College Football Recruiting: 10 Bold Predictions as Season Winds Down

The close of every recruiting cycle usually brings with it a tendency for the unthinkable to occur.

Decommitments, flips, hat tricks and the use of live animals are just a few of the things we’ve seen recruits do in recent years.

The coaching carousel is also in full swing, with the new coaching staffs at Florida and Nebraska sure to pound the recruiting trail in hopes of infusing their programs with new energy.

The 2015 cycle has already produced its share of newsworthy moments, but there’s still plenty of room for more madness to occur in the weeks leading up to national signing day.

Which teams and recruits could produce some hysteria as the season winds down?

Team Ranking Predictions

One of the biggest stories this season has been the dismissal of head coach Will Muschamp at Florida and the impact it's had on the Gators 2015 recruiting class, which currently ranks No. 62 nationally and last in the SEC. 

However, new Gators head coach Jim McElwain will have plenty to sell to incoming recruits on the fence about coming to Gainesville. 

10. With 5-star prospects such as offensive lineman Martez Ivey and defensive ends Byron Cowart and CeCe Jefferson among the in-state standouts still considering Florida, the new staff has a chance to land some impact players and finish with a Top 20 class.

9. Another on-field storyline involving the SEC has been the dominance of the schools in the West. That success has carried over onto the recruiting trail, as all seven schools have classes ranked in the Top 20 overall. Expect them to maintain that feat through signing day. 

8. On the opposite end of recruiting supremacy is the struggles that the Big 12 has had in 2015. Texas is currently the only Big 12 program with a Top 20 class. I don’t expect the league to have more than one program that finishes in that category.

7. Out on the West Coast, it appears as if crosstown rivals UCLA and USC will battle for the top class in the Pac-12. While the Trojans have traditionally been the league’s recruiting powerhouse, expect the Bruins to win the tug-of-war on national signing day and finish with the Pac-12’s best class.

Individual Player Predictions

Two 5-star prospects who will be getting a jump on their college experience as early enrollees are defensive end Josh Sweat and receiver Christian Kirk. Both players have yet to make a commitment and will wrap up their visits shortly before making their decisions.

6. Sweat is considering powers such as Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State and Virginia Tech, but I expect the Hokies to buck their recent trend of letting top in-state talent escape outside the borders. 

5. Similarly, Kirk has programs such as Texas A&M, UCLA and USC pursuing the 5’10”, 191-pounder. But it's Arizona State—the lone in-state school in his top group—that is in a good position to keep the dynamic playmaker close to home for the next four years.

4. Another coveted player whose final destination remains a mystery is 4-star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. The 6’4”, 290-pounder has schools such as Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State in his lead group. However, his only two official visits to date have been to Stanford and Clemson. 

As noted by Ryan Bartow of 247Sports (subscription required), the Tigers have a huge need for defensive linemen, and that pitch was likely a big part of Wilkins' official visit there last month.

“They’ve been good in recent history and also the d-line, and defensive coordinator Coach (Brent) Venables is a good guy and the d-line coach, they seem impressive. They’re going to have a need the next few years losing six linemen this year,” Wilkins said.

Given their need at the position, and the fact that one of Wilkins' top priorities is early playing time, the Tigers have a great shot to land him in the end.

General Predictions

Both Florida State and Miami have capitalized on the turmoil going on in Gainesville, with each school racking up with offensive skill players.

A big part of the ‘Noles class, which ranks No. 2 nationally, is that the team has already received commitments from quarterbacks Deondre Francois, De’Andre Johnson and Kai Locksley.

Meanwhile, Miami has three standout running backs committed in Jordan Scarlett, Mark Walton and Dexter Williams. 

3. Expect both of those groups to take a hit with at least one decommitment.

2. Speaking of decommitments, that trend is likely to continue—especially with the handful of 5-star prospects in the 2015 cycle. With prospects such as corner Kevin Toliver II, defensive tackle Daylon Mack and receiver Terry Godwin among the 5-star recruits actively taking visits to other schools, there are bound to be some flips that occur late in the process. Expect at least two such flips to happen between now and national signing day.

1. The word “lock” is often thrown around in recruiting to signify that an uncommitted prospect is all but signed, sealed and delivered to a particular school. However, recruiting has often taught us that no such thing exists and nothing is final until a prospect signs his letter of intent.

Prospects such as CeCe Jefferson, 5-star corner Iman Marshall, 5-star defensive tackle Rasheem Green, 5-star defensive tackle Daron Payne and 4-star receiver Da’Vante Phillips are among the players whose Crystal Ball pages reflect one school having 90 percent or more of the predictions from experts in the field.

At least two such players will buck the trend and break the Crystal Ball on national signing day.

Sanjay Kirpalani is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. 

Follow @SanjayKirpalani