ANALYSIS: In 20 years of Rivals rankings, how the Cane classes stack up

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The Rivals.com top No. 1 classes in history were ranked this week, with Rivals.com's rankings turning 20 years old.

Miami had no top-rated classes in the last 20 years, so the Canes aren't represented.

But we wanted to take a closer look, based on the same points system (points awarded for five stars and four stars only), at where UM would fit in with its last 20 classes.

For references to the top rated Rivals classes, Alabama had nine on the list, USC five, Georgia three, with Florida, LSU and Texas making it once apiece. Bama (2017) took the top spot with 111 points using the above point system (each 5 star in a class worth 5 points; each 4 star worth 4 points), with USC (2005) No. 20 with 55 points.

Miami's 2018 class under Mark Richt would have cracked the list at No. 19, with Randy Shannon's 2008 class and Larry Coker’s 2002 group tied at No. 18 with 70 points.

We break it down below:

2 five stars (Marcus Forston, Arthur Brown)

15 four stars (Tommy Streeter, Brandon Washington, Jeremy Lewis, Jordan Futch, Jacory Harris, Marcus Robinson, Davon Johnson, Aldarius Johnson, Sean Spence, Travis Benjamin, CJ Holton, Vaughn Telemaque, Benjamin Jones, Ramon Buchanon, Brandon Harris)

TOTAL POINTS: 70

THOUGHTS: This was supposed to be the amazing class that brought Miami back to the top of the nation. It didn't happen, of course. At the five-star level Forston was good but never dominant, and Brown wound up transferring. The four stars had a lot of talent and guys that contributed most were Streeter, Washington, Harris, Aldarius Johnson, Spence, Benjamin, Telemaque and Harris. But previous and future classes didn't help out with the depth needed to make this a championship caliber program. And there were no bona fide stars that were at the two- or three-star level in this class, which didn't help considering the team signed eight two-stars and eight three-stars.

2 five stars (Devin Hester, Ryan Moore)

15 four stars (JR Mounts, Marc Guillon, Glenn Sharpe, Alex Pou, John Wood, Akieem Jolla, Terrell Walden, Kareem Brown, Jon Peattie, Greg Threat, Nate Harris, Darnell Jenkins, Baraka Atkins, Eric Winston, Curtis Justus)

TOTAL POINTS: 70

THOUGHTS: The five stars always get the attention, and Moore was solid but not great. And Hester could have been so much more but never got really comfortable on offense or defense. Of the four stars it was Sharpe, Brown, Peattie, Jenkins, Atkins and Winston that earned the most starts, and they were a decent group. At the three-star level you got contributions from Brandon Merriweather and Sinorice Moss. So add that up and you've got 10 contributors out of a class of 24. That's a 41.6 percent success rate, and these guys weren't stars at the college level for the most part.

2 five stars (Lorenzo Lingard, Mark Pope)

13 four stars (DJ Scaife, Nesta Silvera, Cam Harris, Brian Hightower, Gurvan Hall, Cleveland Reed, Brevin Jordan, Will Mallory, Greg Rousseau, Al Blades, John Campbell, Jarren Williams, Marquez Ezzard)

TOTAL POINTS: 62

THOUGHTS: While this class ranks No. 19 in the nation compared to the top rated Rivals classes the last 20 years based on pure points, in reality it was a class that just didn't really pan out. Rousseau starred for one season, and Jordan also lived up to his potential. And yes there are guys who start like Scaife, Silvera, Harris, Hall, Mallory, Blades and Campbell ... but are any of them dominant as of now? And Hightower, Williams and Ezzard transferred out.

3 five stars (Tyler McMeans, Lance Leggett, Willie Williams)

10 four stars (Kellen Heard, Charlie Jones, Bobby Washington, Kirby Freeman, Dwayne Hendricks, Andrew Johnson, Lovon Ponder, Rhyan Anderson, James Bryant, Calais Campbell)

TOTAL POINTS: 55

THOUGHTS: If you want to trace back the fall from the top of the nation for UM, it's classes like this. Miami ranked No. 4 in the nation and had 28 signees, but where are the difference makers? None of the 5-stars panned out as they were expected to, with Williams a huge disappointment. And of the four stars it was only Campbell that made a big impact. The three stars included Derron Thomas, Joe Joseph, Antonio Dixon, Jonathan St. Pierre and Romeo Davis, but they weren't dominant, and the rest of the sub-four stars never made much of an impression.

2 five stars (Kenny Phillips, Reggie Youngblood)

11 four stars (AJ Trump, Randy Phillips, Dajleon Farr, Antonio Dixon, Courtney Harris, Demetri Stewart, Spencer Adkins, Bruce Johnson, Luqman Abdallah, Richard Gordon, Chris Barney)

TOTAL POINTS: 54

THOUGHTS: Miami ranked No. 7 in the nation in 2005, but who out of these guys were really stars? Kenny Phillips was excellent, yes, but then you're talking about guys like Randy Phillips, Spencer Adkins and Bruce Johnson. Those are good players, but not great. And the rest are just guys. There were 17 players in this class, so the vast majority were four stars and above.

