The arrival of the early signing period Wednesday offered a stark reminder for college football fans.
If recruiting rankings offer any accurate gauge in the era of the transfer portal, those teams competing for College Football Playoff berths now should keep contending for years to come.
Texas, Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State are all on track to earn playoff invitations, and those four schools are landing the nation’s top high school recruiting classes. It represents one more example of how the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten have separated themselves from all the other leagues.
Steve Wiltfong, the vice president of recruiting and the transfer portal for On3, said it’s apparent why those programs continue recruiting so well.
“First and foremost, those are the programs with the most resources,” Wiltfong said. “They’re the programs that are having the most success on the field and in the NFL draft.”
The identity of the No. 1 class according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports may not be determined until the nation’s top-ranked uncommitted prospect — Manchester (Georgia) defensive tackle Justus Terry — announces his decision Friday.
Terry, the nation’s No. 10 overall recruit according to the 247Sports Composite, is considering Georgia, Texas and Auburn. He’s the rare prospect delaying his decision.
Virtually every top recruit already had committed to a school well before the signing period, continuing a trend that took effect from the time a December signing date was added in 2017 to the traditional February signing period. This year, that early signing period was moved up a few weeks so that it would take place before the transfer window opens Monday.
Perhaps the most notable development in the weeks leading up to the signing period was quarterback Bryce Underwood’s decision to stay in his home state and play for Michigan after initially planning to play at LSU.
Underwood’s switch brought late momentum for the defending national champions, whose recruiting class was ranked sixth as of Wednesday morning. This will be Michigan’s first top-10 class since 2020.
Michigan’s recruiting emergence wasn’t the only surprise.
Auburn has a likely top-five class after posting a fourth consecutive losing season. Florida was the fastest-rising team in the recruiting rankings after coach Billy Napier earned a vote of confidence and freshman quarterback DJ Lagway helped the Gators win three straight games to close the regular season.
“I’m calling it the DJ Lagway effect,” said Andrew Ivins, the director of scouting for 247Sports. “They went from outside the top 50 to knocking on the door for a top-10 recruiting class. We haven’t really seen that type of push ever.”
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