In the history of Rivals dating back to 2002, this might be the strangest recruiting cycle of all.

There is a global health pandemic that has altered high school football seasons, postponed two Power Five conference seasons until the spring, changed the recruiting landscape in numerous ways around prospects visiting schools and coaches visiting players and in so many other ways.

Which leads us to the 2021 recruiting class. How many five-star prospects will there be?

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CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS WEEK SCHEDULE

MONDAY: Who should be No. 1 in 2021? | Counting down the 20 five-stars | Looking at new five-stars | Which QB will be next five-star?

TUESDAY: Rivals250 revealed | Mike Farrell's thoughts on Rivals250 | Ten big movers | Teams with the most R250 commits

WEDNESDAY: QB rankings | RB rankings | WR/TE rankings | OL rankings

THURSDAY: DL rankings | LB rankings | DB rankings | ATH rankings

FRIDAY: State rankings spotlight

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It is the start of their senior seasons and yet in the latest rankings release there are just 20 five-stars.

That number is usually a tick higher around this time of year and then there would be significant changes made after the football season and then especially after the all-star events leading up to the second signing day.

So much confusion is around the sport right now and even in recruiting. Players are committing based off virtual visits, no one is sure if the all-important December signing period is even going to happen or how scholarship numbers will be broken out since college players will be granted an extra year of eligibility.

Last recruiting cycle, there were 35 five-stars. In 2019, that number was at 30. Over the years, the number of five-stars fluctuated around those numbers, sometimes higher and sometimes lower.

But it was never at 20.

With limited senior seasons, limited traveling on the part of the Rivals analysts and the serious uncertainty around the all-star events leading toward the finality of this recruiting class, we ask Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell if this will be a historic-low five-star class or if he still thinks we can get to around 30 or so five-star prospects.

"A lot depends on how the seasons go in certain states and especially if there is an all-star season. The all-star games often lead to changes among the five-stars as these events pit the best prospects against their peers.

"We’ve never had this few five-stars heading into a football season in Rivals.com history so I think it will be a low year, perhaps the lowest, for overall five-stars, but I can’t say for sure. I have many prospects on the cusp of five-star status that I like, and I prefer the total number to be between 27-35 each year as that represents the top of the top.

"But all bets are off this year and I don’t even know when our final rankings update will occur. It’s usually in mid-January, but it's anyone’s guess right now."