It’s just one small test, and not the most telling test Flood will face in 2012. That would be Rutgers’ actual season, and no number of national signing day coups will overshadow a disappointing, underachieving season from Flood and Rutgers’ new staff — a staff that remains largely undecided.

From his new spot in the N.F.L., Schiano will put out feelers to at least a few of his former Rutgers’ assistants, especially those on the offensive side of the ball. Schiano has already gauged Rutgers’ offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti’s interest in joining him in Tampa Bay, according to reports, with Cignetti either remaining Schiano’s coordinator or focusing only on the Buccaneers’ quarterbacks.

Bringing back Cignetti, as well as the rest of Rutgers’ offensive staff, should be Flood’s primary objective over the next two weeks. The Scarlet Knights have experienced far too much turnover on that side of the ball over the last half-decade, and seem to have located a pass-first identity since Cignetti came over from Pittsburgh prior to last season.

That’s next for Flood, and he’ll be two for two should he convince Cignetti, tight ends coach Brian Angelicho — like Cignetti, a 2011 arrival from Pittsburgh — and running backs Chris Hewitt to remain with the program. Rutgers has already lost wide receivers coach P.J. Fleck to Northern Illinois, which brought Fleck back to DeKalb to replace departed offensive coordinator Matt Canada.

Hopefully, Flood can be as successful in this next endeavor as he was in closing Rutgers’ most recent recruiting class, which seemed in dire straits heading into last weekend. Flood was able to keep a pair of New Jersey recruits, Leonte Carroo and Quanzell Lambert, in the fold after both wavered on their commitments following Schiano’s departure.

On Tuesday, Flood received a commitment from five-star defensive lineman Darius Hamilton, the state’s top player and one of the nation’s top recruits regardless of position. This was a huge moment for Rutgers on many levels, beginning with the fact that Hamilton committed to Flood, not Schiano — in fact, he committed to Rutgers, not its head coach.

His commitment was a fitting end to a class widely believed to be the best in program history, even if the class missed out on a future dual-threat quarterback in Fuller. But Rutgers did as good a job closing down the border around the state as it ever has, bringing in 11 New Jersey products, and did a fantastic job addressing looming gaps in talent along the offensive side of the ball.

Flood gets credit not only for keeping the class together but also for reeling in these recruits in the first place. But to say that he was hired merely as a way to salvage this once-in-a-generation recruiting class misses the point; it also paints the university as ill-focused and myopic, and Rutgers is neither of those things.

That Flood was the one coach able keep the class together was just one part of his appeal, albeit the most attractive aspect of his appeal in the short term. Rutgers looked beyond that fact, even if did weigh on its mind, to see a coach with a familiarity with the program, a solid reputation in the region and the sort of background that should ensure a smooth transition. So far, so good.

Season grade: A- Was Rutgers the best team in the Big East? No, not really. But consider where most thought the Scarlet Knights would fall back in August — fighting for a bowl berth — and see where the Scarlet Knights stood come January: 9-4, 4-3 in Big East play, and with three of those four losses coming by a combined 15 points. Schiano might have left Piscataway without a conference title, as most pointed out upon his departure, but he also left with one of the most satisfying seasons of his entire tenure. Not that things went perfectly for the Scarlet Knights, who remained a weak running team, again shuffled quarterbacks and relied far too heavily on one skill player to carry the offense. Credit the defense with taking a nice step forward after a disappointing 2010 season; Rutgers led the Big East in total and scoring defense.

High point A 20-3 win over Cincinnati on Nov. 19. Rutgers would beat two 10-win teams on the year, with that victory joining a 38-26 win over Ohio in September. Topping the Bearcats also left Rutgers with a slight chance at winning the Big East, should a few conference foes lose on the final Saturday of the regular season.

Low point The Scarlet Knights would drop their season finale against Connecticut, 40-22, to kill any shot the team had of earning an Orange Bowl berth. That loss doubles as Rutgers’ worst of the season; as noted, losses to North Carolina, Louisville and West Virginia came by a combined total of 15 points.

Offensive M.V.P. What did Mohamed Sanu mean to this offense? He accounted for 44.9 percent of Rutgers’ receptions as a team, setting a new single-season program record with 115 catches on the year. He accounted for 38.5 percent of his team’s total receiving yards and 57.1 percent of Rutgers’ touchdown receptions. His 1,204 yards of total offense made up 27.3 percent of the Scarlet Knight’s output as a team, which is a shockingly high number for a wide receiver. And Sanu had this sort of season despite Rutgers’ issues at quarterback, where two players made at least 227 attempts apiece. After the year he had, it wasn’t surprising to see Sanu forego his final season of eligibility and enter the N.F.L. Draft.

Defensive M.V.P. Khaseem Greene shared Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors with Cincinnati’s Derek Wolfe, and you know what that means. When a player is recognized as the best at his position in his own conference… and so on. Tackle everything in sight? Greene did that. Make plays in the backfield? Check. Make players in space? Check. Get to the quarterback? Check. Greene did it all, and only Wolfe’s unsurprisingly superb senior season made it a two-horse race for conference defensive player of the year. Also deserving credit for Rutgers’ defensive turnaround: Duron Harmon’s team-leading five interceptions made him a first-team all-Big East pick, and under-the-radar linebacker Steve Beauharnais led the team in tackles for loss while finishing second in sacks.

Stock watch Nothing’s broken, but Flood has some issues to address as he prepares for his debut as Greg Schiano’s successor. The biggest issues lie on the offensive side of the ball, where Rutgers must tackle three intimidating concerns: up-and-down quarterback play, due in part to injuries; a perennially underachieving running game; and the loss of Sanu, who constituted such an enormous part of the offense in 2011. Help is on the way at wide receiver, where the Scarlet Knights signed four prospects, led by Carroo, and help is also on the way along the offensive line, where the Scarlet Knights signed five recruits. Can any one of the new receivers step right in and replace Sanu’s production? Don’t bet on it. But as a whole, the influx of talent across the board will create depth and increase competition, which should help Rutgers’ output on the offensive side of the ball. It’s too early to predict the program’s future under Flood, but hinging on whether he can retain most of last year’s staff, the Scarlet Knights should remain in the Big East hunt in 2012.

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The win total, eight, was Tulsa’s fewest in a winning season since Steve Kragthorpe’s final season in 2006. Under Todd Graham, the Golden Hurricane notched three double-digit win seasons in four years, marred only by a disappointing fall back to 5-7 in 2009. That was followed by a 10-3 season in 2010, which Graham parlayed into the Pittsburgh job – which he then parlayed into the Arizona State job, if we’re keeping track.

The offense wasn’t quite as explosive; Tulsa scored 430 points, 100 less than in 2010 and 231 points less than the program’s high-water mark set in 2008, Graham’s second season. And the defense, while improved, remained roughly on the same level as each of Graham’s last three teams. In this case, however, the year-end numbers don’t tell the whole story.

When it comes to those three totals – wins, points scored, points allowed – Tulsa was impacted greatly by its beefed-up non-conference schedule. Merely in September, the Golden Hurricane hosted the Cowboys and faced the Sooners and Broncos on the road; non-conference play came to a close with a home date against North Texas to open October.

Compare that schedule with the teams Todd Graham faced in non-conference play over his four seasons with the program. In 2010, Tulsa took on Bowling Green, Oklahoma State, Central Arkansas and Notre Dame. In 2009, it was New Mexico, Oklahoma, Sam Houston State and Boise State. In 2008? North Texas, New Mexico, Central Arkansas and Arkansas. In 2007, his first season, Graham took on Louisiana-Monroe, B.Y.U., Oklahoma and Army.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Tulsa won 10, 11 and 10 games, respectively, in Graham’s three marquee campaigns. Perhaps it’s also no surprise – though it’s not the only factor – that the Golden Hurricane’s lone losing season under Graham came in 2009, when they played two marquee non-conference opponents in Oklahoma and Boise State.

That the Golden Hurricane were able to weather the non-conference schedule last fall, winning eight games and nearly taking the Conference USA West, says much about first-year coach Bill Blankenship and the league as a whole. Blankenship, a sort of Oklahoma institution on the high school ranks, landed the job as Graham’s replacement ahead of a handful of more marquee names, including former Tulsa offensive coordinator Chad Morris.

Based on 2011, Tulsa hasn’t missed the mark in a hire since bringing in Keith Burns in 2000. That didn’t work out well, but Kragthorpe, Graham and Blankenship have done a great job keeping the Golden Hurricane among the Conference USA elite – though Blankenship’s sample size is small, to be fair. Blankenship will have to continue to prove himself in 2012 and beyond, when Tulsa will have to win with his recruits, not Graham’s.

Another factor behind Tulsa’s ability to win eight games despite its September schedule was a down Conference USA, which was very strong along the upper crust but rapidly deteriorated along its second tier. There was Houston, Southern Mississippi and Tulsa leading the way; S.M.U. should be included, though the Mustangs were a disappointment.

From there, only Marshall, at 7-6, was able to post a winning record. The remainder of Conference USA was an abomination: East Carolina and U.C.F. were average, the rest only a hair’s breadth away from terrible. Memphis was terrible, in fact, as was Tulane. In part, it was a weak Conference USA that allowed Tulsa to mount a comeback on the heels of its rocky September.

The question: Was Tulsa that good, or was Conference USA that bad? There’s little doubt that a down conference played a substantial role in Tulsa’s ability to win eight games in the regular season, but that stance ignores how well the Golden Hurricane fared in October and November. Even in a strong year for Conference USA, Tulsa would have been right in the title mix. Even in Conference USA’s best year, Tulsa’s still getting back into bowl play.

Season grade: A- Tulsa ended the year right where most expected: just behind Houston in the West division. Similarly, most expected that Tulsa would struggle against such a stout non-conference schedule before turning it on in conference play. Everything went according to script. The only factor keeping the Golden Hurricane from a higher grade, in fact, is that they couldn’t hang a little closer with an Oklahoma, Oklahoma State or Boise State in September. But Tulsa showed its worth when given the chance to take on a bowl team in Marshall and S.M.U., beating the Thundering Herd and Mustangs by a combined 63 points.

High point Those two conference wins against future bowl participants. Overall, the Golden Hurricane would win seven straight games from Sept. 24, when it lost to Boise State, to Nov. 25, when it lost to Houston in the regular season finale.

Low point A win over the Cougars would have earned the Golden Hurricane a berth in the Conference USA title game against the Golden Eagles; based on that fact, the loss is likely the low point of the season. But Tulsa gave away the Armed Forces Bowl against B.Y.U., losing on a late touchdown pass from Riley Nelson to Cody Hoffman – the fake-spike-pass, as discussed yesterday.

Offensive M.V.P. Quarterback G.J. Kinne did not have quite as strong a season as he had in 2010, but part of his decline is due to a poor start. He missed most of the loss to Oklahoma State, making only five attempts, and had a career-high four interceptions in the loss at Boise State. Like the team as a whole, Kinne’s game hit its stride over Tulsa’s two-month winning streak in Conference USA play. Over his team’s seven-game winning streak, Kinne tossed 18 touchdowns against 4 picks. A three-year starter under Graham and Blankenship, Kinne’s experience and production will be extremely difficult for Tulsa to replace. Think the former Texas transfer wouldn’t have started for the Longhorns over the last two years?

Defensive M.V.P. Linebacker Curnelius Arnick was a tackling machine: 159 overall, the most in Conference USA and second-most nationally, behind only Boston College’s Luke Kuechly. He had at least seven stops in every game, double-digit tackles in eight games and at least 17 tackles in four games, including 18 apiece in losses to Oklahoma and Boise. Arnick, who played outside over his first three years, took his game to another level when moved into the middle. Tulsa’s saving grace, looking ahead to 2012, is that most of the two-deep at linebacker was populated by underclassmen. Nevertheless, there’s no doubting Arnick’s ability to help pick up an underwhelming defensive front.

Stock watch The non-conference schedule will ease in 2012, though not overly so: Tulsa will still play Iowa State, Nicholls State, Fresno State and Arkansas. Easier, but not easy. Of bigger concern are the holes on offense that need to be filled, such as at quarterback, where Kinne leaves enormous shoes to fill, as well as along the line, where three starters must be replaced. The Golden Hurricane will have a hard time matching last year’s totals unless a quarterback like Kalen Henderson, who struggled mightily against Oklahoma State, is ready to take control of the offense. Can the defense help pick up the slack? History isn’t on Tulsa’s side, but returning starters are: the Golden Hurricane will bring back seven starters, including most of the secondary. It’ll likely take a stronger defensive product for Tulsa to remain a factor in the Conference USA title hunt.

