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With the national signing date, February 6, fast approaching, The Magazine's college football writer finds that hindsight is 20-20.

Recruiting is definitely a season unto itself. Football fans, myself included, hang on every word of 17-year-olds dripping with "upside" and brainwashed by coaching propaganda. But in reality, no one really knows how good these prospects are -- much less, how good they will ever be.

At least in college hoops, interested coaches get to see the top 500 or so prospects play against one another at the sneaker camps. In football, there is no such trial by fire. Also, it's a lot easier to project a 6'6", 190-pound shooting guard than it is to project a 6'6", 215-pound defensive end.

I have some buddies who are assistant coaches and know 10 times as much about football as I do, and I respect their opinions. I pick their brains and am consistently mining them for leads. But in truth, they're basically guessing too.

So over the next month, I urge you all (especially you Longhorn fans) to ease back a little when all the recruiting "gurus" start anointing the top-10 classes. But once you've put some distance on things, it's a lot easier to tell what's what. Having said all that, I think now is a good time to evaluate -- or re-evaluate -- the 1999 recruiting crop. Three years out, we've had time to watch guys develop or fall by the wayside -- and it's more fun to talk about players who are still in school.

To help offer some kind of perspective, I decided to rank recruits on a five-star system (five being superstar, three being solid, one being a stiff).

The '99 consensus top 10:
1. Texas
2. UCLA
3. Georgia
4. Notre Dame
5. Alabama
6. Ohio State
7. LSU
8. FSU
9. Tennessee
10. Florida

In all fairness, the Texas class has done very well. CB Rod Babers, OL Robbie Doane, OL Derrick Dockery, TE Bo Scaife and RB Ivan Williams have all proven to be good players. Chris Simms and DE Cory Redding, the two gems of the class, also have been impact players while converted TE Marcus Tubbs has gone from 230 pounds to 285 and a legit force at defensive tackle. On the down side, athletes O.J. McClintock and Artie Ellis never made much of a dent on the depth chart, nor has touted OT Alfio Randall. In total, it's a very good class, but not among the top three.

UCLA's group, meanwhile, has been mediocre. Cover corner Ricky Manning Jr. is the best Bruin from the class and should be all-Pac-10 in 2002, but aside from him and DT Rodney Leisle, TE Mike Seidman, LB Marcus Reese and RB Akil Harris, UCLA didn't get much juice out of a group that should've been the nucleus of a bowl team. Highly touted QB J.P. Losman, who enrolled early and promptly found himself lost on the depth chart, bailed to Tulane and has yet to do much there either, while rangy Jerry Owens, hailed as one of the country top-10 receiving targets also has been a mediocre.

The Georgia crew was highlighted by two stud receivers who brought nothing to the program -- Reggie Brown and Durell Robinson. Some analysts called Brown the top receiving prospect in the country and the SEC's prime recruit. The best signee turned out to be dynamic JC linebacker Kendrell Bell (2001's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year), while DE Charles Grant probably will be a better pro than he was in Athens in a career shortened by injury. WR Damian Gary has picked up some of the slack for the two washout wideouts, and OL Kevin Breedlove is an SEC-caliber player.

Obviously, Notre Dame's class has been a pretty big dud. Safety Gerome Sapp and DT Cedric Hilliard are solid players, although not all-American caliber, which, considering both were touted as two of the overall top 10 in the nation, is disappointing. Especially from Hillard who really has not been an impact guy. Jamar Taylor, a WR and CB Albert Poree, two players expected to bring some much-needed play-making ability to South Bend, are now at Texas A&M and Georgia Tech. Jeff Faine, a tough lineman and speedster Julius Jones have been the top of what hasn't even shaped up as a a top 25 class.

Alabama did better than Notre Dame and UCLA and probably deserves to be in the top 10 based solely on the exploits of LB Saleem Rasheed, big-play DL Jarret Johnson and DL Kenny King, who are the nucleus of a very tough D. The rest of the class, especially disappointing OT Dante Ellington (battled weight problems) and WR Antonio Carter (battled academic problems), though has been very hit-and-miss.

In retrospect, the top three classes should've been Miami, Florida and Oklahoma. The Canes group (then ranked No. 14) had JC project-turned-franchise OT Bryant McKinnie; unheralded TB Clinton Portis, who everyone else recruited as a CB; shutdown corner/return whiz Philip Buchanon and co-Rose Bowl MVPs Ken Dorsey and WR Andre Johnson. Ironically enough, the two marquee prospects OT Vernon Carey and TB-WR Jason Geathers, still have yet to make much of a contribution, while DB Julian Battle never qualified and has resurfaced after a JC trip as a budding star for Tennessee.

UF landed stud QB Rex Grossman, game-breaking WRs Jabar Gaffney and Taylor Jacobs along with slick CB-KR Lito Sheppard. Tron LaFavor, Bobby McCray, Bam Hardmon, Matt Farrior and Mike Nattiel all have been solid players giving some teeth of the Gator D.

The shocker class has turned out to be Oklahoma's. Then rated No. 36, the Sooners signed four QBs, three of whom have been impact guys. Heisman runner-up Josh Heupel was a super college QB, while converted QB turned DB Brandon Everage is an all-Big 12 type. Jason White's impact on the Sooners became obvious after he went down to injury this fall and the Sooner offense fell apart. Like Heupel, another key JC signee was linebacker Torrance Marshall. Other key recruits are CB Derrick Strait, WR Antwone Savage, S Matt McCoy and shifty TB Quentin Griffin.

FSU, which only signed 11 prospects, comes in at No. 4. DTs Darnell Dockett and Jeff Womble are all-ACC types and OLB Kendyll Pope should get some Butkus mention in 2002. Nick Maddox, widely pegged as one of the class's top three RBs, has been good, although not as dynamic as his rep indicated. The key to just how good this class becomes probably falls to the return of WR-QB Anquan Boldin, who showed loads of promise before missing all of 2001 to injury.

We'll go with Texas at No. 5. Georgia Tech, which got lost in all of the UGA hype, merits No. 6. The Jackets found legit stars in DE Greg Gathers (18 TFLs), LB Recardo Wimbush (93 tackles); S Jeremy Muyres (84 tackles) and DB Cory Collins (69 tackles) who spark a rapidly imposing defense. K Luke Manget already is an All-league talent while WR Will Glover is on the verge of becoming one. Return specialist Kelly Rhino is another plus.

Even though Joey Harrington was the franchise at Oregon, his game-breakers --speedy smurf wideouts Samie Parker and Keenan Howry -- came from the class of '99, so did a former Duck playmaker, JC transfer Marshaun Tucker, a two-year standout in Eugene. OG Joey Forster should be a four-year starter, while bulldog ILB Kevin Mitchell is the heart of the Duck defense. DE Quinn Dorsey (5 sacks) could be a double-digit sackman before he leaves Oregon.

Georgia, mentioned above, is No. 8 and Michigan -- on the strength of its number of solid signees -- is No. 9. QB John Navarre, RB B.J. Askew, linemen Demetrius Solomon, Tony Pape, Grant Bowman and Norman Boebert, pass rusher Shantee Orr and DBs Brandon Williams, Charles Drake and Jeremy LeSueur are all noteworthy. The Wolverine group could've been higher if blue-chipper Ronald Bellamy was anything close to his huge rep.

Unheralded Arizona, which rounds out this revised top 10, got four of its top six players from this class: LB Lance Briggs, WR Bobby Wade, CB Michael Jolivette and LB Joe Siofele.

Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com.