ESPN’s Eli Lederman published a story this week evaluating the nation’s top recruiting classes at the end of the summer recruiting flurry for the class of 2027.
June and July have been packed with high school commitments, leaving most programs without much work to do on the trail before the Early Signing Period in December. While these classes are not yet finalized, Lederman took time to place teams in tiers based on factors such as current recruiting class ranking as well as momentum as the calendar reaches the end of July.
From the SEC, rivals Texas and Texas A&M both made it into the top tier. They’re joined by Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oregon.
The Longhorns have ESPN’s No. 3-ranked class and nabbed 12 commitments this spring and summer. Here’s an excerpt of Lederman’s analysis on Texas:
The headliner from a busy run of summer recruiting was top-ranked cornerback John Meredith III (No. 2 overall), who told ESPN on Thursday that he plans to reclassify into the 2026 cycle and enroll at Texas early this fall. He’ll be joined there next year by outside linebacker Jabarrius Garror (No. 49), defensive tackle Kasi Currie (No. 59) and safety Junior Tu’Upo (No. 98), the other three top-100 defenders who landed in coach Steve Sarkisian’s incoming class during June 11-26.
If the program signs each of the nine SC Next 300 defenders currently committed to its 2027 class, the Longhorns will have added 24 blue-chip defenders across the past three cycles, per ESPN Research. That would place Texas well ahead of national recruiting rivals such as Oregon (19), Ohio State (18), Georgia (No. 17), LSU (14) and Alabama (12) over that span.
As for Texas A&M, the Aggies currently have the consensus No. 1 recruiting class in the nation for the 2027 cycle. They were slightly less busy during recent weeks, earning 9 commitments during the spring/summer window.
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In total, Texas A&M has pledges from 26 high school prospects in this cycle already. Here’s an excerpt of Lederman’s analysis on the Aggies:
After completing its five-star spree with offensive tackles Kennedy Brown (No. 5 overall) and Mark Matthews (No. 12) and wide receiver Eric McFarland III (No. 17), Texas A&M is threatening to make history later this year as the first program to sign six five-stars in a single cycle in the ESPN recruiting rankings era. That five-star haul, which leads the nation’s top-ranked class, is a testament to the Aggies’ transformation under third-year coach Mike Elko.
Texas A&M will host Texas on Nov. 27 this season to finish off the regular season. If this recruiting cycle is any indication, this is a rivalry that could have College Football Playoff implications for years to come.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
