First off, kchusker_chris, I LOVE your Avatar! Very Nice!!!
The points below I have stated in another posting, thought I would repeat....
My opinion - What plays into the Number of recruits taken each year.
1. Walk-ons: As the walk-on classes continue to get back to pre-Callahan levels (20 ish) per season, there is a greater chance that a walk-on earns a scholarship.
2. As the depth improves, there is less of a need to burn redshirts. So mathematically you only need to get 17 to 18 guys over a 5 year turnover.
3. The coaches seem to be looking for a certain type of recruit = less "stars" better citizens and more intelligent.
There might be something I am missing, but these 3 things combined mean you only need to get 17 to 22 GOOD kids every year.
Of course you will have kids quit, not make it academically, injuries, leave for the NFL early.
The Big classes you see are from schools that CHURN and BURN (as I used to say when I was a stockbroker) these kids.
Get a bunch of high star guys and hope some "stick". Don't worry about their other issues - school, attitude, the "police".
Total points is not the correct way to look at how well a school does recruiting.
YOu should look at AVG stars / AVG score per recruit and does the players fill the NEED for that recruiting class.
Also, look at which recruits actual make it to the school and actually play.
GBR!!!!!