College football fall forecast

Coaches, in occasional fits of modesty, say it all the time: A team is only as good as its players.

Well, if that’s true, expect to see some familiar schools atop the college football rankings in the fall.

We averaged the scores of the last five football recruiting classes, according to 247Sports.com’s composite rating. We then weighted the significance of each class — for example, a team’s senior class affects the ranking more than the freshmen — and came up with our own rating.

Which shows it should be an interesting season for local fans next fall.

Despite NCAA sanctions that limited the size of recent USC recruiting classes, the Trojans have the most talented roster in the Pac-12 Conference, according to our analysis.

And UCLA is not far behind in talent with its most skilled roster in a decade.

Here’s the top 10:

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Florida State

4. Florida

5. Louisiana State

6. Georgia

7. USC

8. Auburn

9. Notre Dame

10. Texas

Others: 14. UCLA; 18. Oregon.