Penn State has had its fair share of great players over the years.
Since Scout.com began ranking the nation's best recruiting classes in 2002, Penn State has seen its group of players fall within the Top 25 six times.
While some of Penn State's classes have been recognized as top-tier, others have not. Regardless, the program has still found a way to win 98 games since 2002 with the players they had—even if the NCAA refuses to recognize them.
This list was not based on national recruiting rankings at the time the players signed their letters of intent. It wouldn't make sense to do it this way, since the rankings aren't indicative of how the players panned out.
Instead, the classes were judged by the contributions each player made at Penn State over the course of their career. The more key players, they higher the ranking.
Here are the Nittany Lions' five best recruiting classes of the BCS era.