In 2014, Alabama won the so-called recruiting national title on the strength of six 5-star signees and 13 4-stars.

The Tide would win the national title in 2015 and 2017, and play for it for four straight years (2015-18).

So yeah, stars matter. The recruiting rankings can be very much predictive of future success, or lack thereof.

But in our haste here in 2022 to obsess over the most recent developments, which include some other schools out there racking up more decorated classes, some historical context might be useful and even predictive.

Not far behind Alabama in those 2014 rankings was No. 2 LSU, which would fire Les Miles two years later.

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At No. 4 was Florida State, which had one more season of high achievement before a long and stunning decline.