, Florida

13. WR Da'Rick Rogers, Georgia

15. RB Michael Dyer, Auburn

16. CB DeMarcus Milliner, Alabama

22. LB Alec Ogletree, Georgia

24. QB Phillip Sims, Alabama

32. S Matt Elam, Florida

ESPN

Note: ESPN's team rankings haven't been update in a while and are so out of date at this point, they are not useful.

Top Ten Most Highly Ranked Players Committed to SEC Schools

1. DE Ronald Powell, Florida

3. DE Dominique Easley, Florida

5. RB Michael Dyer, Auburn

9. ATH Matt Elam, Florida

10. S Jonathan Dowling, Florida

12. S Demar Dorsey, Florida

16. CB DeMarcus Milliner, Alabama

23. WR Markeith Ambles, Tennessee

24. Ju'Wuan James, Tennessee

25. DE Sharrif Floyd, Florida