Over the last half-decade, no one in the country has recruited like Alabama. With five consecutive classes ranked No. 1 in the nation, Alabama looks set to continue its run at the top of the nation for years to come.

While Steve Spurrier told the media, “Who knows the reason a young man picks a school?” there are some pretty obvious trails of breadcrumbs you can follow to see why Alabama has been so successful as of late.

The first, of course, is Nick Saban. Just a few years before Saban’s arrival in Tuscaloosa, Alamaba consistently ranked in the 30s or worse in the national recruiting rankings. In Saban’s first full year at the helm, the 2008 recruiting class, Alabama jumped to third in the nation. They’ve only fallen below that once since then, finishing No. 5 in 2010.

Before he arrived at Alabama, Saban had two things that everyone wants in a coach: championship pedigree and NFL experience. Having won a title at LSU, turning the Tigers into a consistent national contender in his stay in Baton Rouge, it was clear that Saban knew how to win before arriving at Alabama. He’s won three more titles in his eight years with the Crimson Tide.

His NFL experience has surely helped him know how to pick out elite talent and develop those players into NFL-ready stars; his 17 first round picks at Alabama surely speak to that.

All of the winning Saban has done at Alabama has brought cash along with it. That’s helped them to upgrade their football facilities and put them on par with some of the best in the country. While facilities aren’t a guarantee for recruiting success, they certainly don’t hurt, and few programs in the country are going to out-duel Alabama in the arms race.

There’s also Alabama’s storied history. From Frank Thomas to Bear Bryant to Gene Stallings and now Saban, Alabama has won in just about every decade since the SEC came to be. If high school prospects want to win, going to Alabama is a logical choice.

None of those edges for Alabama figures to go away anytime soon. The question becomes whether any team in the SEC can catch them. Who has a chance?

It’s hard to imagine an SEC coach in the near future matching what Saban brings to the table. Spurrier an excellent college coach with NFL experience (although he wasn’t great there), but he’s nearing the end of his career. Gus Malzahn and Bret Bielema have been mentioned as NFL candidates, but that doesn’t necessarily help their current schools. There aren’t a lot of Jim Harbaughs out there that could bring top-level college and professional experience to an SEC program, unless someone manages to swipe Philadelphia Eagles football czar Chip Kelly.

And, to be fair, no school in the SEC can match Alabama’s history championship-for-championship. Tennessee, Auburn and Georgia all have championships in their past, but none have been as consistently excellent as Alabama through the years despite a slew of legendary figures.

More recently, LSU and Florida have shoved themselves into the conversation; Miles built on the structure that Saban laid at LSU, winning a title in 2007, while Spurrier and Urban Meyer combined for three titles at Florida in the span of a little more than a decade. In recent years, those two schools, plus Tennessee since Butch Jones came aboard, have made their claim at the top of the recruiting rankings. If Tennessee can push its way to the top of the SEC East, they’ll have a good chance at maintaining a strong hold on recruiting and becoming a perennial top-five team in that regard. Auburn has a recent title in its past as well, and Malzahn has the Tigers in the conversation as an elite team yet again heading into 2015.

Several schools in the SEC have facilities just as palatial as Alabama’s. Texas A&M is chief among them, with a “Bat Cave” locker room, some of the most tricked out amenities in the country and a newly-renovated stadium funded by the school’s SEC success. In their four recruiting seasons since joining the SEC (2012-15), the Aggies have averaged a recruiting class ranking of around No. 10, and if their play on the field matches that kind of perfomance, the recruiting success will build on itself.

Several other programs, like Arkansas, Tennessee, Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Florida have all funneled some of their increasing SEC revenue toward upgrading their facilities, attempting to keep pace with the nation’s elite.

LSU is the only school that can rival the Crimson Tide in NFL-talent production, a key component in luring the most elite recruits in the nation. While Miles can’t match Saban’s string of first-round picks, LSU did have more alumni in the NFL than Alabama last year, and its list of alumni includes the reigning offensive Rookie of the Year in Odell Beckham Jr.

Per the 247sports industry composite, Alabama’s recruiting national title in 2015 was its slimmest margin yet, just barely edging out Southern California. Tennessee, LSU and Georgia weren’t too far behind, while Auburn and Texas A&M hung around the fringes of the top 10 as well.

Alabama isn’t going anywhere. That doesn’t mean the rest of the SEC’s elite can’t close the gap on the Crimson Tide, and they’re on their way to doing just that.