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We might not have known it at the time, or even considered the possibility, but we may have just witnessed the greatest era for non-B.C.S. conference quarterbacks in college football history. Think back to 2007, when Colt Brennan set a handful of N.C.A.A. records en route to a trip to Manhattan for the Heisman ceremony. Since 2008, Kellen Moore and Case Keenum have gone toe-to-toe in the record books, with Keenum winning the battle — most career touchdowns, completions and passing yards — but Moore winning the war, posting the most wins by a quarterback in F.B.S. history. And there have been others who slid under the radar, thanks to one reason or another: Dan LeFevour, Chase Clement, Paul Smith, David Johnson and Max Hall, among others. Has there ever been a better age for non-B.C.S. conference quarterbacks?

That depends on your point of view. Going by today’s conference layout, the best era for non-B.C.S. conference quarterbacking was 1989-91, when Houston’s Andre Ware and B.Y.U.’s Ty Detmer took home the Heisman and Houston’s David Klingler, Ware’s former understudy, was a Heisman finalist. While B.Y.U. was in the WAC during that period, Houston was still a member of the Southwest Conference; at that point, the Cougars were certainly part of the national picture.

Much as they were in 2011, when Houston came within one victory — against Southern Mississippi in the Conference USA title game — of earning an automatic B.C.S. berth. Can the Cougars keep up this pace without Keenum breaking N.C.A.A. records? What kind of offense will we see from Boise State without Moore under center?

It’s the end of an era — even if we call the period from 1989-91, not the last four or five years, the greatest age for non-B.C.S. conference quarterbacking in recent college football history. But the era’s close comes with the passing of a torch: Just as Keenum and Moore depart, others are hungry for the opportunity to pick up the slack. Here are 10 non-B.C.S. conference quarterbacks ready to create a new era in 2012, even if none quite hold up to the standard set by their immediate predecessors:

Ryan Aplin, Arkansas State (senior) Aplin has already proved himself as a starter over the last two years, and impressed even when a part-time starter, used in certain packages, as a freshman. His career — and you can say the same of the program — took off under Hugh Freeze last fall, when Aplin threw the ball with far greater consistency while remaining the best running quarterback in the Sun Belt. Anyone familiar with Gus Malzahn’s recent history knows what’s coming in 2012: Aplin will be the best quarterback in the conference. Perhaps that’s not such a stretch, seeing that he was the Sun Belt’s best even before Malzahn rode into Jonesboro in December.

Alex Carder, Western Michigan (senior) Carder is close to achieving the impossible: making Western Michigan fans forget about Tim Hiller. Think that’s easy? Hiller left Kalamazoo as the most prolific quarterback in school history, if not simply the best quarterback in school history, and Carder brought all of seven career attempts into his first starting season in 2010. Two years, 7,207 yards and 61 touchdowns later, Carder enters his senior season well within striking distance of each one of Hiller’s school records. And with Northern Illinois and Toledo expected to take a step back in 2012, Carder’s Broncos may very well be the MAC West favorites heading into September.

Derek Carr, Fresno State (junior) Carr is already ahead of his brother’s pace, seeing that David, the future No. 1 overall pick, attempted only 41 passes as a sophomore. You can blame family ties for the increased hype surrounding Derek Carr’s ascension to a starting role in Fresno, where his brother starred a decade ago; in a perfect world, Carr could have eased into his new role without facing the inevitable comparisons between his play and that of his elder sibling. But Carr did fine — more than fine, actually, even if the program had its worst season in a generation. On the year, Carr threw for 3,544 yards and 26 touchdowns, coming on very strong over the second half. He threw 13 touchdowns against 2 interceptions over a five-game span from mid-October through mid-November.

Cody Fajardo, Nevada (sophomore) The best coaching move Chris Ault made all season may have also been his most painful decision: Despite lighting up Texas Tech with his feet on Oct. 1, nearly leading the Wolf Pack to victory, Fajardo returned to the bench a week later when Nevada faced Boise State on the blue turf. Senior Tyler Lantrip played terribly in his place, but keeping Fajardo off the field likely saved the freshman from an ugly and potentially momentum-killing defeat. But he was back in the starting lineup the following Saturday against U.N.L.V., and started the next seven games before being injured against Utah State on Nov. 26. No, Fajardo doesn’t quite match what Colin Kaepernick brought to the table as a runner; he’s still dangerous, rushing for 694 yards and 11 scores last fall, just not that dangerous. But he’s far, far ahead of where Kaepernick stood as a passer during his freshman season.

Blaine Gautier, La.-Lafayette (senior) Mark Hudspeth played musical chairs at quarterback in September, alternating Gautier with Chris Masson, the incumbent starter at the position, before handing the reins over to Gautier for the Sun Belt opener against Florida International. How Gautier responded to the full-time role was the biggest surprise of the conference season; you knew he could run, but Gautier’s ability to throw in Hudspeth’s spread offense made him one of the more dangerous dual-threat quarterback on the non-B.C.S. conference level. He saved his best passing performances for two of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ biggest wins on the year: Gautier threw for 355 yards and 4 scores against Louisiana-Monroe and another 470 yards against San Diego State in the New Orleans Bowl.

Terrance Owens, Toledo (junior) How Owens played over Toledo’s final four games of last season likely puts an end to the Rockets’ two-quarterback rotation. His play should at least temper the degree to which the offense rotated Owens with Austin Dantin, who started a good portion of Toledo’s games in September and October before suffering an injury against Western Michigan on Nov. 8. Given the keys to the offense from that point forward, Owens closed with four-game totals of 1,070 yards and 12 touchdown with only a single interception. Dantin is likely too experienced not to call upon at certain times this fall, but Owens has been too good in his full-time starting duty to not be given the wide majority of snaps.

David Piland, Houston (sophomore) Piland did not take a snap in 2011. But he started eight games in 2010 after Case Keenum injured his knee against U.C.L.A., throwing for 2,641 yards and 24 touchdowns as a true freshman. Being a true freshman in 2010, Piland was in position to take a redshirt last fall; this was big not only for his own development but also the program’s future at the position, as Piland now has three years to start in Houston’s quarterback-friendly offense. No one is expecting Keenum-like numbers, but Piland is already well ahead of the curve when it comes to his first full season in the starting lineup. There’s also no escaping this fact: Piland has some enormous shoes to fill.

