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T H E B I G P I C T U R E No. 1 class in the country. When it was all said and done, howev- er, Sarkisian and his sta@ had recruited four >ve-star, 16 four-star and four three-star players, as rated by Rivals.com. Theirs is undoubtedly the best defensive class in the country, as all four of the Trojans' >ve-star recruits are expected to play de- fense at the college lev- el. In addition, seven of their four-star signees are ticketed for defen- sive positions. That's not to say USC fell short on o@ense. Far from it. The Trojans landed o@ensive line- man Chima Edoga of Powder Springs, Ga., receiver De'Quan Hampton of Long Beach (Calif.) Community College, running back Ronald Jones II of McK- inney, Texas, and quar- terback Ricky Town of Ventura, Calif. Accord- ing to Rivals, all are all 6.0 four-star recruits. While USC was the talk of the college football world on signing day, no one should feel sorry for Alabama or any of the other programs in the Southeastern Conference's upper tier. In Rivals' >nal rankings, Alabama ended up with the No. 2 recruiting class in the country, while >ve additional SEC schools – Ten- nessee (>Bh), Auburn (sixth), Georgia (seventh), LSU (eighth) and Texas A&M (10th) – >nished in the top 10. Saban and his sta@ signed 23 players, including four >ve-star prospects. At the top of that >ve-star list is the coun- try's No. 1 running back: Damien Harris of Brea, Ky. The other three are defen- sive back Minkah Fitzpatrick of Jersey City, N.J., defensive tackle Daron Payne of Birmingham, Ala., and wide receiver Calvin Ridley of Coconut Creek, Fla. The biggest surprise among the SEC schools was Tennessee. The Volunteers signed the nation's No. 1 defensive tackle in Kahill McKenzie of Concord, Calif. McKenzie was given >ve- star status by Rivals even though he missed the entire 2014 season with an injury. The top two programs in the Atlantic Coast Confer- ence also did well on sign- ing day, with Florida State >nishing third and Clem- son fourth. The Seminoles signed only 20 players, but their class included a quintet of >ve-star recruits, more than any other team in the country. At the top of Florida State's >ve-star parade is Rivals' No. 1 strong safety, Derwin James of Haines City, Fla. Some people may have been surprised by Clem- son's success this year, but they shouldn't have been. Before recruiting this year's No. 4 class, Dabo Swinney and his sta@ recruited three consecutive top-10 classes. One of the Tigers' most impressive signees – >ve-star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins of SuAeld, Conn. – chose them over Penn State. In the West, USC wasn't the only suc- cess story. In addition to the Trojans, four Pac-12 teams >nished in the top 20: UCLA (13th), Oregon (17th), Stanford (18th) and Arizona State (20th). The Bruins ended up with three >ve- star recruits among the 19 members of their class, including Josh Rosen of Bell- ?ower, Calif., the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the country. In the Big 12, Texas and Oklahoma continued to lead the way, >nishing 12th and 14th, respectively. Texas had an exceptional >nal 72 hours leading up to signing day. The Long- horns landed 28 recruits, with >ve-star linebacker Malik Je@erson of Mesquite, Texas, ranking as their top signee. The Longhorns signed 18 in-state players. Oklahoma >nished with 24 recruits, 14 of whom were awarded four stars by Ri- vals. The biggest name was defensive tackle Neville Gallimore of St. Cather- ine's in Ontario, Canada. In the Big Ten, three teams >nished with top-25 classes: Ohio State (ninth), Penn State (15th) and Michigan State (22nd). The Spartans got a big boost by signing twin athletes Andrew and David Dowell of Lakewood, Ohio, and defen- sive lineman Raequan Williams of Chicago. All three received four stars from Rivals. One other team that needs to be men- tioned is Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish ended up with Rivals' 11th-ranked class. Brian Kelly and his sta@ signed 24 re- cruits, including 13 four-star prospects. At the top of that list is quarterback Brandon Wimbush of Jersey City, N.J. ■ RIVALS NATIONAL 1. USC 2. Alabama 3. Florida State 4. Clemson 5. Tennessee 6. Auburn 7. Georgia 8. LSU 9. Ohio State 10. Texas A&M 11. Notre Dame 12. Texas 13. UCLA 14. Oklahoma 15. Penn State 16. Mississippi State 17. Oregon 18. Stanford 19. South Carolina 20. Arizona State

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