(Note: I use the composite rankings that 247Sports provides. They combine the minds of all the sites so it seems like the fairest way to go.)
Alabama is killing it in recruiting … again. That’s not exactly news. Right now the Tide have the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation for 2017, and they just signed the top two junior college linemen AND they have verbals from three of the top eight players nationally PLUS the top-rated dual-threat quarterback and blah blah blah blah blah.
But there’s an interesting side effect to all this Bama dominance on the field and the recruiting trail. Top non-SEC programs are starting to benefit more on the recruiting end than other SEC programs. There was a time that programs such as Ole Miss, Arkansas, Mississippi State and South Carolina all benefited from Alabama’s recruiting dominance. Now that bounce is starting to subside a little as the distance between the Tide and their closest competitors continues to widen.
— Clemson might be the biggest beneficiary of this side effect.
The Tigers went from having perennial top 15 classes to top 5-10 classes in the past couple of years. It’s helped the program earn back-to-back playoff berths. Clemson has found success in recruiting at home in South Carolina and also in Georgia (DeShaun Watson, Mitch Hyatt) and Florida (Deon Cain, Jordan Leggett, Jake Fruhmorgen). This year the Tigers have made a major play in Tennessee with verbals from three of the top seven prospects in the state, including the state’s top prospect — wide receiver Tee Higgins. Clemson currently has a top 10 class with just 14 verbal commits. That’s a high-quality class folks. I don’t know the Tigers numbers off hand but even a relatively small class (17-20 prospects) should get the Tigers close to the top five.
— FSU’s recruiting is back at a championship level.
FSU was recruiting pretty close to Alabama’s level around the early part of the decade. They took a small step back for a minute but they are getting back to that place again. This is a HUGE week for the Seminoles because they are in the hunt to land top linebacker prospect Joshua Kaindoh out of IMG Academy (originally from Baltimore, Maryland) and more importantly they are going straight into SEC territory and trying to pull running back Cam Akers out of Clinton, Mississippi. Kaindoh looks like a heavy FSU lean but Ole Miss and LSU are among the schools fighting FSU hard for Akers. If Akers spurns the home-state Rebels and the Tigers for FSU, it is another indication of the shift in recruiting that’s hurting SEC programs not called “Alabama”. FSU is ranked 12th with 15 commits and will easily climb into the top 5-10 with a commit from Kaindoh. Commits from Kaindoh AND Akers will have the Seminoles approaching a top 3-5 class by national signing day.
— Ohio State and Michigan aren’t playing around.
I expected the on-field and recruiting battles between Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer to be fierce but they have surpassed my expectations. Both coaches have taken a national approach, and it shows. Only one of Ohio State’s top 10 verbals played football in Ohio this year. The Buckeyes have commits from top prospects from Texas, California, Nevada and Florida among others. Michigan has commits from top prospects in Florida, Connecticut, Virginia, Colorado and even Alabama. Both classes are in the top five (Ohio State is 2, Michigan is 4) and both classes are close to reaching their number, but expect both programs to make noise and possibly create some controversy one way or the other before national signing day.
— Not all of the SEC is suffering.
Currently, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M have top 10 classes. It’s hard to say whether they will stay that way in the final 6-7 weeks of recruiting, but Georgia in particular looks good behind recent verbals from in-state defensive back Richard LeCounte and New York-based lineman Isaiah Wilson, both five-star prospects. The Bulldogs beat out Michigan for Wilson – quite a shock for some in the recruiting world. LSU’s recruiting has been a little inconsistent for me but now that the staff is filled out I expect it to stabilize. I don’t have confidence in Texas A&M staying in the top 10. Part of that is the Tom Herman-at-Texas factor and part of that is the fact that A&M has a pretty full class already so there’s little chance of them moving up. Can Auburn and Tennessee hang around the top 10? Can Florida move into the top 10 from their current spot at 20? We should expect South Carolina and Mississippi State to slide a bit but can they stay in the top 20? There are a lot of recruiting questions in the conference right now.
With the exception of Alabama. They will be No. 1. Again.
Corey Long is a freelance writer for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Corey on Twitter @CoreyLong.
