National Signing Day 2012 has ended, and the Missouri Tigers have set their recruiting class as they leap head-first into the SEC battlefield for the first time ever. Top prospect Dorial Green-Beckham headlines the 18-man class without a doubt, as this billboard announcement is proof of that, but Missouri still couldn't quite crack the top 25 national list. Bud Elliott of SB Nation put together a top 25 list for college football recruiting, and the Tigers fit under the "Just Missed" category of teams, which also included the Arkansas Razorbacks program that DGB spured in favor of Missouri.
According to the ESPN rankings, Missouri assembled the eigth-best class in the SEC (No. 20 nationally), coming in behind the Auburn Tigers (No. 17), South Carolina Gamecocks (No. 16), Texas A&M Aggies (No. 15), LSU Tigers (No. 14), Georgia Bulldogs (No. 5), Florida Gators (No. 4) and Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 1). SB Nation's Missouri athletics blog, Rock M Nation, is still excited about the talent coming in:
A four-year recruitment came to an end today when Dorial Green-Beckham committed to the University of Missouri at 9:17 a.m. today at Springfield Hillcrest High School. While Missouri's transition to the SEC (and the loss of Barry Odom) has resulted in a bit of an up-and-down class overall, the star power is strong with Green-Beckham, Evan Boehm, Maty Mauk and others.
If nothing else, this sends an incredible message that Missouri can continue to bring in the type of talent they need to continue a run that has included 48 wins in five years. The transition was awkward, and there were far more de-commits than Mizzou is used to seeing, but there is plenty of reason to be excited.
Here is the complete list of recruiting class, along with links to game footage and other notes:
We Are Mizzou: Evan Boehm
We Are Mizzou: Torey Boozer
We Are Mizzou: Harold Brantley
We Are Mizzou: Levi Copelin
We Are Mizzou: Chaston Cuffee
We Are Mizzou: Sean Culkin
We Are Mizzou: John Gibson
We Are Mizzou: Markus Golden
We Are Mizzou: Dorial Green-Beckham
We Are Mizzou: Russell Hansbrough
We Are Mizzou: Rickey Hatley
We Are Mizzou: Maty Mauk
We Are Mizzou: Donavin Newsome
We Are Mizzou: Michael Scherer
We Are Mizzou: Morgan Steward
We Are Mizzou: Ka'Ra Stewart
We Are Mizzou: Jordan Williams
We Are Mizzou: Evan Winston
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For more in-depth coverage of Missouri recruiting, head over to Rock M Nation. And for more coverage of the national recruiting scene, check out SB Nation's college football recruiting news hub.