College Football Recruiting Rankings: Top 2017 Schools Post-National Signing Day

National signing day saw many of the best college programs in the nation put the final touches on their 2017 recruiting classes. Rosters were replenished with talented prep football players who might someday lead their teams to a conference or national championship.

The recruiting battle is a year-round task that requires constant vigilance. No program has proven better over the past several years than Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide, which once again tops the list of best classes per several different outlets, including Bleacher Report.

So who follows up the Tide in this year's recruiting battle? Here's a look at the top recruiting classes after national signing day according to Scout.com, Rivals.com and 247Sports.

Ranking	Scout.com	Rivals.com	247Sports
1	Alabama	Alabama	Alabama
2	Georgia	Ohio State	Ohio State
3	Michigan	Georgia	Georgia
4	Ohio State	Michigan	USC
5	USC	Florida State	Michigan
6	Oklahoma	USC	Florida State
7	LSU	Oklahoma	LSU
8	Florida State	LSU	Oklahoma
9	Texas A&M	Florida	Auburn
10	Florida	Texas A&M	Florida
11	Auburn	Miami (FL)	Notre Dame
12	Maryland	Penn State	Texas A&M
13	Notre Dame	Notre Dame	Miami (FL)
14	Penn State	Auburn	Stanford
15	Tennessee	Tennessee	Penn State
16	Oregon	South Carolina	Clemson
17	Miami (FL)	Maryland	Tennessee
18	Nebraska	Oregon	Maryland
19	South Carolina	Stanford	Oregon
20	Virginia Tech	Nebraska	UCLA
21	UCLA	UCLA	South Carolina
22	Michigan State	Clemson	Washington
23	Washington	Washington	Nebraska
24	Stanford	Arkansas	Mississippi State
25	Mississippi State	Utah	Virginia Tech

Saban's zealous, insatiable approach to recruiting is legendary. His grumbling about the 2012 national title game taking time away from his recruiting schedule (per GQ's Warren St. John) is the best example of his devotion to his process.

The single-minded approach works wonders of course, as Alabama landed six 5-star recruits this year, including the nation's No. 1 recruit in running back Najee Harris. Other top recruits include the No. 3 offensive tackle in Alex Leatherwood and the top inside linebacker in Dylan Moses. 

Alabama's class was so chock-full of talent, and the lure of playing for the school is so strong that the program even got talented defensive end Jarez Parks to grayshirt (enroll the following year), per Rivals.com's Andrew Bone. 

Parks is the No. 7 defensive end in the nation, so SB Nation's Matt Brown took his commitment to wait in the wings as proof of the Crimson Tide's recruiting dominance: 

"

Alabama is out here GRAYSHIRTING top 100 dudes and why is anybody else even trying today

— Matt Brown (@MattSBN) February 1, 2017"

Ohio State did at least manage to match Alabama in 5-star recruits, with six players from the cream of the crop set to become Buckeyes this upcoming season. The star pupil is No. 2 defensive end, Chase Young. Here's the Bleacher Report college football staff's quick primer on what he can bring to Columbus:

"The first thing mentioned about Young is his ceiling. It's scary to think a 5-star athlete can get that much better, but Young could reach levels that would make him one of the most intimidating defenders in college football. He'll be a special project for the Ohio State coaching staff."

Stanford put together an impressive class with three top-10 players—offensive tackles Foster Sarell and Walker Little along with quarterback Davis Mills. But with just 14 signees overall, it wasn't enough to give them a top-10 recruiting class.

Still, with just two other schools (UCLA, Washington) in Scout.com's top-25 bringing in less than 20 players this year, Stanford's top-heavy class is a reason for Cardinal fans to be excited about the future.

USC might have a small class relative to some of its elite competition this year, but Wednesday proved to be a fruitful one for the Trojans.

They inked three 5-star recruits—wide receiver Joseph Lewis, offensive tackle Austin Jackson and defensive tackle Jay Tufele—while also bringing in 4-star linebacker Levi Jones, who might want to stay clear of the Sunshine State for awhile after his announcement shenanigans, per Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee: 

The signing of Jackson was a nice coup for the Trojans, as he hails from Phoenix and was heavily sought after by Arizona State, according to SB Nation's Morgan Moriarty. Lewis will be joined by his Augustus Hawkins High teammate, Greg Johnson, who announced his decision alongside Lewis on Wednesday. Lewis is the No. 2 wide receiver in 2017, while Johnson is the No. 6 athlete.

USC also picked up 4-star tight end Josh Falo on Wednesday, making it a banner recruiting day for the Trojans.

As for which college football conference dominated recruiting this year, look no further than the usual suspects in the SEC. With six schools in Scout.com's top 11 classes, including Alabama and Georgia at the very top, it's clear that the South is still the nexus of college football. 


All references to recruit rankings and information are courtesy of Scout.com, unless otherwise noted.