Blue White Illustrated

defensive end Jamar King of Ukiah, Calif.; four-star defensive back Jared Mayden of Sachse, Texas; three-star athlete Aaron Robinson of Deer>eld Beach, Fla.; three-star tight end Irvin Smith of New Orleans; and >ve- star linebacker Lyndell Wilson of Montgomery, Ala. It was, without ques- tion, the most impres- sive signing day ram- page I've seen in the 30-plus years I've been following recruiting on a national level. Under Saban, the Crimson Tide have tru- ly dominated the re- cruiting scene during the past seven years, spearheading a charge that has made the Southeastern Confer- ence the nation's No. 1 recruiting force for al- most an entire decade. Nothing changed in 2016. Eight SEC schools >nished in the Rivals top 20, led by Alabama with 24 signings, in- cluding >ve >ve-star prospects, 10 four- stars and nine three- stars. After Alabama came LSU (sixth), Mississip- pi (seventh), Auburn (ninth), Georgia (10th), Florida (14th), Tennessee (15th) and Texas A&M (16th). To see how dominant the SEC has been during the past decade, all one has to do is examine the exponential rise of Mississippi over the past four years. Before 2013, the Rebels had never re- cruited a top-30 class. But that year, they landed the nation's No. 7 class, and they followed it up with classes that finished 19th in 2014 and 21st last year. Now they have another top-10 class to their credit. Simply put, Hugh Freeze has done a phenomenal job as a recruiter since he became the Rebels' head coach four years ago. The key to Ole Miss's strong performance this year was its success in landing two >ve-star prospects and 10 four- stars. The biggest name in the Rebels' batch of signees is >ve-star quar- terback Shea Patterson, Rivals' No. 1-rated QB from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Their oth- er >ve-star player is o?en- sive lineman Gregory Lit- tle of Allen, Texas. All told, the eight SEC schools in Rivals' top 20 ended up signing 14 >ve- star players and 85 four- star players. That's far more than any of the other Power Five conferences. A@er the SEC, the con- ference that made the biggest headlines on sign- ing day was the Big Ten – this despite the fact that it had only three schools – Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State – ranked in the Rivals top 20. The Buckeyes just barely edged out the Wolverines for Rivals' third-ranked class. Urban Meyer landed two >ve-star recruits in defensive end Nick Bosa of Fort Laud- erdale, Fla., and linebacker Keandre Jones of Olney, Md., and he supple- mented those signings with 15 four-star players, including tight end Jake Haus- mann of Cincinnati and running back DeMario McCall of North Ridgeville, Ohio. Hausmann was Rivals' fourth-rat- ed tight end nationally, while McCall was the No. 2 all-purpose running back. Even though Ohio State ended with the best class in the Big Ten, Michigan turned heads on signing day by landing defensive tackle Rashan Gary of Para- mus, N.J., Rivals' No. 1 overall player na- tionally. Other big-name signings for the Wolverines were four-star corner- back Lavert Hill of Detroit, three-star place-kicker Quinn Nordin of Rockford, Mich., and four-star tight end Devin Asiasi of Concord, Calif. Meanwhile, Florida State and Clemson did the Atlantic Coast Conference proud by welcoming Rivals' second- and >@h- best recruiting classes, respectively. The Seminoles landed 25 recruits, with one >ve-star singing in cornerback Levonta Taylor of Virginia Beach, Va., and 18 four-star recruits. Clemson >nished with 22 players, in- cluding three >ve-star signings in line- backers Tre Lamar of Roswell, Ga., and Rahshaun Smith of Bradenton, Fla., and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence of Wake Forest, N.C. The Tigers' three >ve-star signings were the second-most in the country behind Alabama's >ve. The Pac-12 had three schools in the top 20: USC (eighth), UCLA (11th) and Stanford (18th). The Big 12 was represented by three teams: Texas (13th), Baylor (17th) and Oklahoma (19th). The most surprising of those teams was Texas. One week before signing day, it looked as though the Longhorns would not have a top-20 class. But that changed in February, as Charlie Strong received verbal commitments from nine players in the 48 hours leading up to signing day. The contingent of late-ar- riving prospects was led by >ve-star linebacker Erick Fowler of Manor, Texas, and four-star defensive tackle D'andre Christmas-Giles of New Or- leans. Notre Dame, meanwhile, landed Ri- vals' 12th-ranked class, with its biggest- name recruit being >ve-star linebacker Daelin Hayes of Ann Arbor, Mich. In the American Athletic Conference, the highest-ranked team was Houston, which >nished 44th in the country. ■ RIVALS NATIONAL 1. Alabama 2. Florida State 3. Ohio State 4. Michigan 5. Clemson 6. LSU 7. Mississippi 8. USC 9. Auburn 10. Georgia 11. UCLA 12. Notre Dame 13. Texas 14. Florida 15. Tennessee 16. Texas A&M 17. Baylor 18. Stanford 19. Oklahoma 20. Michigan State 21. TCU 22. Penn State 23. North Carolina 24. Miami (Fla.) 25. Nebraska T H E B I G P I C T U R E

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