In the SEC, as it’s often said, it just means more.
That sentiment applies to college football, the sport in which the conference has been home to 13 of the past 18 FBS national champions, but it’s just as relevant to recruiting. After all, how do you think all those pieces from those title-winning squads got there in the first place?
Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program, even in the age of the transfer portal allowing programs to fill important holes with experienced and proven veterans. Due to their financial commitment to football and their sheer geographic proximity to many of the country’s top prospects, SEC programs regularly clean up on the recruiting trail with classes that rank them among the top schools in the sport annually.
REQUIRED READING:College football rankings: SEC teams in updated Coaches Poll, AP Top 25 after Week 14
With several of its teams in position to potentially make the 12-team College Football Playoff, where do things stand in the SEC for the 2025 recruiting class?
As the 2024 early signing period approaches, here’s what you need to know about the recruiting efforts of the SEC’s 16 programs and what top players they’re bringing aboard:
SEC football recruiting rankings
As of noon central time, SEC programs accounted for a remarkable 10 of the top 15 recruiting classes in the FBS, including seven of the top 10, according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings.
All but two of the league’s 16 programs have top-30 classes.
That group includes a pair of familiar faces in Georgia and Alabama, the two most consistently successful programs in the conference over the past decade. The Bulldogs are at No. 2 with a 28-man class featuring 19 four-star players and five five-star recruits while the Crimson Tide’s first full class under coach Kalen DeBoer is No. 3, with 13 four-stars and four five-stars.
It’s one of the conference’s newest programs, however, that sits at the top. Steve Sarkisian and Texas sit at No. 1 with a 24-player class featuring four five-stars and 14 four-stars.
Here’s a look at how SEC programs measure up in their 2025 recruiting class, in the order of their national recruiting ranking, heading into the early signing period:
- 1. Texas
- 2. Georgia
- 3. Alabama
- 6. Auburn
- 8. Texas A&M
- 9. LSU
- 10. Florida
- 11. Tennessee
- 14. Ole Miss
- 15. Oklahoma
- 21. South Carolina
- 23. Missouri
- 26. Mississippi State
- 27. Kentucky
- 32. Arkansas
- 69. Vanderbilt
REQUIRED READING:Four-star safety Lagonza Hayward decommits from Tennessee football
SEC football best recruits
Of the top 50 recruits nationally according to 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, 28 have given a verbal commitment to an SEC program, as of Monday, December 2.
Here’s a look at players in the top 25 of the rankings who have committed to an SEC program, along with their national recruiting ranking:
- 2. QB Keelon Russell, Alabama
- 4. DL Elijah Griffin, Georgia
- 6. S Jonah Williams, Texas
- 7. OT David Sanders Jr., Tennessee
- 10. DE Isaiah Gibson, Georgia
- 13. OL Michael Carroll, Alabama
- 15. CB Dijon Lee, Alabama
- 16. WR Kaliq Lockett, Texas
- 17. OL Michael Fasusi, Oklahoma
- 18. LB Zayden Walker, Georgia
- 19. CB DJ Pickett, LSU
- 20. OL Ty Haywood, Alabama
- 22. WR Caleb Cunningham, Ole Miss
- 24. ATH Michael Terry III, Texas
- 25. DE Jared Smith, Auburn
REQUIRED READING:Vanderbilt football recruiting rankings for Clark Lea ahead of signing day 2024
When is the early signing period for college football?
The early signing period for the 2025 recruiting class will begin on Wednesday, Dec. 4 and run through Friday, Dec. 6.
Last season, it ran from Dec. 20 through Dec. 22, but was moved up in March to avoid overlapping with the opening of the transfer portal window.
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