Does having a highly ranked recruiting class translate into success on the field? Proof is in the pudding, or in this case, in the hands of the pollsters. Comparing ESPN.com recruiting expert Tom Lemming's Top 10 rankings from 1998-2002 with the coaches poll over the next five years, ESPN.com looks back at the Top 10 classes from 1998-2002. Though, we realize some players leave early and some coaches leave, this is how the classes worked out.

Tracking Lemming's Top 10 Classes of 1998
Recruiting Rank	Head Coach	Class Catch	1998 poll	1999 poll	2000 poll	2001 poll	2002 poll
1. Michigan	Lloyd Carr	Drew Henson	No. 12	No. 5	No. 10	No. 20	No. 9
2. UCLA	Bob Toledo	DeShaun Foster	No. 8	---	---	---	---
3. Notre Dame	Bob Davie	Rocky Boiman	No. 22	---	No. 16	---	No. 17
4. Alabama	Mike DuBose	Freddie Milons	---	No. 8	---	---	---
5. Florida St.	Bobby Bowden	Malcolm Tatum	No. 3	No. 1	No. 4	No. 15	No. 23
6. Georgia	Jim Donnan	Nate Hybl	No. 14	No. 16	No. 17	No. 25	No. 3
7. LSU	Gerry DiNardo	Kendrick Allen	---	---	---	No. 8	---
8. Florida	Steve Spurrier	Mike Pearson	No. 6	No. 14	No. 11	No. 3	No. 24
9. UNC	Carl Torbush	Julius Peppers	---	---	---	---	---
10. Tennessee	Phil Fulmer	John Henderson	No. 1	No. 9	No. 25	No. 4	---

Tracking Lemming's Top 10 Classes of 1999
Recruiting Rank	Head Coach	Class Catch	1999 poll	2000 poll	2001 poll	2002 poll	2003 poll
1. Texas	Mack Brown	Chris Simms	No. 23	No. 12	No. 5	No. 7
2. Georgia	Jim Donnan	Reggie Brown	No. 16	No. 17	No. 25	No. 3
3. Notre Dame	Bob Davie	Jeff Faine	---	No. 16	---	No. 17
4. Ohio St.	John Cooper	Curtis Crosby	---	---	---	No. 1
5. Alabama	Mike DuBose	Saleem Rasheed	No. 8	---	---
6. Texas A&M	R.C. Slocum	Ty Warren	No. 20	---	---	---
7. UCLA	Bob Toledo	Marcus Reese	---	---	---	---
8. Michigan	Lloyd Carr	Jeremy LaSueur	No. 5	No. 10	No. 20	No. 9
9. LSU	Garry DiNardo	Treverance Faulk	---	---	No. 8	---
10. Florida St.	Bobby Bowden	Nick Maddox	No. 1	No. 4	No. 15	No. 23

Tracking Lemming's Top 10 Classes of 2000
Recruiting Rank	Head Coach	Class Catch	2000 poll	2001 poll	2002 poll	2003 poll	2004 poll
1. Florida	Steve Spurrier	Brock Berlin	No. 11	No. 3	No. 24
2. Tennessee	Phil Fulmer	Michael Munoz	No. 25	No. 4	---
3. Alabama	Mike DuBose	Mac Tyler	---	---	---
4. Florida St.	Bobby Bowden	Travis Johnson	No. 4	No. 15	No. 23
5. Texas	Mack Brown	B.J. Johnson	No. 12	No. 5	No. 7
6. Ohio St.	John Cooper	Sam Maldanado	---	---	No. 1
7. Penn St.	Joe Paterno	Chris McKelvy	---	---	No. 15
8. Michigan St.	Bobby Williams	Charles Rogers	---	---	---
9. Notre Dame	Bob Davie	Abram Elam	No. 16	---	No. 17
10. USC	Paul Hackett	Chris Howard	---	---	No. 4

Tracking Lemming's Top 10 Classes of 2001
Recruiting Rank	Head Coach	Class Catch	2001 poll	2002 poll	2003 poll	2004 poll	2005 poll
1. Florida St.	Bobby Bowden	Joe Mauer	No. 15	No. 23
2. Michigan	Lloyd Carr	Kelly Baraka	No. 20	No. 9
3. LSU	Nick Saban	Ben Wilkerson	No. 8	---
4. Texas	Mack Brown	Cedric Benson	No. 5	No. 7
5. Tennessee	Phil Fulmer	Jabari Davis	No. 4	---
6. Oklahoma	Bob Stoops	Tommie Harris	No. 6	No. 5
7. Miami	Larry Coker	Antrel Rolle	No. 1	No. 2
8. Washington	Rick Neuheisel	Reggie Williams	No. 19	---
9. Clemson	Tommy Bowden	Roscoe Crosby	---	---
10. Wisconsin	Barry Alvarez	Anttaj Hawthorne	---	---

Tracking Lemming's Top 10 Classes of 2002
Recruiting Rank	Head Coach	Class Catch	2002 poll	2003 poll	2004 poll	2005 poll	2006 poll
1. Texas	Mack Brown	Vince Young	No. 7
2. Ohio State	Jim Tressel	Maurice Clarett	No. 1
3. Miami	Larry Coker	Eric Winston	No. 2
4. Tennessee	Phil Fulmer	Gerald Riggs Jr.	---
5. Virginia	Al Groh	Ahmad Brooks	No. 25
6. Florida State	Bobby Bowden	Lorenzo Booker	No. 23
7. UCLA	Bob Toledo	Marcedes Lewis	---
8. S. Carolina	Lou Holtz	Ricardo Hurley	---
9. Michigan	Lloyd Carr	Gabe Watson	No. 9
10. USC	Pete Carroll	Hershel Dennis	No. 4