But don’t be fooled: The transfer portal may make headlines this month, but national champions are still built the traditional way — by identifying and developing prospects over the course of multiple seasons instead of relying on short-term rentals.
According to the composite rankings compiled by 247Sports.com, this year’s recruiting class is topped by wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, a longtime commitment to Ohio State. The top-ranked quarterback in this cycle is Julian Sayin, who is headed from his home state of California to Alabama.
While most prospects sign national letters of intent this month, some wait until the second signing period in early February.
But when it comes to this early date, Nebraska, Alabama and Georgia lead an overview of signing day’s winners and losers:
WINNERS
Alabama
Sayin, from Carlsbad, California, chose Alabama over two dozen additional offers, many from the Crimson Tide’s biggest rivals in the SEC. With Jalen Milroe opting to return in 2024, Sayin will have an opportunity to learn the system in a backup role, potentially playing in four or more games, before battling for the starting job in his second year on campus. The Tide also brought in one of the top talents in the state in five-star cornerback Jaylen Mbakwe and could add another star in the making in five-star receiver Ryan Williams, who is reclassifying and plans to sign in February. The class is heavy on talent in the secondary.
Nebraska
No team made a bigger splash leading into signing day than Nebraska, which reeled in one of the highest-ranked recruits in program history in five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola, who flipped from Georgia. In addition, the Cornhuskers made late gains by signing linebacker Vincent Shaver and cornerbacks Amare Sanders and Larry Tarver. But the gem is Raiola, a plug-and-play legacy recruit who will be given every opportunity to earn the starting job from the start and put his stamp on the program. While they fell short of bowl eligibility in Matt Rhule’s debut season, the pieces are coming together for the Cornhuskers to make a major climb up the Big Ten in 2024.
Miami (Fla.)
The Hurricanes closed on a torrid run to seal one of the top classes in the country and a group that rivals Florida State for the best in the ACC, according to 247. This late push included a bevy of additions leading into signing day, starting with the flip of Ohio State running back Jordan Lyle. The biggest get is five-star defensive lineman Justin Scott, who the Hurricanes pulled out of Chicago against competition from every major player. Scott is the star of one of the nation’s top defensive line hauls. But Mario Cristobal and Miami also pulled in several talented receivers, including a potentially dynamic weapon in Moultrie, Georgia, product Ny Carr.
Texas Tech
The Red Raiders inked a pretty eye-opening group thanks in large part to five-star wide receiver Micah Hudson, the highest-rated signee in program history. Hudson will be expected to immediately impact a passing game that ranked last in the Big 12 in yards per attempt and interceptions during the regular season. Beyond Hudson, the class is defined by geography: All but one of Texas Tech’s 21 signees as of Wednesday afternoon came from inside the state, with other standouts including offensive lineman Ellis Davis and four-star quarterback Will Hammond.
Ohio State
Ohio State still signed another top-five class headlined by Jeremiah Smith, another five-star receiver Mylan Graham and the potential quarterback of the future in four-star Air Noland. On defense, the Buckeyes made a big save by keeping five-star defensive lineman Eddrick Houston in the fold and away from Alabama, a late suitor. Missing out on Houston would’ve been a disaster given how Ohio State had failed to close on multiple high-profile interior defenders and edge rushers. Before Houston’s letter of intent, the class included just one high school lineman in three-star Eric Mensah.
LOSERS
Georgia
It’s hard to feel too bad for Georgia and even harder to put them here, given that even without Raiola on board the Bulldogs are contending for the nation’s top-rated class, per 247. Kirby Smart and his staff did add another quarterback in Avon, Connecticut, four-star Ryan Puglisi and had a huge win on Wednesday by pulling the nation’s top safety recruit, K.J. Bolden, away from Florida State. But even with Carson Beck opting to return next season, losing Raiola late in the game is a tough pill to swallow. After just missing out on Arch Manning last year, this marks the second cycle in a row Georgia has come close but missed on a premier quarterback recruit.
Southern California
This is a largely underwhelming class that might be a reflection of the Trojans’ extremely underwhelming second year under coach Lincoln Riley. USC missed on all five of California’s top recruits: Sayin, defensive lineman Aydin Breland (Oregon), offensive tackle Brandon Baker (Texas), linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (Notre Dame) and cornerback Zabien Brown (Alabama). The Trojans did compile a nice class of interior offensive linemen, which will definitely help, and got a signing-day boost with the addition of underrated four-star defensive lineman Carlon Jones. As with many other Power Five teams, USC is bound to augment this class by dipping into the portal to fill key spots on the depth chart, including the possible addition of Kansas State quarterback transfer Will Howard as the replacement for Caleb Williams.
The Big 12
Texas Tech’s signing class hovered around the top 25 nationally but ranks as the best group in the Big 12, according to 247 with TCU, Central Florida and Kansas coming next. In comparison, the ACC had four, the Big Ten had six and the SEC had a whopping 13 classes ranked in the top 25. The already measurable talent gap between the league and the rest of the Power Four will only grow after signing day.