Junior college turned into a boon for Auburn on its way toward winning the BCS national title. Cam Newton, originally at Florida, signed in 2010 as a five-star quarterback from Blinn College in Texas. Nick Fairley, having failed to qualify in 2007, signed two years later as a three-star defensive tackle from Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi.

The result gave Auburn arguably the most dominating offensive and defensive players in the country played at Auburn via the junior-college route. Might the trend continue with other teams searching the JuCo ranks for diamonds in the rough?

The difficult is building solely off JuCo isn't a recipe for long-term success. Few teams actually want to load up on JuCos. Junior college players tend to come with baggage, through academics and/or discipline. There's also no guarantee JuCo players will have a big enough impact on the field to justify having them for a handful of years.

I analyzed the signing classes listed on Rivals.com of all 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams to count how many JuCo signees each team had between 2007 and 2010. (Note: The numbers may not be exactly correct, depending on late signees perhaps overlooked by Rivals or junior colleges I inadvertenly didn't count. Generally, the numbers provide a good ballpark of where each four-year school stands.)

The top-five signers of JuCos: Kansas State (39 over four years), Memphis (35), UAB (34), Hawaii (31), Troy (29), New Mexico State (28). The Blazers have signed 33 JuCos in the past three years alone.

The top-five conferences that sign JuCos: WAC (17.2 per team over four years), Sun Belt (15.0), C-USA (14.8), Big 12 (13.8), Pac-10 (11.6). Here's the breakdown of each school's JuCo signees between 2007 and 2010:

ACC (1.9 per team over 4 yrs.)

Florida State, 8

North Carolina State, 7

North Carolina, 3

Miami, 2

Boston College, 1

Maryland, 1

Duke, 1

Clemson, 0

Virginia Tech, 0

Virginia, 0

Georgia Tech, 0

Wake Forest, 0

Big Ten (3.4 per team over 4 yrs.)

Minnesota, 16

Indiana, 5

Purdue, 5

Illinois, 4

Michigan State, 2

Penn State, 2

Michigan, 1

Iowa, 1

Wisconsin, 1

Ohio State, 0

Northwestern, 0

MAC (6.7 per team over 4 yrs.)

Northern Illinois, 12

Akron, 11

Ohio, 11

Eastern Michigan, 10

Temple, 9

Toledo, 8

Western Michigan, 8

Bowling Green, 7

Kent State, 4

Central Michigan, 3

Buffalo, 2

Miami (Ohio), 1

Ball State, 1

SEC (8.1 per team over 4 yrs.)

Mississippi State, 17

Ole Miss, 15

Auburn, 10

Tennessee, 10

South Carolina, 10

Arkansas, 8

Kentucky, 7

Georgia, 6

Alabama, 5

LSU, 4

Florida, 4

Vanderbilt, 1

Big East (8.9 per team over 4 yrs.)

Louisville, 24

South Florida, 15

West Virginia, 12

Syracuse, 9

Cincinnati, 5

Pittsburgh, 4

Connecticut, 2

Rutgers, 0

Mountain West (11.0 per team over 4 yrs.)

Utah, 22

New Mexico, 17

UNLV, 13

Wyoming, 12

San Diego State, 10

Colorado State, 10

BYU, 10

TCU, 5

Air Force, 0

Pac-10 (11.6 per team over 4 yrs.)

Arizona State, 20

Arizona, 19

Oregon, 17

Washington State, 16

Oregon State, 15

California, 12

Washington, 8

UCLA, 6

USC, 3

Stanford, 0

Big 12 (13.8 per team over 4 yrs.)

Kansas State, 39

Iowa State, 26

Oklahoma State, 17

Baylor, 15

Nebraska, 14

Texas Tech, 12

Kansas, 11

Missouri, 11

Oklahoma, 8

Colorado, 8

Texas A&M, 4

Texas, 0

C-USA (14.8 per team over 4 yrs.)

Memphis, 35

UAB, 34

Southern Miss, 24

Tulsa, 22

Marshall, 14

UTEP, 13

Houston, 11

East Carolina, 10

SMU, 9

UCF, 4

Rice, 1

Tulane, 0

Sun Belt (15.0 per team over 4 yrs.)

Troy, 29

North Texas, 26

Arkansas State, 21

Middle Tennessee, 18

Louisiana-Monroe, 16

Louisiana-Lafayette, 12

Florida International, 6

Western Kentucky, 6

Florida Atlantic, 1

WAC (17.2 per team over 4 yrs.)

Hawaii, 31

New Mexico State, 28

Nevada, 22

Utah State, 20

San Jose State, 18

Idaho, 17

Louisiana Tech, 12

Boise State, 4

Fresno State, 3

Note: Independents Notre Dame, Navy and Army each had zero over the four years.

E-mail: jsolomon@bhamnews.com

Twitter: twitter.com/jonsol