Early National Signing Day 2023: Winners and Losers for Every Power Conference
How well a college football program can recruit is the simplest measure of predicting future success.
Sure, there are outliers. We will see a 2021 Cincinnati or 2022 TCU appear on occasion, especially as the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams during the realignment-heavy 2024 season.
But stars matter. It's reinforced every year.
That's why winning on the recruiting trail—and, almost as critically, not losing—is so important to power-conference teams.
The list is subjective because it's not solely focused on the overall level of talent in a certain class. Additional context, such as a wave of late decommitments, is also taken into account.
Note: Impending realignment is acknowledged with regard to each conference, so the 10 departing Pac-12 programs are considered part of the Big Ten, Big 12 or SEC, respectively.
ACC
1 of 4
Winner: Miami Hurricanes
The moment the program hired Mario Cristobal, its recruiting issues vanished. Whether the 'Canes will actually win at an elite pace remains a fair question, but Cristobal's ability to attract talent is undeniable.
Miami once again closed on a heater, bringing 5-star defensive lineman Armondo Blount back into the class. He'd flipped from the 'Canes to rival Florida State in October. Miami also pulled 4-star linebacker Adarius Hayes away from Florida.
By day's end, the Hurricanes inked the nation's No. 3 class.
Loser: Florida State Seminoles
Florida State entered the signing window with two 5-star pledges. It left Wednesday empty-handed.
Once more, the 'Noles struggled to close on a key prospect. Travis Hunter memorably flipped to Jackson State in 2021 and Keldric Faulk jumped to Auburn last year before KJ Bolden and Armondo Blount exited for Georgia and Miami, respectively, in this cycle.
Look, FSU still signed a top-10 class. The sky isn't falling. But this, simultaneously, is a very problematic trend.
Big Ten
2 of 4
Winner: Oregon Ducks
You like dramatic entrances? Oregon is your team.
Next season, the Ducks will make their Big Ten debut alongside UCLA, USC and Washington. They're not entering as gracious visitors, though; Oregon swiped wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan, a top-50 prospect, from Ohio State on Wednesday.
Oregon also plucked another 4-star wideout, Ryan Pellum, out of USC's class. Those two last-second thefts allowed the Ducks, who added 20 blue-chip prospects, to sign the program's highest-rated haul.
Loser: USC Trojans
USC, on the other hand, followed a frustrating 7-5 season on the field with an unspectacular recruiting class.
Pellum's late decommitment, while not ideal, isn't a massive issue. The problem is that the Trojans' class is thin on elite talent. While USC signed just 11 blue-chip players, Oregon landed 20. Future conference foes Ohio State (17), Penn State (17) and Michigan (18) far outpaced the Trojans—and, shoot, Wisconsin even grabbed nine.
Lincoln Riley and his staff will be plenty active in the transfer portal, but 2024 wasn't a strong cycle on the trail for USC.
Big 12
3 of 4
Winner: Texas Tech Red Raiders
Not since the 2015 cycle had Texas Tech finished with a top-three haul within the Big 12. In fact, the program had mustered just four top-five rankings inside the conference since 2010.
How about No. 1 in 2024?
Oklahoma and Texas are departing for the SEC, and Joey McGuire's staff has capitalized on the window. Texas Tech landed a top-30 group nationally last year and edged into a top-25 position this year—largely thanks to wideout Micah Hudson, the program's first-ever 5-star signee.
Loser: Colorado Buffaloes
Deion Sanders, as usual, is testing the accepted norms of the sport. Even limited to post-2018 data, the healthiest programs have been built through high school recruiting with a small number of impact transfers.
As the Buffs dive headfirst into the portal again, however, they inked only a handful of prospects.
The marquee pledge—Jordan Seaton, a 5-star offensive tackle—is unsigned as he continues to consider home-state school Maryland. Overall, CU has more decommitments (six) than signees (five).
Deion has a plan. But right now, that does not involve the model of tirelessly recruiting high schoolers.
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SEC
4 of 4
Winner: Georgia Bulldogs
The main headline is that Georgia looks destined for the nation's top class. Among the 28 commits, the Dawgs landed four 5-stars and a should-be-absurd-yet-is-basically-routine 20 more 4-stars.
Shortly after the signing window opened, UGA pulled off the marquee flip of the day. Florida State had held a commitment from KJ Bolden since early August, but the 5-star safety—who is ranked atop his position nationally—traded the Garnet and Gold for the Red and Black.
Georgia has ranked no worse than fourth nationally since Kirby Smart's first full recruiting cycle in 2017.
Loser: Florida Gators
On the bright side, Florida kept 5-star quarterback DJ Lagway and defensive lineman LJ McCray in the fold.
What a miserable finish for Billy Napier and the Gators, though.
During the last six weeks, four 4-stars backed off verbals. After losing 5-star defensive back Xavier Filsaime (Texas) on Monday, UF lost 4-star linebacker Adarius Hayes (Miami), 4-star D-lineman Amaris Williams (Auburn) and 4-star wideout Izaiah Williams (Texas A&M) on Wednesday.
Napier was already on a simmering hot seat, and the temperature is inching up a little more.
Recruit rankings via 247Sports' composite list.
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