A strange name is popping up on the top-25 recruiting lists this Wednesday morning. This mystery team is situated just behind teams like Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Clemson and Florida State in the latest rankings. It is even ahead of the likes of Oklahoma, Nebraska, Tennessee and Miami on some of the lists.

After checking rankings from MaxPreps.com, 247Sports.com and Rivals.com, they all agree to some extent: That team -- Vanderbilt -- is making its presence felt on the recruiting trail.

And the Commodores, who are ranked No. 17 by MaxPreps.com in the latest team recruiting rankings, don’t seem to be slowing much as the calendar turns to August. They picked up a commitment on Tuesday from CB Ryan White, ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 15 CB in the nation by Scout.com. White had offers from teams such as Arkansas and Michigan. Similarly, quarterback Johnathon McCrary, who committed in February, chose the ‘Dores over traditional powers Notre Dame, Florida State, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas.

That shows how far they have come on the recruiting trail. After years of competing with the likes of Wake Forest, Furman, Army and Western Kentucky for recruits, they are now going toe-to-toe with, and sometimes beating, the big boys.

How are the Commodores doing it?

A little more success on the field is helping. They made only their fifth bowl appearance in school history last season, and came within one score of beating Florida, Georgia, Arkansas and Tennessee. But that can’t be the only thing. A 6-7 record with a loss to Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl is an improvement, but there are teams behind them in the recruiting rankings that did much better.

That’s why Franklin, who uses helicopters to aid his recruiting and tweets up a storm, is focusing on everything else he can offer at Vanderbilt: a great city, a top-notch education and improving facilities.

“We have so many things to sell,” Franklin said at SEC media days. “If it’s the right kid from the right family, it’s not really a hard sell. It’s a no-brainer, to be honest with you. I think a lot of times we spend, as adults, time focused on the past and history. That’s not important to them. They want to know what the future holds for them.”

The future appears to hold good things for the 'Dores if they can keep Franklin around. There are still challenges ahead. For one, they must fill numerous holes on defense in 2012 left by departed stars LB Chris Marve, CB Casey Hayward and DE Tim Fugger. The improvement Franklin is looking for may not come overnight, but his team is heading in the right direction.

They’re not on any preseason top-25 lists heading into 2012, but if they continue to appear on top-25 recruiting lists, it might not be long until they are.

 

For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis from SEC bloggers Larry Hartstein and Daniel Lewis, follow @CBSSportsSEC.