LSU’s Best Recruiting Class Ever?

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Points in college football recruiting come like those in a fishing tournament: The big catch has equal value no matter when you reel it in. A few weeks ago, it appeared LSU Tigers coach Les Miles might be on the cusp of a historic class, one experts would recall years from now.

Miles himself fed the anticipation at a media gathering in January, saying the Tigers had their sights set on “one of the greatest classes ever. Certainly at LSU and possibly nationally.”

At the end of the day, LSU had to fight a couple of fast-finishers — Alabama, namely — to reach the weigh-in with one of the nation’s heftiest hauls, but the Tigers got there just the same. So happens, most of LSU’s big fish were in the boat by the time other elite programs wet their line.

Had more players in this class made National Signing Day decisions, LSU would have shot up the recruiting rankings a la Alabama and left Tigertown abuzz. Fans would be less inclined to lament the loss of Barbe defensive back Janzen Jackson or the saga that unfolded in Bastrop starring wide receivers Rueben Randle and DeAngelo Benton.

ESPNU and CBS College Sports ranked LSU’s class the best in the nation. Rivals.com and Scout.com, the other two major recruiting services, ranked it second and third, respectively.

That’s pretty good, right?

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