Latest Buzz Surrounding Big 12 Recruiting Ahead of National Signing Day

It's been a rough recruiting cycle for the Big 12, which has been lagging behind the other conferences in commitments from top players. But Big 12 schools are hoping for some top recruits to help close that gap by the end of national signing day.

Just four recruits in the Rivals 100 are committed to Big 12 schools—three to Baylor and one to Oklahoma. On Wednesday, however, the conference will be in contention for a few more top prospects.

The Oklahoma Sooners are in the hunt for 4-star cornerback Jared Mayden. His other choice is Alabama. He told Greg Powers of Scout.com, "It's a real close one."

"They're really good schools," Mayden said. "I really just don't know."

The Sooners need depth at corner with the departure of Zack Sanchez. One advantage for the Sooners is that both of Mayden's parents went to Oklahoma. They could also pursue his younger brother, quarterback Jalen Mayden.

Another big name still available is 4-star defensive tackle D'Andre Christmas-Giles, who has TCU and Texas in his top three with LSU. Christmas-Giles tweeted that he will announce his decision Wednesday:

If Christmas-Giles were to choose the Longhorns, it would give more life to a class that sits at No. 43 in the Rivals recruiting rankings. Should he pick the Horned Frogs, he would fill their last glaring need in an already historic class.

Texas is also in the running for Nacogdoches, Texas, safety Brandon Jones. Jones is ranked as the No. 11 player overall in Texas. He has the Longhorns in his top schools with Big 12 rival Baylor as well as Arkansas and Texas A&M.

Jones visited Texas earlier this month. He went to Baylor for his last official visit over the weekend and tweeted that he had a great time:

"

Last Official Visit was amazing! Thank you Baylor! #SicEm pic.twitter.com/A6UA8Ky6xe

— Brandon Jones (@BlessedJones33) January 31, 2016"

Getting the 4-star safety would be a strong finish for an already strong class by Baylor. Barring a couple of flips from their major commits, the Bears are going to finish with a Top 20 class and possibly higher.

They currently sit at No. 11 in the Rivals team rankings. Jones would likely catapult the Bears into the Top 10.

TCU is the only other Big 12 school with a class ranked in the Top 20 of the Rivals rankings. The Frogs are 16th in the team rankings, and they have a shot at a couple other top prospects in addition to Christmas-Giles.

Kyle Porter, a 4-star running back from Katy, Texas, has the Frogs in his final three with Texas and Arkansas. He visited Arkansas last weekend and told HawgSports.com he enjoyed his time in Fayetteville. He also took visits to TCU and Texas, according to Rivals.

Porter would give the Frogs another talented running back in a class that has two highly touted prospects at the position: Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua.

The Frogs are also waiting to hear from Tyrie Cleveland. The No. 9 player in the state of Texas is a Houston commit. He has taken visits to Arkansas, Florida and TCU, however, and plans to announce his final decision on signing day, according to SEC Country's Zach Abolverdi.

Keeping Cleveland, Porter, Jones and Mayden in the Big 12 would be great for the conference. The Big 12 hasn't done well recruiting in Texas recently. As of now, the Big 12 only has commitments from six of the top 25 players in the state for 2016.

Those four recruits are ranked among the top 32 players in Texas by Rivals. Cleveland, Jones and Mayden are all in the top 14. Commitments from any of them would be a welcome change.

Since TAMU left for the SEC and Texas began its precipitous decline, the Big 12 has struggled to keep players from Texas in the conference. The Aggies have given the rest of the SEC a bigger window to pursue players from the talent-rich state.

Combine that with the recent struggles of Texas, the state's traditional power, and Mike Farrell of Rivals said those factors have drawn more and more Texas recruits out of Big 12 country.

“There are plenty of reasons the Big 12 is having its butt handed to it in recruiting," Farrell told Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News. "It all started with the decline of Texas and conference realignment. Those two hurt the Big 12."

Keeping these Texas players in the Big 12 would help the conference begin to take back the recruiting pipelines other conferences have taken from it. Convincing these players to play in Texas would also increase the overall quality of the league.

Right now, the national narrative says the Big 12 can't bring in the talent necessary to compete with the other conferences. Come Wednesday, the Big 12 will have the chance to prove that idea wrong.

Star rankings and recruitment information courtesy of Rivals.