GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- How many recruits can Florida take in the 2016 recruiting class? GatorBait.net did some research speaking to various people knowledgeable with NCAA rules and combed over the rulebook ourselves to give you a clearer picture.

The Gators can take a maximum of 28 recruits in the 2016 class. That likely differs from various projections you might have seen, some of which fail to take a few key aspects into account.

We'll take you step by step through NCAA rules and then explain how they apply to Florida's current situation. For each rule, we'll provide the bylaw in question with a link to a PDF of the NCAA rulebook in case you want to check it out.

First off, it's important to understand a couple things about scholarship limits. The NCAA restricts football teams to 85 total scholarships, or "counters," at any given time, as well as an annual limit of 25 "initial counters" (Bylaw 15.5.6.1).

The concept of limiting initial counters exists to essentially force schools into bringing in a responsible amount of players each year, thereby limiting the avenues for schools to seek a competitive edge by pushing out current student-athletes under potentially dubious circumstances to make room for newcomers.

To that effect, in addition to limiting schools to 25 initial counters, the NCAA also restricted schools to signing a maximum of 25 players per class to a national letter of intent or an institutional offer of financial aid between Dec. 1 and May 31 (Bylaw 13.9.2.3).

Some of the confusion recently as it pertains to Florida's potential 2016 class size has come from the fact that the Gators had four 2016 prospects sign enrollment agreements in November, outside of the timeframe specified in the bylaw.

While that means that the Gators could theoretically sign as many as 29 to some form of NLI or financial aid agreement now, it doesn't change the initial counter limit the Gators still must abide by.

It's important to note that distinction between the annual limits on initial counters and signees. That distinction also directly comes into play in calculating Florida's maximum possible class number this year, as we'll explain below.

Recruits signing an NLI or financial aid offer who do not actually end up receiving aid count against the signing limit for the given year but do not affect the initial counter numbers.

Schools are able to find some wiggle room in recruiting class numbers from year to year because the NCAA allows schools to count mid-year enrollees back toward the previous cycle if the school had not reached the annual limit of 25 initial counters (Bylaw 13.9.2.3.1).

For Florida, the numbers work out as follows. The Gators signed 21 players in the 2015 recruiting class. Two of those signees enrolled mid-year and went down as initial counters for the 2014 cycle. Another, athlete D'Anfernee McGriff, failed to qualify. While he counted against Florida's 25-man signing limit in 2015, he did not count against the Gators' 25-man initial counter limit for that cycle.

So the Gators had 18 freshmen who served as initial counters for the 2015 cycle. However, Florida also had four transfers arrive in the offseason that served as initial counters for the 2015 cycle (Bylaw 15.5.6.3.1).

The addition of transfers T.J. McCoy, Mason Halter, Anthony Harrell and Josh Grady gave the Gators 22 initial counters for 2015.

That's where the important distinction of initial counters vs. signees comes into play.

While the Gators had only 18 signees that served as initial counters toward the 2015 cycle, they actually had 22 initial counters total. That means Florida can count a maximum of three players back to the 2015 cycle.

That leaves the Gators room for three initial counters to 2015 as mid-year enrollees (Florida will have several it can designate to count back) and an additional 25 prospects as initial counters in 2016, for a total of 28.

The maximum number of prospects you'll see on Florida's commitment list come national signing day is 28.

The Gators can still early enroll as many prospects as they'd like, but only three can be counted back as initial counters to the 2015 cycle.

If you have any questions, just drop us a line in the comments section below. We'll be happy to answer.

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