THE RANKINGS SO FAR - No. 15 - The class of 2011 | No. 14 - The class of 2012 | No. 13 - The class of 2015 | No. 12 - The class of 2005 | No. 11 - The class of 2004 | No. 10 - The class of 2014 | No. 9 - The class of 2003 | No. 8 - The class of 2010 | No. 7 - The class of 2009 | No. 6 - The class of 2008 | No. 5 - The class of 2016 | No. 4 - The class of 2017 | No. 3 - The class of 2013

The rankings in this countdown are all done with the benefit of hindsight. We look at the recruiting classes, consider how those players did in their college careers and rank the classes accordingly.

These rankings are done after the fact; as such, they look a bit different than the rankings that were done when the players were still recruits.

But in those pre-college rankings, one class from the 15 between 2003 and 2017 ranked the highest, and it's the class that checks in at No. 2 on this countdown:

The class of 2006.

That class continued a theme of the top 5: the first full classes. Pat Narduzzi's first full class (the class of 2016) was No. 5. Paul Chryst's first full class (the class of 2013) was No. 3. And now we have Dave Wannstedt's first full class, a 27-man class that ranked No. 21 nationally.

No Pitt class has been ranked higher in the current Rivals.com era.

This was the class that was built on the momentum of Wannstedt's hiring. The Pittsburgh guy had come back to Pitt to return the Panthers to glory; that's how it was sold, and the sales pitch worked. With a heavy emphasis on western Pa., Wannstedt hit the ground running during those halcyon days before his Pitt teams started playing games.

Here's what the 2006 class looked like on Signing Day.

When you sign 27 players, you're inevitably going to have some misses and some attrition and the 2006 class certainly has instances of both. But the ceiling on the 2006 class is pretty outstanding, producing as many legitimate stars as almost any other Pitt class this century.

The success started at the top. Pitt signed seven four-star recruits in 2006, and five of them became significant contributors: Jeff Otah, John Malecki, Dorin Dickerson, Nate Byham and Aaron Berry.

Add to that group Jason Pinkston and Greg Romeus as two lower-rated recruits who were stars at Pitt, and you have a top seven in the class that's as strong as anything we've seen in this countdown.

Beyond those seven, there were even more starters, like Ricky Gary and Jovani Chappel and TJ Porter and Joe Thomas. Plus, there were some solid contributors like Tyler Tkach and Lowell Robinson.

Granted, those names make up for roughly half the class, which doesn't speak to a great hit rate. But in addition to having very good individual careers at Pitt, those guys also contributed to the Panthers' most success season in nearly 30 years, as the 10-3 team from 2009 drew a lot of its success from the efforts of players in the 2006 class.