Top 2021 College Football Recruiting Classes (updated 7/11)

Update #4 (thru 7/11):  It is no surprise that the Buckeyes are on top again, but they might have to start worrying about LSU, and to a lesser extent Oregon, as they are both right behind Clemson and UNC.  Texas also made some noise with four new recruits, so they were able to get comfortable in the rankings.  Lastly, Michigan didn’t move in the rankings, but they did add three new recruits which enabled them to watch USC, Notre Dame, and Tennessee fall out of the rankings.

#1 (prev. #1) Ohio State:  16 Commitments (Avg. Grade 85.1)

#2 (prev. #2) Clemson:  12 Commitments (Avg. Grade 84.7)

#3 (prev. #3) North Carolina:  12 Commitments (Avg. Grade 84.4)

#4 (prev. #8) LSU:  11 Commitments (Avg. Grade 84.3)

#5 (prev. #7) Oregon:  11 Commitments (Avg. Grade 83.6)

#6 (prev. #5) Florida:  10 Commitments (Avg. Grade 83.2)

#6 (prev. #10) Texas:  10 Commitments (Avg. Grade 83.2)

#8 (prev. unranked) Alabama:  9 Commitments (Avg. Grade 85.1)

#9 (prev. #6) Georgia:  9 Commitments (84.1)

#10 (prev. #10) Michigan:  9 Commitments (Avg. Grade 83.6)

Tennessee and USC want to get back into the rankings, while Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Miami are jus outside and would like to enter the Top 10…

Update #3 (thru 5/31):  Ohio State gained only one recruit in May, but they still have a good lead over Clemson, who jumped UNC for the number two spot with the help of three new recruits.  Tennessee had the best month, as the Vols added four recruits, allowing them to move up three spots.  They are now in fourth, just behind UNC.  The Ducks also had a good month, while the Irish dropped down four places – barely holding on to tenth.  Lastly, six new teams added their first 4-star recruit and now 166 of the top 300 players have now committed to their school of choice – for now…

Update #2 (thru 5/2):   Ryan Day continues to add to a very strong recruiting despite keeping his social distance.  I’m not sure if the Buckeyes can get displaced from their top spot.  The Tar Heels jumped both Florida and Clemson, and they are comfortably in second.  A big surprise this month was seeing Clemson lose their top recruit, Korey Foreman from California.  A great new opportunity for the Trojans!  And, how about the Volunteers?  A good run from them on the recruiting trail has them in the Top Ten – but the question for them, can this translate to victories on the field.  Lastly, ESPN made some changes to their player rankings, so that has had an impact to this month’s team rankings… 

Update (thru 3/31):  Despite the pandemic, recruiting and decisions have continued, but a slowdown is now expected for the next 6-8 weeks.  When I did my first pass, Clemson and Ohio State, were neck and neck for the top spot, but in the past month, the Buckeyes have landed four top recruits to one for the Tigers.  These teams aside, I am so impressed with Mack Brown and the Tar Heels.  Despite being away from the game for a while, he hasn’t missed a beat in terms of connecting with the kids! 

Now that the 2020 Recruiting Classes have been ranked, here is one person’s first pass at how the 2021 College Football Recruiting is going based upon ESPN’s updated 300 rankings.  The ranking is based upon two things:  Number of Top 300 recruits committed (all 4-stars or higher) and the Current Grade given to them (scale of 1 to 100).  Keep in mind that it is early in the process, as only 105 out of 300 have “committed” – or 35%, but you can’t ignore the early trends.  Here are the Top 10 schools with the best 2021 College Football Recruiting thus far: