A look at the top 15 recruiting classes in the 2022 cycle.
Brian Dohn
While many of the regulars battle it out for the No. 1 spot in the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings for the 2022 class, several others contend for a top 15 ranking and a lead spot in their conference.
An updated set of 2022 player rankings was released by 247Sports on Wednesday, and with it comes updates to the team rankings. Each of the Power 5 conferences — SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12 — are represented among the top 15 schools, and Notre Dame, an independent, is also in there.
Three of the top five players in the class are committed but there is a ton of movement remaining, especially as we move toward the December Early Signing Period, which is less than two months away.
There are plenty of official visits remaining and coaches are on the road recruiting for the first time since the pandemic began. As schools make a push for bowl games and jockey for position in the college football playoff, they are also trying to finalize their recruiting classes while also turning some of their attention to the 2023 class. There are still 36 of the Top 100 players in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite uncommitted, so get ready for a ton of movement with recruits, and with the recruiting rankings.
Here is a look at the top 15 classes.
1. Georgia Bulldogs
Alabama and Georgia battle is out regularly in the SEC on the field, so it makes sense they are fighting each other on the recruiting trail for the top class the nation. The Bulldogs sit at No. 1, and have a pair of five-star prospects and 12 four-star players committed in a class that runs deep and was boosted to No. 1 following Thursday's commitment of Bear Alexander, the No. 39 player in the 247Sports Composite.
The Bulldogs have five players in the Top 50, led by in-state linebacker Malaki Starks of Jefferson (Ga.) High. He is the No. 15 prospect overall and leads a big in-state haul for the Bulldogs, who have 12 commits from the Peach State. The other top 50 players committed at Columbus (Ga.) Hardaway defensive lineman Mykel Williams, Salisbury (N.C.) High linebacker Jalon Walker and Madison (Miss.) Germantown running back Branson Robinson.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama sits at No. 2 despite having fewer commitments than six of the top seven teams on the list. The Crimson Tide have three five-star commits and 12 four-star commits among their 17 over pledges. The top player in Alabama's class is in-state edge rusher Jeremiah Alexander, who is the No. 1 player at his position. The Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson standout is the No. 17 player in the nation, and one of six players from Alabama in the class. The Crimson Tide have commitments from five players in the top 50 including Martin (Tenn.) Westview quarterback Ty Simpson, Hartford (Ala.) Geneva County running back Emmanuel Henderson, Bradenton (Fla.) IMG offensive tackle Tyler Booker and Manassas (Va.) Unity Reed linebacker Shawn Murphy.
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State has the top class in the Big Ten and is doing with consistency and volume. The Nittany Lions' 26 commitments is tops in the country, and 14 of them are rated with four stars. Penn State is taking advantage of a strong class in the Keystone State with 10 commits from within Pennsylvania's borders. The top player, though, is from Delaware but plays at Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh in Dani Dennis-Sutton, who is the No. 46 player in the class and the No. 7 defensive lineman. Penn State won a huge battle in the summer and beat Ohio State and Notre Dame for Reading (Pa.) Governor Mifflin running back Nicholas Singleton, who is the No. 55 overall prospect.
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State sits fourth in the team rankings, but its average commitment rating of 93.61 sits second behind Alabama. The Buckeyes are 16 commits, and 14 are rated with four stars. The Buckeyes also have a commitment from five-star linebacker C.J. Hicks of Dayton (Ohio) Archbishop Alter. He is the No. 1 player at his position and No. 7 overall. Two other commits -- Little Elm (Texas) High cornerback Terrance Brooks and Marysville (Ohio) High linebacker Gabe Powers -- are top 50 prospects. The Buckeyes' class also represents its national reach with commitments from players in eight states.Five are from Ohio, three from Florida, two apiece from Georgia and Texas and one each Arizona, Colorado, Illinois and Tennessee.
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame grabbed a gem out of Hilton Head (S.C.) High in linebacker Jaylen Sneed, who headlines the class of 21 commitments. He is the No. 1 player in South Carolina, No. 4 linebacker and No. 32 overall player. Receiver C.J. Williams of Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei is the other Irish commit in the Topp 100. No school recruits nationally like Notre Dame, and it is on full display with this class since California is home to more commits than any other state. The Irish have three commitments from the Golden State, two from Indiana, Michigan and New Jersey, and one each from Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
6. Texas Longhorns
Coach Steve Sarkisian's first full class at Texas has the Longhorns pushing for the top five, and with a heavily influence from the Lone Star State as 13 of the 22 commits are home grown. Also, the top three players in the class -- Spearman (Texas) High receiver Brenen Thompson, Tyler (Texas) Legacy running back Jamarion Miller and Aledo (Texas) High safety Bryan Allen Jr. -- play within Texas' borders. Sarkisian also went to a former home in southern California to land quarterback Maalik Murphy of Gardena (Calif.) Junipero Serra. However, what happens at home in the next few months will dictate where Texas finishes in the rankings. The Longhorns do not have a commitment from any of the state's top 10 prospects.
7. Oregon Ducks
The Oregon Ducks are the pacesetters in the Pac-12 on the field, and in recruiting. The Ducks have the No. 1 class in the conference and have 22 commitments. The Ducks pulled offensive tackle Kelvin Banks out of Texas, and he is the jewel of the class. The Humble (Texas) Summer Creek standout is the No. 14 player in the nation, and No. 2 player at his position. Anaheim (Calif.) Servite's Tetairoa McMillan is the No. 54 player and No. 4 receiver in the class. Overall, the Ducks have a five-star (Banks) and 11 four-star prospects in its class. It also has the Nos. 2 and 3 players from Oregon in Portland Jefferson safety Trejon Williams and Portland Central Catholic edge Emar'rion Winston.
