Christian Westerman: Is 5-Star Texas Recruit Reconsidering His Commitment?

Christian Westerman, the top-ranked offensive tackle recruit in the country, has a verbal commitment to Texas.

While he hasn't mentioned any thoughts about de-commiting from the Longhorns' top-ranked recruiting class, Westerman has continued looking around and will make visits in the weeks leading up to National Signing Day.

According to ESPN.com, Westerman will make his official visit to USC this weekend and counts Auburn among his three finalists. He visited Auburn in December.

But which team holds the advantage? Do Auburn or USC have a chance at knocking off Texas for Westerman's services before signing day?

At first glance, that appears to be a big, fat no. Texas has the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation and is poised to return to the top of the polls. The tradition runs deep at nearly every position in Austin and Westerman would likely get the preparation he needs to succeed at the next level if he were to stay in Texas.

With a bit of confusion surrounding the coaching staff, however, Westerman is reconsidering his commitment. The 5-star lineman told ESPN.com's Corey Long that the biggest issue with Texas is that he has no idea who his offensive line coach will be.

USC was the school that missed out on Westerman when he gave his verbal to the Longhorns and it is certainly happy to be back in the game after being shutout last weekend at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. 

Expect the Trojans to make a hard run at gaining a verbal and eventually signing Westerman after missing out on prized defensive recruit Vilami Moala. The Trojans can make amends on the loss of the hole-clogging defensive lineman with additions of Westerman and Cyrus Kouandjio.

After claiming the National Championship, it's safe to assume that the Tigers are, indeed, a team that could steal Westerman from both Texas and USC.

The Tigers own the 11th-best recruiting class so far and adding Westerman would certainly swing the balance of power.

After the recent commitments from athlete Quan Bray and outside linebacker Brent Calloway, Westerman would be a welcomed addition to the offensive line surrounding third-ranked quarterback and likely Cam Newton-replacement Kiehl Frazier.

All told, I still think Texas holds the edge as evidenced by Westerman's initial commitment. If the recruit is going to go elsewhere, expect USC to do everything in its power to land the once-top target.