There’s still some business to take care of in the 2025 recruiting cycle.
Of the 459 blue-chip prospects in the 247Sports Composite, 20 remained unsigned as of Thursday evening. That means we still don’t really know who has the No. 1 class in the country.
Still, there are some narratives worth digging into with the bulk of the big names off the board. Let’s start with the big picture.
Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.
1. So, how important are recruiting rankings in an era when players can transfer without having to sit out a year? I wouldn’t dismiss them. Stars still matter.
Here are the average recruiting rankings over the past five cycles (2020 through 2024) of the Power 4 teams still in contention for the College Football Playoff:
- No. 1 Oregon (seventh)
- No. 2 Texas (fifth)
- No. 3 Penn State (14th)
- No. 4 Notre Dame (t-10th)
- No. 5 Georgia (second)
- No. 6 Ohio State (third)
- No. 7 Tennessee (15th)
- No. 8 SMU (70th)
- No. 9 Indiana (55th)
- No. 11 Alabama (first)
- No. 12 Miami (t-10th)
- No. 13 Ole Miss (19th)
- No. 14 South Carolina (27th)
- No. 15 Arizona State (54th)
- No. 16 Iowa State (45th)
- No. 17 Clemson (sixth)
All but five are inside the top 20, and SMU should have an asterisk because it just joined the Power 4 ranks this season.
The transfer portal can obviously elevate a roster — SMU ranks 25th in the 247Sports Team Talent Composite, for example — but recruiting and player development still matter.
2. Five players ranked in the top 100 are still unsigned.
Five-star defensive lineman Justus Terry, a longtime Georgia lean, and five-star offensive tackle Ty Haywood, an Alabama commitment, are the top two.
Terry, who is expected to sign Friday, has had Auburn, Alabama and Texas in the hunt, but it would be a surprise if he is not part of Georgia’s class.
Haywood committed to Alabama in July but could be pushing his signing to February. Michigan looks like the favorite, according to 247Sports and On3. Haywood visited UCLA, TCU, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Florida State.
My recruitment is now SHUT DOWN! I will be making my decision on Friday, Dec 6th!🙏🏾
Anything from now until Friday please contact:
In your message, please email your name, contact information, and affiliation with the university. Thank you
— Justus “Jay” Terry (@JustusTerry80) December 2, 2024
3. If Terry signs with Georgia on Friday, the Bulldogs will leap past No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Alabama for the top spot in the team rankings.
Texas has finished in the top three on five occasions dating back to 2010 — most recently in 2023 — but hasn’t had the No. 1 class since 2002 (by Rivals). With three top-five classes in the past four cycles, Texas has elbowed its way into the elite club where Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State regularly set up shop.
And the Longhorns aren’t just cleaning up in their home state. Two of Texas’ top signees are imports from Florida: five-star receiver Jaime Ffrench (No. 32 overall) and four-star cornerback Graceson Littleton (No. 65). Last cycle, the Longhorns grabbed the No. 3 player out of California (offensive tackle Brandon Baker) and the No. 2 player in Missouri (wide receiver Ryan Wingo).
4. Oregon and Dan Lanning are right there with Texas on the edge of becoming a regular in the elite recruiters club.
Flipping five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord from Ohio State on Wednesday might be one of the moments we look back on that signaled when Oregon took the torch from the Buckeyes as the top recruiter in the Big Ten.
The Ducks have long been the best recruiting program on the West Coast, so it wasn’t a surprise to see them pry top-100 quarterback Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele from his commitment to Cal. Oregon demonstrated its true strength by holding off red-hot Florida for five-star receiver Dallas Wilson, who lives just a couple of hours from Gainesville.
5. Speaking of the Gators, no team did a better job of turning around its season and recruiting outlook than Billy Napier’s squad. As I detailed in this story, Florida had only 11 commitments and was 50th in the team rankings after its loss to Texas in early November.
Then, the Gators beat LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State to finish 7-5 and are now No. 11 in the recruiting rankings, three spots ahead of rival Miami. The Gators signed 23 players Wednesday, including four-star safety Hylton Stubbs, who was committed to Miami until this past weekend.
No, the Gators weren’t able to sway Wilson away from Oregon or flip five-star offensive lineman Solomon Thomas from Florida State (he signed with LSU), but Napier’s program is in a totally different place than it was just last month.
6. Remember when Miami crushed Florida in Gainesville to start the season and Hurricanes players were talking to Gators recruits in the crowd after the game? Few imagined then that Napier would sign a better recruiting class than Mario Cristobal. But that’s what happened.
Miami lost Stubbs to Florida and longtime four-star linebacker commitment Gavin Nix to Oregon and was unable to flip five-star cornerback D.J. Pickett (signed with LSU) and four-star linebacker Tarvos Alford (Ohio State).
Normally, Cristobal closes strong. But instead of signing a third consecutive top-10 class, Miami fizzled down the stretch — much the same way it did on the field. Let’s call it what it is: a blown opportunity. Expect Miami to hit the transfer portal hard for help on defense.
7. Despite fumbling down the stretch, the Hurricanes still have the top class in the ACC.
The real surprise this cycle: Georgia Tech, not Florida State or Clemson, has the No. 2 class in the league. Brent Key signed 23 players, including a pair of top-100 prospects in cornerback Tae Harris and offensive tackle Josh Petty.
Georgia Tech, currently ranked No. 18, hasn’t signed a top-20 class since 2007 after it played for the ACC title under Chan Gailey.
8. Clemson, meanwhile, is ranked 26th. The Tigers have lost commitments from four top-100 prospects and two other blue-chippers since Aug. 25.
They signed only 15 players Wednesday, which suggests Dabo Swinney could uncharacteristically look to the transfer portal for some help. I’ll believe it when I see it.
9. The ACC has signed eight top-100 recruits this cycle: two each by Clemson, Florida State and Georgia Tech and one each by Duke and Miami.
From a conference perspective, the SEC signed 56 top-100 prospects, followed by the Big Ten (26), ACC (eight) and Big 12 (two). Notre Dame signed three.
10. What other big battles should we keep an eye on?
Four-star tight end Andrew Olesh, a Michigan commitment, delayed his signing until Friday. His father told On3 that the final decision would come down to Oregon, Michigan and Penn State.
Four-star edge rusher Zahir Mathis, a longtime Ohio State lean, is reportedly considering Michigan and has pushed his signing back to February.
Four-star quarterback Bryce Baker, a North Carolina commitment, will wait until February as well. LSU and Penn State are pushing to swipe him from the Tar Heels, who still do not have a head coach.
(Photo of Kirby Smart: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