Matt Schilz, Bowling Green (sophomore) We’ve already seen the progression from Schilz’s freshman to sophomore seasons. Thrown into the mix as a rookie in 2010, when he replaced Tyler Sheehan, Schilz responded in familiar fashion: more interceptions, 14, than touchdowns, 8, and at least two picks over five straight MAC games in October and November. Schilz was a different quarterback last fall, cutting one interception off his 2010 total despite making 34 more attempts and finishing tied for second in the conference with 28 touchdowns. No other quarterback in the MAC — and few nationally — made such a leap from 2010 to 2011. For Schilz, the arrow is clearly pointing up.

Brett Smith, Wyoming (sophomore) All was going well until the last Saturday of November. To that point, Smith’s play had exceeded his years. He was careful with the football, if not dangerous at times; in a win at San Diego State, for example, Smith threw for 341 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Wyoming’s offense ran at full tilt when Smith added a sneakily-efficient running ability to its passing game, such as against Air Force, when he gutted out 75 yards and 2 scores on the ground. But his year did crumble over Wyoming’s last three games, culminating in a sour performance in the Cowboys’ bowl loss to Temple. Smith is a freshman; at some point, the wheels were going to come off. He still has a bright future in Dave Christiansen’s offense.

Tyler Tettleton, Ohio (junior) Not only was Tettleton a first-year starter. Not only was in playing in a new offense, a spread-based attack far more predicated on the passing game than any offense Frank Solich has ever considered, let alone one Solich has actually put into practice. Tettleton was a first-year starter playing in a new offense that was installed very much on the fly; Ohio went with this offensive philosophy only after watching Troy run it to great effect in its 48-21 bowl win over the Bobcats to cap the 2010 season. So if Tettleton played this well as a rookie starter in a new offense, what can he achieve with another year under his belt?

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Forget about the fact that Urban Meyer has only been at Ohio State for two months, because it doesn’t matter. Ignore the fact that he’s still seven months away from actually leading the Buckeyes onto the field in a game that counts, because it doesn’t mean a thing. Meyer may be new in town, but that hasn’t stopped him from climbing into the head of nearly every coach in the Big Ten, thanks to a national signing day haul that left all but Michigan’s Brady Hoke in the dust. It’s Hoke, after all, who went toe-to-toe with Ohio State’s newly-minted recruiting giant and more than held his own; it’s also Hoke, reached for comment yesterday, who told an Ohio television station that recruits who have given another program their verbal commitment are still fair game.

Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema thinks otherwise: he thinks that the Big Ten should adhere to a gentlemen’s agreement that, according to Bielema, has defined the conference’s recruiting efforts for generations. At its core, this agreement makes verbal commits — that’s a non-binding, unofficial commitment, by the way — out of bounds for any coach working within the conference.

There are things more antiquated in college football than the Big Ten’s perceived gentlemen’s agreement. Here are a few: leather helmets, the Wing T, a Notre Dame national championship, cowboy collars, the Gotham Bowl, one-bar facemasks and the Veer.

There is nothing sillier than a scorned coach actually believing this agreement exists. And if there is anything sillier than believing in the Big Ten’s holier-than-thou recruiting approach, it’s that a coach less than two years removed from breaking the cardinal rule is proclaiming its merits from the nearest soapbox.

In the fall of 2010, Bielema and Wisconsin hosted then-Iowa commit Melvin Gordon for its home date against Ohio State. Gordon gave the Badgers his verbal commitment shortly after his visit, later inking his letter of intent of national signing day.

Gordon was a “young man that was committed to another school, actually in our conference, early on,” said Bielema following last February’s national signing day. But he “came to the Ohio State game and saw the light and changed his mind.” So, in Bielema’s mind, what he did in 2010 has no bearing on the absolute indignation he flashed over Meyer’s ability to swing offensive lineman Kyle Dodson away from Wisconsin and to Ohio State.

“We at the Big Ten don’t want to be like the SEC — in any way, shape or form,” Bielema told Sporting News’ Matt Hayes. When it comes to recruiting differences, when one coach wants to speak with another’s verbal commitment, Big Ten coaches “settle things among ourselves,” said Bielema.

Ignore the hypocrisy, though it’s difficult to wave aside the idea that Bielema is picking and choosing his battles in the most childish fashion possible: I’m angry now because I’m the one getting hurt, but I’m fine when it’s someone else getting their panties in a bunch. Bielema dropped 83 points on hapless Indiana in 2010; what’s worse, showing up an overmatched foe on a fall Saturday or showing up an overmatched coach in February?

Mark Dantonio and Pat Narduzzi gnashed their teeth over Meyer’s pursuit of defensive end Se’Von Pittman, a former Michigan State commit who signed with the Buckeyes on Wednesday. Meyer, from his side, said that the pursuit was mutual, that Pittman was as interested in Ohio State as Ohio State was in him. Seems like Michigan State, after having such friendly dealings with Jim Tressel, Dantonio’s former boss, was upset that Ohio State’s new head man didn’t extend the same recruiting courtesy. In case the idea has yet to hit home: The new boss is nothing like the old boss.

There are Big Ten coaches who — and this is based merely on perception — could call out Meyer for dipping his toes in their recruiting pool; Joe Paterno would have qualified, for instance, and for a present-day example, I think Pat Fitzgerald’s name carries enough weight to make his coaching brethren stand up and take notice. Bielema’s name doesn’t carry that sort of gravitas. How could it, seeing that he’s a season away from beating Meyer to the punch?

But the bigger issue here is the idea that Meyer, in the span of two months, has reversed the Big Ten’s laissez-faire approach to the recruiting trail. His own approach to national signing day is the equivalent of Blackbeard trolling the West Indies: What’s yours is yours, until it’s mine. Meyer’s recruiting approach is all SEC, all the time.

And the rest of the Big Ten is on notice. Stay the course, sticking to this ridiculous notion of a gentlemen’s agreement that leaves little to chance? At the same time, this method leaves little opportunity for the late-in-the-game additions that often push a program’s class into the top 10 nationally. Alabama might strike early, for example, nailing down 10 recruits before September, but the Crimson Tide’s class was the best in the nation because Nick Saban had no compunction about raiding ships throughout the SEC.

The choice is simple. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Not trying to keep pace with what Meyer is doing on the recruiting trail will lead Bielema and Wisconsin — or another would-be conference power — into second-tier oblivion, fighting for second place and a secondary bowl. Hoke gets it, which might explain how he was able to retain most of his class despite Meyer’s arrival; it might also explain why Michigan is in a better place today than the program has been in years.

