Signing day's fun, but who knows what it means

So, what about this recruiting stuff?

It's all fun and interesting, but what does last week's trumpeted signings have to do with success on the football field?

Everything, and yet, when it comes to hype, nothing really.

You only have to go back to Utah's win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl to get a whiff of what I'm talking about. It is true, 80 percent of college football is recruiting. If you have the ponies, you go to the derby, and if you have enough of them, you win the trophy.

Except if you are USC, which has won nearly every recruiting battle this decade but didn't play for the title this past year.

Stuff happens.

Like some good coaching, chemistry, solid systems and very good programs like Boise State, BYU, the Utes and TCU.

Kyle Whittingham dared to vote his team No. 1? Well, excuse his undefeated Under Armor-clad heart.

Recruiting gurus will tell us the SEC signed seven of the top 10 high school players last week. In 2008, the SEC signed five of the top 10 and the Big 12 got two. In 2007, USC signed the first-, second- and third-rated prep players in the country.

No question these teams have the talent. Then, we go back to Barry Switzer's manure-on-the face comment on national TV that nobody on Utah's roster would have been recruited by Alabama. That kind of arrogance by folks tied to BCS networks and automatic qualifying programs makes the most recent Sugar Bowl worth its weight in diamonds.

I like the commentary by The Sporting News Football Championship Series executive editor David Coulison, who wrote: "In the world of FCS, we do our own bit of snickering when we see Web sites like Rivals.com venture into a realm they have little understanding of and attempt to rank recruiting classes."

He continues: "Sites such as Rivals use a star system to rank players, much of it based on what schools are recruiting those athletes. For example, if USC or Florida is recruiting a kid, he automatically must be a four- or five-star player. But as soon as he commits to Delaware or McNeese State, these rating services suddenly downgrade him to a two- or three-star athlete."

Sure, there is disparity and conflict in ranking recruits. It is not an exact science. But non-automatic BCS qualifying programs like Utah and BYU have earned plenty of respect in an unfair system that gives six conferences every advantage.