College Football Power Shifting West as USC, UCLA Dominate National Signing Day

Jim Mora and the UCLA Bruins ostensibly won national signing day as they shot up 12 spots to finish No. 7 in the 247Sports Team Rankings Wednesday. UCLA landed four highly touted prospects on signing day and could have another on the hook if 4-star linebacker Roquan Smith—who committed on ESPN U—faxes in his letter of intent.

Meanwhile, USC narrowly missed ending Alabama’s reign atop the recruiting world by finishing with the nation’s No. 2 class. 

After both Los Angeles schools dominated national signing day en route to landing Top 10 classes, the college football recruiting landscape is experiencing a palpable power shift toward the West Coast.

"

Words can't explain how excited I am to be a ucla bruin #4sup #8clap

— Chris Clark (@Clark8Chris) February 4, 2015"

UCLA

The scariest part of the Bruins' signing day haul is that they did most of their damage out of state, poaching top prospects from far away places such as Connecticut, Georgia, Texas and Oklahoma.

Player	Position	Hometown	Rank
Soso Jamabo	RB	Plano, Texas	5-Star
Chris Clark	TE	Avon, Connecticut	4-Star
Cordell Broadus	WR	Las Vegas, Nevada	4-Star
Josh Wariboko	OG	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	4-Star
Roquan Smith*	LB	Montezuma, Georgia	4-star

Mora's NFL background and the creative offensive system run by offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone appealed to potential game-breaking skill talents such as 5-star running back Soso Jamabo, 4-star receiver Cordell Broadus and 4-star tight end Chris Clark. 

Broadus, of course, is the son of famed rapper and lifelong Trojans fan Snoop Dogg. 

Pairing them with the nation's top prep passer—5-star early enrollee Josh Rosen—is what makes the Bruins a threat to Pac-12 stalwarts such as USC and Oregon moving forward.

Considering that UCLA has put together back-to-back 10-3 seasons, this class—the Bruins' first Top 10 group since 2010—is poised to get the school over the hump and help it capture its first conference title since 1998.

USC

The 2015 class marked the first full class that the Trojans could bring in following the end the of the NCAA sanctions resulting from the Reggie Bush scandal.

It didn't take long for the Trojans to flex their muscle and serve notice to the rest of the nation of what their program is capable of when operating at full strength.

For head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff, it was about dominating the state of California and keeping their top targets close to home.

USC's four signing-day commitments all hail from the Golden State. In fact, all four are from the metro Los Angeles area and each of their high schools are fewer than 25 miles away from USC’s campus.

Keeping homegrown talents such as 5-star corner Iman Marshall, 5-star defensive tackle Rasheem Green, 4-star linebacker John Houston and 3-star defensive tackle Kevin Scott within the city limits helped put an exclamation point on the Trojans' first Top Five recruiting class since 2011.

Marshall talked to Scott Schrader of FightOn247 about his decision to stay home and play for the Trojans: 

"

I really like Coach Sark and the relationship I'm building with the coaching staff. I really like talking to Coach (Keith) Heyward and most importantly, he knows what he's talking about. He's really a student of the game as a coach, and that's very important to me in him helping me get better as a football player. He's also surrounding himself with a lot of talent, too.

"

Of the Trojans' 13 top-rated signees, nine are slated to line up on the defensive side of the ball. The Trojans added potential difference-makers at all three levels of their defense.

Green highlights the defensive line class while Marshall anchors a strong secondary unit. Add in a pair of stud linebackers from Utah in 5-star Osa Masina and 4-star Porter Gustin and it's evident that the Trojans defense added elite talents across the board. 

Overall, the L.A. programs combined to land seven of the nation's 32 5-star prospects.

Fellow Pac-12 members Oregon (No. 16), Arizona State (No. 20) and Stanford (No. 24) also finished with Top 25 classes. 

With Oregon’s recent run to the national title game, a 6-3 conference bowl record and Wednesday's recruiting dominance, the Pac-12 is proving it has the long-term potential to compete with the SEC on the field and recruiting trail.

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