The Big Ten will catch up. And those who don’t will straggle along, fighting for a piece of the pie until they realize that the only way to succeed is to play the game. Bielema should save his Big Ten-themed soapbox for a topic like four-year scholarships, a neat and tidy rule picked up by most of the league’s 12 programs that reflects well on the conference as a whole.

Don’t want to be like the SEC? Well, too bad: you no longer have a choice. And based on recent history, the Big Ten could use a little SEC flavor; this is the league that has won six straight national titles by hoarding every nugget of talent it can find, whether that talent lie in its own backyard, across the country or on another team’s list of verbal commitments.

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In all, Oklahoma’s 25-man class is the program’s second-largest since 2007, trailing only the 29-member haul signed in 2010. This year’s group marked a distinct change from last year’s quality-over-quantity class — 17 recruits signed in all — that was clearly impacted by the large numbers added into the program the previous February.

A few items stand out when admiring Oklahoma’s most recent class, which should hover around the top 10 in each recruiting services’ team rankings. The first is the number of JUCO signings: “I thought we had more immediate needs this year than at other times,” said Stoops.

Four of the six JUCO additions come on the offensive side of the ball. Running back Damien Williams is likely a instant-impact player; that’s based merely on the fact that O.U. has some numbers in the backfield, and adding a JUCO transfer at the position would seem like a luxury, not a necessity. Tight end Brannon Green, out of Kansas, joins offensive lineman Will Latu and wide receiver Courtney Gardner off of the California JUCO ranks.

Green was one of four tight ends Stoops added to his roster. Perhaps no position was more in need of an infusion of talent: Oklahoma lost a pair of seniors, James Hanna and Trent Ratterree, and would-be starter Austin Haywood opted to transfer midway through the 2011 season. After adding Laith Harlow as a verbal commitment last May, O.U. received commitments from three tight ends over the last month of the recruiting cycle.

Unfortunately, the university disclosed yesterday that Harlow suffers from a back condition that will prevent him from ever suiting up for the Sooners; Oklahoma will still honor his scholarship. As disappointing as that injury may be to O.U., which needs young tight ends, the Sooners still reeled in enough talent to replace the two departed seniors.

Tight end wasn’t the only offensive skill position that received an influx of incoming talent: so did wide receiver. The Sooners added five receivers yesterday, led by Troy Metoyer, a former five-star who also committed to O.U. last February but spent the fall at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia. Perhaps Stoops remembered what happened to his passing game once the Sooners lost Ryan Broyles to a knee injury in early November.

One surprising aspect of Oklahoma’s class is the strong lean towards the offensive side of the ball. Eighteen of the Sooners’ additions are on offense; only seven will play defense, barring a position change in the fall. But the defensive additions are primarily focused on the front four; this makes sense, seeing that O.U. will be very senior-heavy up front in 2012.

The large number of offensive additions will keep Oklahoma’s offense humming after its next changing of the guard, which should occur after this coming season. This is the case not only at wide receiver and tight end but also along the offensive line, where one of the three recruits, Latu, will have every chance to step in immediately and fill the Sooners’ gaping hole at left tackle.

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The suspicion was there in October and November, but it didn’t become official until Riley Nelson duped Tulsa, Dan Marino-style, late in the fourth quarter of December’s Armed Forces Bowl. Then it was official: Nelson’s become a legend. Not quite a Ty Detmer-level legend, mind you; Detmer was legendary, and there’s a difference. Nelson’s a legend in the Merriam-Webster definition of the word, third from the top: “a popular myth of recent origin.” Popular? Nelson’s popularity is off the charts in Provo, thanks to the way he put B.Y.U. on his shoulders and carried it to a 10-win season despite a horribly disappointing start. Mythical? Nelson wasn’t due to see the field at all, so the idea that he’d be the point man behind the Cougars’ second-half climb .

Nelson’s ascension — or return — to the starting role was one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2011 season. It was also one of the most-needed developments experienced by any team last fall, right alongside Mike Glennon’s ability to weather the storm as a first-year starter at N.C. State.

Nelson had his shot, some thought as the Cougars prepared for September, and didn’t make the most of it. He was proclaimed the starter heading into 2010, only to lose his spot to ballyhooed true freshman Jake Heaps after an abysmal performance in an early-season loss to Air Force. Heading into last September, Nelson was worse than an afterthought; with Heaps in the fold, Nelson may very well have never seen the field again.

But a funny thing happened on the road to the Heisman: Heaps struggled. And not just the sort of sophomore slump that bites a few highly-touted quarterbacks, but the sort of struggles that lead a coaching staff to question whether their future star is either a star or a significant part of the program’s future. Credit should go to Bronco Mendenhall for having the intestinal fortitude to make the move back to Nelson, knowing that drastic measures might lead to a permanently-damaged sophomore quarterback.

Nelson didn’t just handle the offense; he took it to another level. And he showed a flair for the dramatic, leading the Cougars to a last-second win over Utah State as Heaps’ replacement and winning six of his seven starts to end the season. That Nelson showed an ability to lead the Cougars’ offense was vital for three key reasons:

1. The quarterback position is no longer a concern in 2012. Let’s say Mendenhall sticks with Heaps, and the sophomore continues to struggle completing against adequate competition. What does that say about the offense this fall? There’d be hopes that Heaps’ light would turn on, but no numbers — or game film — to truly prove that point. Now, with Nelson back for his senior season, a position of concern becomes one of strength.

2. The Heaps melodrama is over. Heaps transferred after the end of the season, eventually heading to Charlie Weis and Kansas; for now, he’s projected to be the Jayhawks’ starter in 2013. But after that transfer was complete, reports began to surface that Heaps’ relationship with Mendenhall’s offensive assistants had deteriorated to the point where, quite simply, there was no relationship at all. Being able to bid the former five star goodbye was made easier by Nelson’s solid season.

3. The offense now has an identity. This isn’t a B.Y.U. offense of old, with a strong, accurate quarterback slinging the ball out of multiple-receiver sets. But the offense is still very much quarterback-centric, merely in a different fashion. On the vast majority of snaps, the offense goes directly through Nelson; whether passing or tucking it down outside the pocket, Nelson is the lifeblood of B.Y.U.’s offensive attack. He needs help in the running game, but the Cougars trust Nelson to make the right decision — and he often does.

