Nothing rocky about this Vols recruiting class

Tennessee traveled far and wide to assemble one of the nation’s best recruiting classes.

The Volunteers signed 27 players Wednesday, the first day of the national signing period, and went into Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida and Washington D.C. for topflight prospects.

Tennessee had the No. 1 class according to Scout.com/Super Preps editor Allen Wallace and Max Emfinger, two of the leading recruiting analysts.

Tom Lemming of ESPN.com and College Sports Television had the Vols behind only Nebraska.

Rivals.com was expecting a late surge by Southern California to put the Trojans in the top spot by the time final announcements were made, just ahead of Oklahoma and Tennessee.

The Vols haven’t had a class regarded this highly since 2000, when coach Phillip Fulmer brought in a group that included linebacker Kevin Burnett, offensive linemen Jason Respert and Michael Munoz, tight end Jason Witten and quarterback Casey Clausen.

Defending champion Southern California, which was the consensus No. 1 on signing day last year, came on strong late and had a chance to add back-to-back top-rated recruiting classes to its back-to-back national titles.

USC landed two of the nation’s best linebackers – Brian Cushing (N.J.) and Luther Brown (Calif.) – early on signing day and still were in the running to sign two or three big-time prospects late Wednesday, including wide receiver DeSean Jackson.

“It looked like it might not have been their year, but it turned on a dime,” Rivals.com’s Bobby Burton said of the Trojans.