8. Oklahoma Sooners
The quality of Oklahoma's class shows in how they are landing top talent from several states. The Sooners have commitments from five players ranked in the top three within their home state. The top player in the class came on board less than two weeks ago when Lakeland (Fla.) High defensive lineman Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy committed. He is the No. 10 player, and No. 2 player in Florida. Oklahoma also has commitments from the No. 2 player in California in Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei running back Raleek Brown and the No. 2 player in Maryland in Baltimore St. Frances defensive lineman Derrick Moore. The top player in Oklahoma, Tulsa Booker T. Washington cornerback Gentry Williams, and the No. 1 player in Colorado, Littleton (Colo.) Valor Christian running back Gavin Sawchuk, are in the class. Tight end Kaden Helms of Bellevue (Neb.) West, is the No. 3 player in his state.
9. .Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M's class is about quality as much as it is quantity. The Aggies have 14 commits, which is less than any school ahead of it in the rankings, and the Aggies are not going far from home to build it. Twelve of the pledges are from Texas, and the leader of the group is Cypress (Texas) Bridgeland's Conner Weigman, who is the No. 22 player overall and the No. 2 quarterback. The Aggies have four other players -- Beaumont (Texas) West Brook safety Byrce Anderson, Bainbridge (Ga.) High safety Deyon Bouie, Katy (Texas) High defensive lineman Malick Sylla and Dickinson (Texas) High offensive tackle PJ Williams -- rated among the Top 100 players in the nation. The competition in the state is intense with Texas A&M landing four of the top 14 players.
10 Clemson Tigers
Like Texas A&M, Clemson has plenty of quality in its class. In fact, in the top 40 classes, no school has less than then 13 commitments the Tigers currently hold (No. 35 Auburn also has 13). The leader of the group is five-star quarterback Cade Klubnik of Austin (Texas) Westlake, who is the No. 1 quarterback and No. 21 player in the class. The Tigers also have 10 four-star commitments and three of the top four players in the state in receiver Adam Randall of Myrtle Beach (S.C.) High, offensive tackle Collin Sadler of Greeneville (S.C.) High and receiver Antonio Williams of Irmo (S.C.) Dutch Fork.
11. LSU Tigers
There is a ton of potential for LSU to make a move in the rankings given its coaching situation. The school announced coach Ed Orgeron would be replaced once the season ends, so plenty of prospects will be keeping an eye on who replaces him. Even with the uncertainty, the Tigers sit at No. 11 and there is plenty of talent left on the board in Louisiana. LSU has commitments from in-state five stars Monroe (La.) Neville offensive tackle Will Campbell and Lafayette (La.) St. Thomas More quarterback Walker Howard and have four of the Top 10 players in the state in the class. The other six in-state players are yet to commit.
12. North Carolina Tar Heels
The building continues for North Carolina coach Mack Brown, who pulled in the state's top player and the No. 4 player in the country in Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley defensive lineman Travis Shaw in August. The Tar Heels have done well in Virginia with a quintet of commitments, led by Suffolk (Va.) Nansemond-Suffolk running back George Pettaway, who is the No. 8 running back in the class. The Tar Heels also landed four-star in-state edge Malaki Hamrick of Shelby (N.C.) High, four-star running back Omarion Hampton of Clayton (N.C.) Cleveland and edge Beau Atkinson of Raleigh (N.C.) Leesville Road. The Tar Heels are also in the running for five-star offensive tackle Zach Rice of Lynchburg (Va.) Liberty Christian, who is announcing Thursday night and also has Virginia, Ohio State, Alabama and Notre Dame as his finalists.
13. Florida State Seminoles
Florida State's strong class, which sits third in the ACC, is buoyed by a pair of five-star commitments, including the No. 1 player in the nation in Suwanee (Ga.) Collins Hill cornerback Travis Hunter. He committed to the Seminoles in March 2020, and he remains the leading member of the class but not the only five-star. He is joined in that group by Lakeland (Fla.) Lake Gibson safety Sam McCall. The Seminoles also have a quartet of four-star prospects committed with Bradenton (Fla.) IMG quarterback AJ Duffy, who is the No. 107 prospect in the nation. The focal point has been the southeast with 12 of the 16 pledges hailing from Florida (8) and Georgia.
14. Missouri Tigers
Not a school often seen this high in the rankings, Missouri is putting together a fantastic class that ranks No. 5 in the SEC. The biggest commitment came a few days ago when five-star receiver Luther Burden of East St. Louis (Ill.) High announced for Missouri, but the high-end talent goes well beyond the No. 5 player in the nation. The Tigers also have six four-star commits, led by the top player in Nebraska in Omaha Central interior offensive lineman Deshawn Woods. Missouri landed three of the top six players inside of its state, with the top one being defensive lineman Marquis Gracial of Saint Charles (Mo.) High.
15. Stanford Cardinal
Stanford got a lot done in the last few months to move into the Top 15, and holds the No. 2 class in the Pac-12. Of the Cardinal's 19 commitments, eight came since Aug. 1. In typical Stanford fashion, it is a class spread across the nation with 13 states and the District of Columbia represented. There are seven four-star commitments in the class, which is led by Arlington (Texas) Martin defensive lineman Ernest Cooper IV and Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon safety Kamari Ramsey. Both are Top 175 prospects. The Cardinal also stretched beyond the contiguous 48 states and pulled in four-star linebacker Tevarua Tafiti of Honolulu Punahou.