Season grade: B+ The bottom line: 10 wins. That was the program’s baseline for success in 2011, its first year as an Independent, and B.Y.U. was able to get there with a strong close to the season. But it wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t all that impressive. The Cougars notched only one win in the regular season, against Utah State, over a team that reached bowl play. In all, the Cougars went 2-3 against bowl teams; that includes the Armed Forces Bowl win over Tulsa. Four of B.Y.U.’s wins came against F.B.S. opponents that won four games or less in the regular season. A fifth came against Idaho State. Pretty? Not quite. But here’s the deal: B.Y.U. wants to win 10 games every year. Eventually, as the program finds its footing as an Independent, how the Cougars go about getting those 10 wins – beating good teams would be nice – will become more important than the end result. When it comes to 2012, double-digit wins was good enough.

High point A 24-21 win over Tulsa in bowl play. B.Y.U.’s best win on the year, it was sealed by Nelson’s late fake-spike-pass to Cody Hoffman, who scored each of the Cougars’ three touchdowns.

Low point A very sour start. A 14-13 win over Mississippi – that looked worse and worse as the year wore on – came about despite a 13-0 fourth quarter deficit; the Cougars only won after recovering a fumble in the end zone with five minutes left. That narrow win was followed by an ugly loss at Texas and, worst of all, a 54-10 loss to Utah, at home, in the Holy War. To find a more one-sided B.Y.U. loss in the bitter series you need to go back to… 1922, when the Utes and Cougars met for the first time.

Offensive M.V.P. It’s Nelson, who did two things Heap could not: protect the football and extend plays with his feet. Both of those factors gave B.Y.U. a different dimension on offense. In particular, Nelson’s running ability gave the Cougars’ ground game another option to balance out a fairly pedestrian performance by the B.Y.U. running backs. On the year, and despite playing all 60 minutes in only six games, Nelson threw for 1,717 yards and 19 touchdowns against 7 interceptions. He cracked the 200-yard mark in all six of his starts, led by a season-high 363 yards in a win over Hawaii to end the regular season. He added another 392 yards on the ground, including a five-game stretch where he averaged 72 rushing yards per game.

Defensive M.V.P. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that B.Y.U.’s statistical climb on defense over the second half of 2010 came when then-freshman Kyle Van Noy broke into the starting lineup due to injury. After playing well as a rookie, Van Noy was one part of a talented linebacker corps in 2011, joining Brandon Ogletree and former U.S.C. transfer Uona Kaveinga. On the year, Van Noy led B.Y.U. in tackles for loss (15.0) and sacks (6.0), picking up the slack when Jordan Pendleton was lost to injury. Van Noy also showed a penchant for the big play, as evidenced by his key fumble recovery in the win at Mississippi.

Stock watch Perhaps someone – and I’m not naming names – had B.Y.U. a tad high in his preseason rankings. And perhaps someone – again, no names – thought that Heaps had what it took to become one of the best non-B.C.S. conference quarterbacks in the country. So what did 2011 prove? That B.Y.U. wasn’t quite that good, and neither was Heaps. But with the changes that took place over the span of the regular season, it’s clear that the Cougars have what it takes to taste annual success as a Notre Dame-like Independent. One issue that will arise this fall is a tougher schedule, one that will provide sterner tests over the final two months of the season. But the team itself will be stronger, which will help the Cougars again hover around the 10-win mark.

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Par for the course, this sort of negativity, and it comes with the territory at Miami even when the program isn’t months removed from a nasty, ugly and potentially disastrous series of N.C.A.A. violations. If you can think back to August — and it seems years ago, not mere months — you’ll recall that the Hurricanes were rocked by the allegations surrounding former university booster Nevin Shapiro.

According to the allegations levied at the university, Shapiro provided players with cash, goods and services, all contrary to the N.C.A.A. bylaws. It wasn’t a pretty day for the program, and Miami’s recruiting rivals reminded prospective recruits of that fact once the news broke just prior to the start of the regular season. And continued to remind prospects of that fact up through the first day of February.

Golden said Miami was “crushed” by negative recruiting. This is how the game is played; Golden knew this coming in, simply because Miami is still Miami, and knew that the heat would increase once his program came under such N.C.A.A. scrutiny. Who’s whispering negative things in prospective recruits’ ears? Everybody: A.C.C. rivals, regional rivals — Florida, Florida State and the rest of the Sunshine State — and any program that went head-to-head over a prospect’s signature.

This is one reason why Golden’s success in his first full recruiting class was so noteworthy. Despite getting slimed by its rivals, Miami was able to reel in a 33-man class ranked among the top 10 in the nation by most recruiting services, even if the high ranking is due in some part to the large number of commitments.

Perhaps some of the additions are space-fillers; with 33 commitments, it’s very possible that Golden and his staff missed on a handful of recruits. But Miami has holes to fill throughout the roster, not just along the starting lineup but also for depth purposes, and any warm body — to a degree — is welcome. This mammoth class helps the Hurricanes rebuild its depleted roster on the fly, thereby aiding the program’s depth issues heading into 2012.

But praising Miami’s class merely on numbers ignores the premier prospects Golden and his staff were able to convince to sign on the dotted line. Five-star running back Randy Johnson, who also held offers from Florida and Texas, will help the Hurricanes offset Lamar Miller’s early departure. On signing day itself, Miami received a letter of intent from Tracy Howard, the top cornerback in the country and the top prospect in the state.

Think Miami could use a cornerback? That’s one of the most pleasing aspects to this class: there are numbers, which helps for depth, but there are plenty of prospects who seem talented enough to step right into significant roles as true freshman. Howard is one, as is Johnson, as are any one of the five receivers Golden was able to lure to Coral Gables. With numbers and several key additions, it’s clear that despite the negativity — not to mention a 6-6 finish in 2011 — Miami was able to hit the mark on the recruiting trail.

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You won’t find the highest-ranked non-B.C.S. conference signing class anywhere on the list of this year’s top 50 classes, according to Rivals.com. But you will find a pair of programs, Utah and T.C.U., who have clearly benefited from their new conference affiliation. The Utes’ class came in just outside the top 25, thanks in large part to an eight-man offensive line haul that help should keep Jordan Wynn clean and Kyle Whittingham happy in 2012. The Horned Frogs continued to make hay in Texas, sweeping up a number of second-level recruits that may flown in under the radar, while adding a quartet of recruits from SEC country. How would Utah and T.C.U. have done on the recruiting trail had each remained part of the non-B.C.S. conference landscape? Not as well, one would think.