1 five star (James Williams)

12 four stars (Cody Brown, Laurence Seymore, Thaddius Franklin, Elijah Arroyo, Jacolby George, Romello Brinson, Kamren Kinchens, Jabari Ishmael, Brashard Smith, Leonard Taylor, Chase Smith, Jake Garcia)

TOTAL POINTS: 53

THOUGHTS: This class is TBA since it's so recent, but certainly Garcia showed in the spring he can be a future star, and other highly touted guys like Smith and Taylor could be in line for major roles as freshmen. This could wind up being an outstanding class, but again we just don't know yet.

13 four stars (Dom Mammarelli, Don Chaney, Keshawn Washington, Tyler Van Dyke, Xavier Restrepo, Jalen Rivers, Elijah Roberts, Mike Redding, Chantz Williams, Jaylan Knighton, Jalen Harrell, Isaiah Dunson, Avantae Williams)

TOTAL POINTS: 52

THOUGHTS: This class really has yet to emerge, but guys like Chaney and Knighton had flashes last year at running back, and Van Dyke will compete with Jake Garcia to be the QB of the future once D'Eriq King is gone. Avantae Williams missed last year with injury but showed this spring he needs to be on the field. The others in the class are also young and working to get into the rotation. On the surface it appears to be a very solid group.

2 five stars (Kyle Wright, Greg Olsen)

10 four stars (Terrell Walden, Darnell Jenkins, Willie Cooper, Andrew Bain, Jon Beason, Bryan Pata, Eric Moncur, Vegas Franklin, Tavares Gooden, Tyrone Moss)

TOTAL POINTS: 50

THOUGHTS: This was a decent group led by Olsen, but Wright was supposed to be great; he was just okay. And led by Beason it was a decent 4-star group (Jenkins, Pata, Moncur, Gooden and Moss were all solid players). Glenn Cook, Brian Monroe and Derrick Morse were the best of the rest. So it was a decent but not great class.

1 five star (Ray Ray Armstrong)

9 four stars (Olivier Vernon, Luther Robinson, Mike James, Brandon McGee, Brandon Washington, Jamal Reid, Lamar Miller, Jermaine Johnson, Dyron Dye)

TOTAL POINTS: 41

THOUGHTS: There was a decent amount of top end talent in this group even though it was a small class of under 20. Armstrong, Vernon, James, McGee, Washington and Miller were all contributors. The issue with this group was that none of the 3-stars panned out really well, with maybe AJ Highsmith the best of the rest of a group that was rounded out by underachievers like Cory White, Prince Kent, Curtis Porter, Jared Wheeler, Shayon Green, Billy Sanders and Stephen Plein.

10 four stars (LeSean McCloy, Sam Shields, Josh Holmes, Javarris James, Dedrick Epps, Jason Fox, Tervaris Johnson, Ryan Hill, Kylan Robinson, Orlando Franklin)

TOTAL POINTS: 40

THOUGHTS: The Coker era wound down with a class of 11 four-stars, but of course McCoy never stepped on campus. And of the rest who was a real standout? Franklin was the best of the bunch, and Shields was better in the pros than in college. 3-star PK Matt Bosher was a find, as was 3-star Colin McCarthy. But there wasn't a lot of quality depth in this group, which affected future years.

10 four stars (Navaughn Donaldson, N'Kosi Perry, Deejay Dallas, DJ Johnson, Trajan Bandy, De'Andre Wilder, Kai-Leon Herbert, Jhavonte Dean (JUCO), Jeff Thomas, Mike Harley)

TOTAL POINTS: 40

THOUGHTS: Donaldson, Dallas, Bandy and Harley were talented recruits who contributed a lot ... and Donaldson and Harley are still contributing. Perry and Johnson transferred, Thomas had issues and at one point left the team but did flash at times. And Wilder retired due to injury while Herbert was a miss. Of the lower rated guys only Jon Garvin really panned out, with an argument that can also be made for Corey Gaynor and Amari Carter. But for a class of 24 commits, this wasn't a great haul.

2 five stars (Tracy Howard, Duke Johnson)

7 four stars (Angelo Jean-Louis, Raphael Kirby, Ereck Flowers, Jelani Hamilton, Malcolm Lewis, Tyriq McCord, Deon Bush, Robert Lockhart)

TOTAL POINTS: 38

THOUGHTS: This was a huge class numbers-wise with 33 signees, so based on that alone you'd think it would rank highly on this list. But it was a lot of names and not a lot of high star guys. UM did a great job turning Howard late, and certainly he and Johnson had their chances to shine at UM. Of the four stars really the only true standouts were Flowers and Bush. And as you go through the lower rated guys you see why Golden failed at UM since this huge class had so many misses with guys like Gray Crow, David Thompson, Larry Hope, Preston Dewey, Jake O'Donnell, Vernon Davis, Dwayne Hoilett, Josh Witt, Nate Dortch, Danny Dillard, Gabriel Terry, Jacoby Briscoe, Antonio Crawford, Dequan Ivery and Jawand Blue. Add in Jean-Louis and Lockhart as highly rated misses and that's 17 guys that never panned out. That's sometimes how many kids a program takes in an entire class. Ouch.

