The 2019 Ky recruiting class was the best in rivals' era, which school won?

The 2019 Kentucky recruiting class was far and away the best in the state's history.

For UK it was the best of times. For UL it was the worst of times.

Nebraska invaded the blue grass and absconded with its crown jewel.

Virginia Tech snatched a lineman from UK's backyard.

Once again, the mighty Crimson Tide rolled in and left with a highly sought after offensive lineman.

Purdue and Jeff Brohm took the best receiver out of Louisville for the second consecutive year.

Stanford flipped the state's best defensive lineman from the Michigan Wolverines.

Cincinnati was the lone Group-of-Five school to pluck a four star out of the Blue Grass, Western Kentucky kept one of the best local players home, and Miami of Ohio quietly secured four quality commitments from Kentucky prospects including three offensive lineman.

While a few schools were able to pilfer individual players from the state, Kentucky dominated its home turf securing five of the top fifteen prospects in the state.

2019 State Champs: KENTUCKY

Kentucky landed four star edge rushers JJ Weaver and Jared Casey in addition to three star receiver Demontae Crumes, three star linebacker Shawnkell Knight-Goff, and three star center Eli Cox. These five prospects all have tremendous upside but of these five Jared Casey has the most ability to become an impact freshman due to the fact he is an early enrollee, already has an SEC ready frame, UK's vacancies at his position, and his niche ability to rush the passer. Knight-Goff is also a high upside prospect who flew under the radar this season in part because he's a low key personality type and also because Doss lost former head coach Phil Hawkins to Apollo and Doss was terrible this season. JJ Weaver could also see some time as a freshman due to his length but he is probably a year or two away from become an impact player. Demontae Crumes has great speed and should be able to take the top off of defenses but he is raw as a route runner and will have to improve in that area before he becomes a major player in the UK offensive scheme. Eli Cox is hard nosed lineman from West Jessamine who adds good depth to Kentucky's class and should be a contributor down the road.

2019 Kentucky State Chumps: LOUISVILLE

Louisville could not have picked a worse time to have a nuclear meltdown, lose ten games, and have all but one of the former staff members fired but here we are. Kentucky's 2019 class was unprecedentedly stacked with talent and the 'Cards managed to land one in-state prospect, Aidan Robbins from duPont Manual. The state of Louisville football and this year's weak recruiting class falls on the shoulders of Bobby Petrino and his former staff. When Scott Satterfield took the helm, he evaluated the prospects who committed to Louisville and purged a large number of them, including in-state prospects Jack Randolph and Anthony Adkins. Randolph ended up at Western Kentucky and Adkins signed with Army today. Other prospects ended up at Ohio, Rutgers, and Southern Mississippi. The Petrino regime had taken commitments from players who all ended up with group of five schools which speaks volumes as to their ability to evaluate talent. Satterfield and his crew have a tremendous uphill battle to restore the 'Cards to their former Power-5 status enjoyed when Lamar Jackson was running amuck threw ACC defenses.

2019 Kentucky State Champ Runner-Up: NEBRASKA

Many schools came in and cherry picked one player from the state but Nebraska signed the state's Mr. Football winner, Wandale Robinson. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound playmaker will be an immediate impact player in Scott Frost's offense. Last season a diminutive prospect from Kentucky set the college football world on fire in the form of Rondale Moore, who was the focal point of Jeff Brohm's offense. Robinson is in a similar situation at Nebraska and could have a similar impact on Big Ten defenses in the same way as Moore.

Little Big Man(Group of Five State Champs): Miami of Ohio

The Red Hawks swooped in and grabbed 3-star offensive tackle prospect Sam Vaughn for Lexington Catholic. Vaughn is 6-foot-7, 290-pound project who switched to football from basketball as a junior and is still learning the game. He could end up being a huge win for Miami of Ohio if he continues to develop, he has the frame to become an NFL player but he has to learn the game. They also signed 6-foot-6, 290-pound offensive tackle Ben Jackson from George Rogers Clark as well as 6-foot-5, 315-pound offensive guard Nathan Jacobs from Collins High School in Shelbyville. Not all of their commits from Kentucky are lineman however, Jack Coldiron is a 6-foot-4, 215-pound receiver from Covington Catholic who could end up at tight end.

Honorable Mention:

The following out of state teams signed one blue chip recruit from Kentucky and therefore merit an honorable mention.

Stanford - Stephen Herron will play on the edge for Stanford's defense and could contribute as a true freshman but will likely make an impact by his second year in the system.

Purdue - Milton Wright will combine with four star Indiana receiver David Bell to provide Jeff Brohm's offense two dangerous rooks who will open up space underneath for Freshman All American slot receiver Rondale Moore. Purdue won the state of Kentucky last year and they continue to be an invasive force.

Virginia Tech - Bryan Hudson committed to Virginia Tech in the summer of 2018 and never wavered. Hudson was not Virginia Tech's foray into Kentucky territory but it was their first victory. Hudson will most likely redshirt as a freshman because he suffered a freak knee injury over the holidays and will need time to recuperate.

Notre Dame - Jacob Lacey isn't the most imposing looking defensive tackles you will ever see but he is very crafty and was highly effective in the middle of South Warren's state championship defense. The longtime Irish commit figures to be a run stuffer for Notre Dame in years to come.

Cincinnati - 6-foot-8, Cameron Jones was one of the most interesting prospects to follow over the last two seasons. He is projected to play offensive tackle at the next level but Cincinnati will give him a shot to compete as a QB but if that doesn't work out the understanding between both parties is that he will move to tackle.

Alabama - Alabama has raided Kentucky again for one if its most sought after prospects in the form of Glasgow offensive tackle Tanner Bowles. Bowles has the frame and athletic ability to make us look bad for ranking him asa three star if he buys in and thrives in Alabama's program.

Western Kentucky - The Toppers landed commitments from three star South Warren safety Clayton Bush, highly productive two-star DL Ricky Barber from Doss, former Louisville offensive guard commit Jack Randolph from two time state champion Franklin Simpson high school as well as his RB Tre Bass. The Toppers also landed a sleeper prospect with high upside in 6-foot-3, 180-pound WR Dalvin Smith from Glasgow. Last but not least, WKU landed one of the best long snappers in the country in Mitchell Harralson.

Middle Tennessee State - Landed hyper productive 2-star wideout Marquel Tinsley from Daviess County as well as Beechwood offensive guard Adam Derry.

Sleepers to Watch:

Marshall secured the signature of 6-foot-4, 250-pound defensive end Jayshaun Coffman under prop-8 rules. If he can do the work in the classroom to become eligible in 2020, Marshall may have very well secured the services of a three year starter.

Trel Riley is a ball hawking defensive back who has all the upside in the world unfortunately he isn't eligible and could end up at JUCO. If he can focus on getting his act together in the classroom he could emerge as one of the more sought after JUCO defensive backs in the 2021 class.