But more than a few non-B.C.S. conference programs made a splash on national signing day, including a few in the most unexpected of places: the Sun Belt. That league seems to fare better ever year when it comes to recruiting, thanks in part both to its geographical location — right smack-dab in the Southeast — and the conference’s increased level of competitiveness.

Arkansas State did very well, and surprisingly so: Gus Malzahn didn’t replace Hugh Freeze until mid-December, meaning he had a limited amount of time to keep Freeze’s current commits in place, let along add his own recruits. But the Red Wolves’ hot pace continued despite the coaching move, with Malzahn and his staff eventually signing 28 recruits, 16 of whom received three-star status from Rivals. Included in this group may be Malzahn’s quarterback of the future; he signed two at the position, Bo Wallace and Aerion Williams, who can probably stand to learn a thing or two from Malzahn and senior quarterback Ryan Aplin.

There’s a reason Mario Cristobal wasn’t too broken up over his inability to come to terms with Rutgers: Florida International’s class is the best in school history. And the Golden Panthers strayed outside Florida’s borders to fill nearly a third of its class, highlighting the program’s growth over the last two seasons. F.I.U. had 15 players from outside Florida on its roster in 2011; it’ll add another nine out-of-state residents to the roster in the fall.

Utah and T.C.U. were pleasantly surprised by the reaction they received from prospective recruits, thanks to the new doors opened by being part of a B.C.S. conference. Likewise, Texas State found a move from the F.C.S. to the F.B.S. led to more local-area prospects opening their doors to Dennis Franchione and his staff. Texas State, who joins the WAC in the fall, dipped more than its toe into the JUCO pool: the Bobcats jumped right in, with nearly half of its 22-player class coming off the JUCO ranks.

The gem of Boise State’s recruiting class is quarterback Nick Patti, who may be the immediate beneficiary of Kellen Moore’s impending graduation. Even if Patti doesn’t step right into a starting role — and history says Chris Petersen would rather he take a redshirt — he seems to have the makings of Boise State’s next multiple-year starter under center. One other position of need the Broncos addressed on national signing day? Kicker, of course. Sean Wale joins Jeff Van Ginkel, last year’s addition, to give Boise two youngsters at the position. One of the two should be able to make a 34-yard field goal.

Houston parlayed a fantastic 2011 season — as well as several solid seasons in advance of last fall — into a slot in the Big East, which the program will join in 2013. The Cougars have already stepped up its recruiting in advance of the move, bringing in Conference USA’s best class despite losing Kevin Sumlin to Texas A&M in December. Houston’s recruiting efforts heated up late, after the university hired Tony Levine as Sumlin’s successor. Levine and his staff brought in 10 recruits after Jan. 15, including one, Deontay Greenberry, who swapped his verbal commitment over from Notre Dame on national signing day.

What Toledo and Temple lacked in quality they made up for with sheer numbers: the two MAC schools — and MAC favorites in 2012, perhaps — combined to sign 60 recruits, with that total jumping to 61 when counting Temple’s addition of Penn State transfer Kevin Newsome. The Rockets, now led by Matt Campbell, were wise to go after wide receivers; Eric Page, the do-everything all-American, opted for the N.F.L. a year ahead of schedule. Three of Toledo’s top recruits are receivers, led by Corey Jones, who chose the Rockets over six B.C.S. conference offers.

So which program had the — ahem — worst class in football, according to Rivals? Fresno State’s a frontrunner, but Tim DeRuyter’s first group should be labeled incomplete, still-to-be-decided: the Bulldogs signed 14 recruits yesterday, but had a hard time even getting to that number. With a good amount of JUCO options still on the board, Fresno State should see that total rise over the next few weeks. But what DeRuyter has brought in doesn’t exactly deserve a passing grade: Fresno State was the lone F.B.S. offer for 9 of its 14 recruits.

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Baylor will replace Griffin with senior Nick Florence, and a team could do worse when it comes to a first-year starter. That’s because Florence isn’t a neophyte, having taken significant snaps in each of the last three seasons and, in 2009, starting seven of the final eight games of the year after Griffin suffered a knee injury.

The Bears hoped to provide a year of separation between their starter and backup by putting a redshirt on Florence in 2011; he arrived a year later than Griffin, but was thrust into an immediate role as a true freshman. Any plan Baylor had of sitting Florence as a rookie went out the window once Griffin injured his knee three weeks into the 2009 season.

Any plan of giving Florence a redshirt in 2011 went out the window at halftime against Texas Tech, when Griffin slammed his head to the turf when scrambling outside the pocket late in the second quarter — after sitting a play, Griffin returned to the field in time to score on a three-yard touchdown run. In came Florence, who led the Bears to four offensive touchdowns over the game’s final 30 minutes.

On the afternoon, and in one half of work, Florence completed 9 of 12 attempts for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns. He added another 14 yards and a score on the ground. Not Griffin, but certainly Griffin-like: cold and rusty, expecting his redshirt season to continue, Florence had the best half of his college career. Racket up the expectations surrounding his senior season, right?

Well, let’s get this out of the way: Florence is no Griffin. And no one is — or few are, seeing that Cam Newton was pretty good, and pretty good fairly recently. What Florence is, however, is the end result of three full seasons spent ingesting every aspect of Art Briles’ offense, and that should be enough to keep Baylor’s offense interesting.

So how does Baylor recover from losing the most transcendent figure in program history? By trusting the system. It’s a system that works, and doesn’t necessarily need a Griffin at the helm to win games in conference play. That never hurts, of course, and that Baylor only had two other quarterbacks on the roster in 2011 does indicate that the program wasn’t entirely expecting Griffin to leave after his junior season.

But one key factor separates Baylor’s immediate future at quarterback from Auburn’s fortunes after Newton opted to forego his final season of eligibility. The Bears are more 2007 Ohio State than 2011 Auburn: Briles, like the Buckeyes, who replaced a Heisman winner in Troy Smith with Todd Boeckman, has an experienced hand — in general, in terms of snaps, and in his offensive system — to insert into the starting lineup.

What did Auburn have waiting in the wings? Barrett Trotter, a junior with nine career pass attempts under his belt; who had spent two seasons in Gus Malzahn’s offense; and who was recruited by the previous staff for an entirely different offensive system. In comparison, Florence looks like the second coming of Robert Griffin III. He’s not, but Florence is a game-tested, experienced senior with a solid grasp of this offense. That should be good enough to keep Baylor’s bowl streak alive.

