Conference Recruiting Roundups: Pac-12

Next in our breakdown of conference recruiting classes is the Pac- 12 - winners, losers, and programs in long-term trouble. All rankings are from the 247Sports composite, with 4-year national ranks weighted more heavily on most recent classes.

Winners

Utah: The  Utes inked their best class of the past four years in 2016, including two of the top three in-state players and former blue chip QB Troy Williams. Huge JUCO recruit Garrett Bolles should immediately get plugged in at tackle on the offensive line, and Kyle Wihttingham stole highly-regarded OLB David Laufatasaga from Ole Miss on signing day (not a total surprise, but nice). This type of class can entrench Utah in the second tier of the conference with Arizona State, Washington, and Arizona and build more consistency after a rocky start to Pac-12 football membership.

UCLA: The closest comparisons to the classes the Bruins have been bringing in the past four years are Clemson and Oklahoma. That's a good thing! The 2016 class features stud OLB Mique Juarez (#11 nationally, #1 OLB) to anchor a fantastic haul of front seven defenders, and the skill positions are in great shape as well, led by APB Damian Alloway. The concerning questions are how this talent translates into results - so when does this team turn from a pre-season favorite to a real contender? Why haven't the Bruins sniffed a playoff or made a New Year's Bowl? Jim Mora has proven to be a stellar recruiter, methods be judged, and the future looks bright with at least two more seasons of Josh Rosen. The hard part for UCLA has been turning clear advantages in talent over the rest of the conference (minus USC) into wins - 6-3 in conference can't be this program's ceiling.

Arizona State: In other breakdowns I've docked programs for failing to capitalize on winning seasons, so it only seems fair to give credit to continuing strong recruiting even without strong results on the field. Todd Graham was able to land top 25 recruiting classes after consecutive 10-win seasons, and to still haul in a class ranked 27^th nationally after a 6-7 year (with a small class) is good work. The Sun Devils pulled in two of the five in-state blue chip recruits (a big fat zero for Arizona) as well as the top JUCO pass rusher and all-name recruit Dougladson Subtyl.

Neutral

Washington: After a quiet first two years at Washington, the 2016 season feels like Chris Petersen's year to send ripples through the conference. Advanced stats liked the Huskies last season despite their mediocre W-L record (FEI even judged them as the best defense in the nation over the regular season), and consecutive top-30 classes are a good start. A strong season with a big win or two (Oregon or Stanford would certainly count) should lead to a mini-leap into the top 20 or top 25 - could the Huskies rise at the Ducks expense?

Losers

Oregon: Are cracks in the mighty Nike® armor opening up? It's probably too early - this isn't a great class, but it's also a small one where a #28 ranking may be a little low. The rest of the conference is certainly hoping that this is the start of a trend where the Ducks are coming back to earth under Mark Helfrich. Under Chip Kelly the chromed-out Ducks were most successful when stealing some top talent from California and Texas - this year Oregon signed just one blue chipper from each state.

Colorado: It would be great to see the Buffaloes become competitive again - Boulder is an awesome background for football, and they let a live buffalo run around! But Colorado only 58 recruits ranked as 3* or better in a conference where every other team has at least 77. Unless a bunch of those essentially unranked recruits turn into effective contributors, the Buffaloes are fighting with one hand tied behind their back.