1 five star (Chad Thomas)

8 four stars (Trevor Darling, Joe Yearby, KC McDermott, Brad Kaaya, Braxton Berrios, Anthony Moten, Demetrius Jackson, Kiy Hester)

TOTAL POINTS: 37

THOUGHTS: Most of the above were starters (Moten and Jackson were primarily role guys and Hester transferred). Were any of the 4-star guys in this class bona fide stars? Not so much. Among the lower rated guys were Chris Herndon, Malik Rosier, Trent Harris and David Njoku. So Thomas and Njoku were probably the biggest impact Canes while they were here, but you can argue Thomas never lived up to his potential.

9 four stars (Jermaine Grace, Kevin Olsen, Artie Burns, Jamal Carter, Beau Sandland, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Stacy Coley, Corn Elder, Derrick Griffin)

TOTAL POINTS: 36

THOUGHTS: Burns, Carter, Muhammad, Coley and Elder had starting roles, with Olsen, Griffin and Sandland the misses here. The bigger problem here was the lower ranked guys really never had major roles, although one had a lot of talent but never got to really show it - Gus Edwards transferred to Rutgers after starting only one game as a redshirt junior at UM. He had a solid senior season at Rutgers and is doing well in the NFL.

2 five stars (Seantrel Henderson, Latwan Anderson)

6 four stars (Tavadis Glenn, Malcolm Bunche, Travis Williams, Storm Johnson, Eduardo Clements, Brandon Linder)

TOTAL POINTS: 34

THOUGHTS: Henderson was a huge addition, but Anderson never lasted. And of the four-stars there really wasn't a standout even though Linder did enjoy some success. It really was the 3 stars that made this class decent, with that group including Shane McDermott, Allen Hurns, Jon Feliciano, Clive Walford and Stephen Morris.

1 five star (Graig Cooper)

6 four stars (Damien Berry, Jermaine McKenzie, Doug Wiggins, Robert Marve, Allen Bailey, Demarcus Van Dyke)

TOTAL POINTS: 29

THOUGHTS: On the heels of the Larry Coker era, this was a class of less than 20. Cooper was good but not five-star good, and of the four stars it was Bailey and Van Dyke that stood out. Marve was a major disappointment based on his hype. The 3 stars that panned out best were Adewale Ojomo and Leonard Hankerson. So not a great haul.

7 four stars (Cam Williams, Jeremiah Payton, Avery Huff, Keontra Smith, Jahfari Harvey, Jason Blissett, Christian Williams)

TOTAL POINTS: 28

THOUGHTS: As of now this looks like a pretty weak bunch. Payton has some rumors he might transfer, and Williams already left the program while Blissett retired. The others aren't difference makers right now. Of the lower rated guys it's Te'Cory Couch, Lou Hedley (JUCO), Jakai Clark and Zion Nelson that have really come through as starters. And Nelson has All-American potential.

7 four stars (Jack Allison, Shaq Quarterman, Dionte Mullins, Sam Bruce, Joe Jackson, Romeo Finley, Ahmmon Richards)

TOTAL POINTS: 28

THOUGHTS: Richt's class was hampered coming out of the Al Golden era (with Larry Scott the interim coach). There were 19 signees and not a lot of depth although Quarterman, Jackson and Richards (prior to injury) were really good, and lower rated guys like Mike Pinckney and Travis Homer were also solid contributors.

7 four stars (Tyree St. Louis, Mark Walton, Scott Patchan, Bar Milo, Michael Jackson, Jerome Washington, Lawrence Cager)

TOTAL POINTS: 28

THOUGHTS: St. Louis, Walton, Jackson and Cager could have cases made that they came through well as Canes, but that's it. Patchan left, Milo was a miss as was Washington. But some lower rated guys shined: RJ McIntosh, Jaquan Johnson, Sheldrick Redwine and Kendrick Norton.

2 four stars (Anthony Chickillo, Jalen Grimble)

TOTAL POINTS: 8

THOUGHTS: Coming off the failed Randy Shannon era it was slim pickings in terms of stars for the Canes in this class. Chickillo was probably playing out of position and too heavy at UM, and he wasn't happy about it, and Grimble was a miss. Lower ranked guys that did pan out? Phillip Dorsett and Denzel Perryman were two that turned into bigtime playmakers. So that helped with only 19 signed to this class. This was a low point for UM recruiting with the Canes ranking No. 36 in the nation.