Season grade: A+ This wasn’t the best team in program history. That title goes to the Singletary-led and Grant Teaff-coached team from 1980, which won the Southwest Conference and might have been in the line for the national title had it not — somehow — lost to San Jose State in early November. Last year’s Bears were the second-best team in school history, however, and certainly featured the best offense and best player since the program’s inception in 1899. How many other F.B.S. teams can say the same about their 2011 season? I count five, including Baylor: Houston, Southern Mississippi, Louisiana-Lafayette and Oklahoma State. All will receive the highest possible mark, just as the Bears do here. Just how good was Baylor’s offense? The Bears scored 589 points, which is only 96 fewer than the program scored over Kevin Steele’s entire four-year tenure from 1999-2002.

High point Beating Oklahoma, something Baylor hadn’t done since, well, ever. Zero wins against 20 losses heading into 2011; one win against 20 losses heading into 2012. Beating Texas the way it did — with such ease and confidence — sent a pretty clear message: If you were still on the fence, the win proved that this wasn’t your daddy’s Bears.

Low point Baylor still went 1-3 in Big 12 road games, highlighting the sort of road deficiencies that have plagued the program for a generation. The final loss on the season, a 59-24 defeat at Oklahoma State that was worse than the score indicated, dropped the Bears to 4-3 overall, 1-3 in conference play.

Offensive M.V.P. Robert Griffin III. The Heisman bylaws have been stretched over the last decade-plus, but one unwritten rule remains in place: to win, an individual needs to have been the best player on his own team. Griffin’s final numbers, since this may be the last time I get the opportunity to write them in full: 291 completions in 402 attempts for 4,293 yards and 37 touchdowns against 6 interceptions; a efficiency rating of 189.5, the second-highest in F.B.S. history; 179 carries for 699 yards and 10 scores on the ground.

Defensive M.V.P. Nicolas Jean-Baptiste, a former walk-on, was Baylor’s lone all-conference selection. He was a second-team pick, thanks in large part to his ability to stand tall at the point of attack; as impotent as Baylor’s defense could be at times, it’s frightening to consider how sieve-like the Bears would have been against the run without Jean-Baptiste lining up over center. There are some nice pieces returning in 2012, led by defensive backs Ahmad Dixon, Mike Hicks and Sam Holl; the latter finished one tackle shy of senior Elliot Coffey for the team lead.

Stock watch Let’s think about the pieces Baylor must replace. There’s Griffin, of course. There’s running back Terrance Ganaway, who left quite an impression on Washington in the Alamo Bowl. There’s all-American wide receiver Kendall Wright — in short, say goodbye to Baylor’s powerful offensive triumvirate. Two interior offensive linemen must be replaced, as must two interior defensive linemen. The team’s leading tackler. What’s back, on the other hand? Begin with Briles, and continue with the idea that Baylor has passed the tipping point where one or two departures would spell a return to the program’s sad days of old. Can the Bears retool on the fly without a Griffin, Ganaway, Wright and more? Not quite: Baylor won’t win another 10 games in 2012. But the program has become a Big 12 player for a reason. The system works. Despite the losses, the Bears should get back into bowl play in 2012.

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Want to play in the SEC? Landing SEC-caliber players helps. You know those guys: five stars, built like a statue, hits like a truck, runs like a gazelle and ready for the N.F.L. from day one. The SEC dominates all of our college football acronyms, from the F.B.S. to the B.C.S. to N.S.D. – I’m sure there are others. And the conference’s newest addition, Missouri, is doing what it takes to keep pace. The SEC-bound Tigers signed wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, the consensus No. 1 recruit in the country regardless of position, sending a fairly clear message to its new conference brethren: If you’re looking for a pushover, look elsewhere.

Missouri could have played in the SEC without Green-Beckham. The Tigers are balanced offensively, laden with potential on defense and stacked with top-tier coaching; that’s enough to win games, even in the SEC. That Missouri will play in the SEC East – Texas A&M, unfortunately, takes home in the West – will help the program find its footing early.

Adding Green-Beckham achieves two feats. The first is in body: Green-Beckham is the nation’s best talent, a sort of receiver who can immediately step into a void and become Missouri’s top target in the passing game. Not that the cupboard is entirely bare for the Tigers: T.J. Moe will return, as will Marcus Lucas and L’Damian Washington. Moe, the team’s leading receiver in 2011, has developed a nice rapport with quarterback James Franklin.

But Missouri needs to replace tight end Michael Egnew and receiver Wes Kemp, two big-bodied options who served in substantial roles on third down and in the red zone. Green-Beckham, at 6’6 and 220, can at the very least help Missouri convert near the goal line while learning the intricacies of a college offense.

The biggest signal this signing sends, however, goes beyond Green-Beckham’s physical presence. Emotionally, his announcement puts Missouri on the map in a conference defined by its signing day dominance. According to reports, Green-Beckham was leaning towards Arkansas prior to taking his official visit to Missouri last week; after that trip, Green-Beckham switched his commitment to the home-state Tigers.

Missouri beat out the rest of the F.B.S., in essence, for Green-Beckham’s signature – every school in the country would have taken him with open arms, as you’d suspect. But the Tigers also beat out the rest of the SEC, led by Arkansas. In doing so, the program illustrates that it can win on the field and on the recruiting trail.

And winning on the latter wins national championships. The SEC has now landed each of the last four No. 1 national recruits, as ranked by Rivals.com: Green-Beckham, Jadeveon Clowney, Ronald Powell and Bryce Brown. The conference wins in early February, out-dueling the rest of the country for the cream of the crop, and then wins again in September, October, November, December and January – in January most of all.

Now add Missouri to the mix, and consider how strong this program can be if its recruiting picks up an SEC pace. Missouri’s recent talent, along with its coaching, would have been good enough for annual bowl trips out of the SEC. What if the Tigers start adding the sort of talent that could have gone to Alabama, L.S.U., Arkansas and the rest of the conference? What if Missouri recruits as well as the rest of the SEC?

Then the sky is the limit. With how Gary Pinkel and his staff have fared since arriving in Columbia more than a decade ago, adding five-star prospects like Green-Beckham into the mix would make Missouri a genuine conference title contender. And being an SEC title contender, as we know, makes you a national title contender. It takes more than one five star, of course, but Green-Beckham’s a start. And one heck of a start at that.

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