Gators may be No. 1 in this too

One month after celebrating a national championship in football, the Florida Gators received more good news Wednesday when their incoming freshman class was judged No. 1 in the nation by several recruiting services.

On Wednesday, the first day high school seniors could sign a letter of intent for football, Coach Urban Meyer came away with 27 signees. Scout.com had Florida No. 1 and Louisiana State No. 2. Rivals.com ranked Florida No. 1 and USC No. 2. PrepStar went with USC as their No. 1 class.

Topping Florida’s list are 6-foot-4, 285-pound defensive lineman Torrey Davis from Seffner, Fla., safety Jerimy Finch from Indianapolis, running back Chris Rainey from Lakeland, Fla., and 6-4, 308-pound offensive lineman James Wilson from St. Augustine, Fla. Nine Florida recruits were given five-star rankings by Scout.com.

As for the best prospects in Southern California, many of them signed with either USC or UCLA -- but not all of them.

Michigan took away top defensive backs Donovan Warren from Long Beach Poly and Michael Williams from Ventura St. Bonaventure.

Oregon signed 14 Southland players, led by defensive end Kenny Rowe of Long Beach Poly and defensive back Anthony Gildon of Westlake Village Oaks Christian. California outdueled UCLA for Los Angeles Loyola defensive back Chris Conte and picked up Dorsey linebacker Robert Mullins, who didn’t play last season because of a hip injury.

Nevada Las Vegas signed eight Southland products, including Riverside North quarterback Mike Clausen, defensive back Shane Horton from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and defensive back Will Chandler from Lake Balboa Birmingham.

Oaks Christian had nine players sign with Division I-A schools Wednesday, and that doesn’t include quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who has already enrolled at Notre Dame.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The recruiting game

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The top 10 recruiting classes of the last five years, according to Scout.com and Rivals.com, and the top 10 in the Associated Press rankings for each of those years:

*--* SCOUT.COM

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2002

1. Texas

2. Oklahoma

3. Ohio State

4. Miami (Fla.)

5. Tennessee

6. Florida State

7. UCLA

8. Texas A&M;

9. Georgia

10. Virginia

2003

1. USC

2. Louisiana State

3. Oklahoma

4. Florida

5. Notre Dame

6. Miami (Fla.)

7. Tennessee

8. Michigan

9. North Carolina State

9. Texas A&M;

2004

1. USC

2. Louisiana State

3. Miami (Fla.)

4. Florida State

5. Michigan

6. Georgia

7. Oklahoma

8. Florida

9. Tennessee

10. Texas

2005

1. Tennessee

2. Michigan

3. Florida State

4. Georgia

5. Oklahoma

6. USC

7. Ohio State

8. Iowa

9. California

10. Nebraska

2006

1. USC

2. Florida

3. Texas

4. Georgia

5. Notre Dame

6. Penn State

7. Louisiana State

7. Oklahoma

9. Auburn

9. Michigan

*--* RIVALS.COM

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2002

1. Texas

2. Tennessee

3. Georgia

4. Florida State

5. Ohio State

6. Auburn

7. Oklahoma

8. Miami (Fla.)

9. UCLA

10. Colorado

2003

1. Louisiana State

2. Florida

3. USC

4. Oklahoma

5. Miami (Fla.)

6. Georgia

7. North Carolina State

8. South Carolina

9. Mississippi State

10. Texas A&M;

2004

1. USC

2. Louisiana State

3. Florida State

4. Miami (Fla.)

5. Michigan

6. Georgia

7. Florida

8. Oklahoma

9. Ohio State

10. Texas

2005

1. USC

2. Florida State

3. Oklahoma

4. Tennessee

5. Nebraska

6. Michigan

7. Miami (Fla.)

8. Texas A&M;

9. California

10. Georgia

2006

1. USC

2. Florida

3. Florida State

4. Georgia

5. Texas

6. Penn State

7. Louisiana State

8. Notre Dame

9. Oklahoma

10. Auburn

*--* AP RANKINGS

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2002

1. Ohio State

2. Miami (Fla.)

3. Georgia

4. USC

5. Oklahoma

6. Texas

7. Kansas State

8. Iowa

9. Michigan

10. Washington State

2003

1. USC

2. Louisiana State

3. Oklahoma

4. Ohio State

5. Miami (Fla.)

6. Michigan

7. Georgia

8. Iowa

9. Washington State

10. Miami (Ohio)

2004

1. USC

2. Auburn

3. Oklahoma

4. Utah

5. Texas

6. Louisville

7. Georgia

8. Iowa

9. California

10. Virginia Tech

2005

1. Texas

2. USC

3. Penn State

4. Ohio State

5. West Virginia

6. Louisiana State

7. Virginia Tech

8. Alabama

9. Notre Dame

10. Georgia

2006

1. Florida

2. Ohio State

3. Louisiana State

4. USC

5. Boise State

6. Louisville

7. Wisconsin

8. Michigan

9. Auburn

10. West Virginia