BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Alabama football "won" its fifth mythical recruiting national championship in six years. Recruiting rankings don't always pan out, but a noticeable trend has occurred in the past decade.

Finishing No. 1 in February often means finishing No. 1 in January with a real national championship. And it happens sooner rather than later.

Nine of the past 11 teams to be No. 1 in Rivals.com's recruiting rankings played for the BCS championship within three years, and eight won the title. The only Rivals No. 1 teams not to play for a national title within three years were 2006 USC and 2010 USC.

Rivals No. 1 Classes and Quick National Titles

Year No. 1 Class National Title Within 3 years 2002 Texas 2005 2003 LSU 2003 2004 USC 2004 2005 USC None 2006 USC None 2007 Florida 2008 2008 Alabama 2009 2009 Alabama 2009, 2011 2010 USC None 2011 Alabama 2011, 2012 2012 Alabama 2012

Six of the past seven BCS champions had at least three top-10 classes by Rivals during the four years before their title. The only exception was Auburn, which had two top-10 classes in four years leading up to its 2010 championship.

If Rivals' current top 10 doesn't change, six teams will have at least three top-10 classes from 2010 to 2013: Alabama, Auburn, USC, Texas, LSU and Florida State. It's a pretty good bet that at least one of those teams will play for the national championship next season, if not win it.

Rivals Rankings Preceding BCS Championship Seasons

Year BCS Champion Recruiting Class in Previous 4 Years 2006 Florida No. 2, No. 15, No. 10, No. 2 2007 LSU No. 4, No. 7, No. 22, No. 2 2008 Florida No. 3, No. 1, No. 2, No. 15 2009 Alabama No. 1, No. 1, No. 10, No. 11 2010 Auburn No. 4, No. 19, No. 20, No. 7 2011 Alabama No. 1, No. 5, No. 1, No. 1 2012 Alabama No. 1, No. 1, No. 5, No. 1



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