1) Did Texas A&M and Missouri’s recruiting classes improve due to SEC membership?  If so, how much?

Chris Coleman: That’s a great question, and the jury is still out.  Those two schools jumped to the SEC last summer, when 2013 recruiting had already begun.  They haven’t been able to tout SEC membership for a full recruiting cycle yet, so we’ll have a better idea after their 2013 class.  That said, there’s nothing stopping us from comparing their 2012 class to their previous classes.

First, let’s look at Texas A&M.  We are going by the Rivals.com team rankings.

2012: #15 overall, one 5-star, six 4-stars
2011: #27 overall, zero 5-stars, three 4-stars
2010: #17 overall, zero 5-stars, nine 4-stars
2009: #22 overall, one 5-star, four 4-stars
2008: #16 overall, zero 5-star, seven 4-stars

...