Recruiting Rumor Mill: Focus shifts to the 2026 class

With the release of the new 2026 Rivals250 this week, a lot of the top prospects have favorites and new top programs to consider following National Signing Day.

Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney has all the latest.

Texas A&M remains a major contender for the 2026 two-way standout from Spring Valley (Calif.) Mount Miguel but there is going to be some significant pressure from teams in the West as Arrington’s recruitment wraps up even more.

Arrington grew up a fan of USC and then Oregon is making him a major priority and that’s always tempting for players in the region.

Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, Texas and Oregon are all pushing very hard for the Baton Rouge (La.) Catholic safety but the feeling is that it’s still going to be tough to beat LSU for the hometown standout.

Bradford will play in the Under Armour game over the holidays and then start setting up official visits which could give more insight into where things stand for him.

Other than weekend visits to Ohio State and Michigan, nothing has changed much for the five-star offensive tackle as Missouri and Oregon remain very high in his recruitment and Nebraska is right there as well.

What will become interesting is if Cantwell loved the Buckeyes and/or the Wolverines if things would change among his front-runners moving forward.

In early June, Cooper committed to Georgia but his pledge only lasted a few days as he jumped the gun and wanted to reopen his recruitment. The Bulldogs remain a top contender.

Miami is right there as well along with Alabama, Auburn and others but the Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna five-star athlete still likes Georgia a ton.

Louisville, Penn State, Florida, Florida State, Oregon and Ohio State round out the top teams.

Georgia, Ohio State and others continue to be some of the early front-runners for the 2027 linebacker from Raleigh (N.C.) Millbrook but North Carolina has been a favorite and will move even higher after the Tar Heels hired coach Bill Belichick.

Ohio State continues to be a mainstay in Dean’s recruitment and the Buckeyes could be the team to watch but South Carolina, Georgia, Penn State, Tennessee and Alabama are the other programs seriously involved with him.

The Gamecocks could get an edge heading into the New Year, though, as the Clemmons (N.C.) West Forsyth standout plans to visit on Dec. 22.

Texas and Ohio State have been the two top teams for a while for Dixon-Wyatt and the Longhorns might have an edge among those but it sounds like the four-star receiver from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei is expanding his list heading into the offseason.

Oregon has now entered the fray in a significant way with Alabama and Georgia as Dixon-Wyatt doesn’t have any visits planned at this point.

UCF and South Carolina have been the frontrunners for the four-star quarterback from Jackson, Ala., but with so many coaches moving all around – Dowell Loggains took the Appalachian State job and Gus Malzahn went from UCF to be Florida State’s offensive coordinator – Duckworth is taking a step back.

Auburn is now a main team to watch as the Tigers have been picking it up with the four-star QB as he resets his recruitment.

It’s still a long list for the hard-hitting safety from Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances as Alabama, Auburn, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Ohio State and Maryland stand out most.

Two big visits should be coming up in January as Edwards plans to see Alabama and Oregon and then a clearer picture of favorites could emerge.

Oklahoma, Ohio State, Miami, LSU and Texas have been the top dogs in Geralds’ recruitment and all those programs continue to stand high on his list and now another one has been added for the high four-star defensive tackle from Suwanee (Ga.) Collins Hill.

Oregon is emerging as a major contender for Geralds especially after the Ducks’ big haul on signing day.

An in-state battle could be brewing for Gibson as Alabama and Auburn are among his front-runners but there are others as well.

The Gadsden (Ala.) Gadsden City four-star cornerback also has Miami and Tennessee in his top four and Florida has been hanging around as well but the Crimson Tide and the Tigers do look strongest right now.

Ohio State remains the team to beat for the four-star defensive end from Matthews (N.C.) Weddington but there are some others that need to be watched as well.

Tennessee, USC and Auburn round out the favorites for Harris but the Buckeyes are definitely looking best right now.

A top six of Utah, BYU, Georgia, Michigan, Oregon and Miami has emerged for the four-star tight end from St. George (Utah) Pine View and a big visit to Ann Arbor is coming up in January. It will be interesting to see where the Wolverines stand after that especially since they just landed five-star QB Bryce Underwood.

Harris will schedule his official visits for May and June. The feeling has been for a while that Oregon continues to stand out most but the Ducks do have some serious competition, too.

The top five remains intact for the four-star running back from Mineral (Va.) Louisa County as Michigan, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio State and Penn State stand out most.

Hiter does not have any other visits planned but the Wolverines could have an even bigger edge now after the signing of five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood.

LSU and Tennessee have been two major standouts for the elite receiver from Hattiesburg, Miss., and now Alabama, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, USC, Auburn and “maybe two more schools” are the standouts in his recruitment.

A big bunch of visits are coming up which could sway Keys, too, as he wants to see USC, Alabama, Tennessee and Michigan soon.

Spring game dates are going to be important for King as he wants to see SMU, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Arkansas in the coming months and that could alter his top schools.

The four-star linebacker from Port Arthur (Texas) Memorial has had Texas, Texas A&M and Notre Dame very high on the list but with a lot of portal moves things could be altered after the spring.

All the same programs that have intrigued Kreul so far in his recruitment stay high on the list including the in-state ones, Oklahoma and many others.

Florida is also making a major run at the four-star defensive end from Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy. Kreul recently visited the Gators for bowl practice and what’s different with him is that he didn’t really follow all the signing day news and flips so his top programs remain intact no matter what happened.

The Frisco (Texas) Panther Creek four-star receiver does not say much about his recruitment but the word has been that Texas is the major standout in his recruitment.

There are others, though, as Oregon, Texas A&M, LSU, USC, Tennessee and Miami interest him at this point in his recruitment.

USC remains the team to beat in Lyons’ recruitment but BYU, Ole Miss, Alabama and Oregon remain on the list with no visits finalized yet for this offseason.

The Trojans could be tough to beat but Michigan has started to recruit the five-star quarterback from Folsom, Calif., as well so that could be something to watch even after the Wolverines got Bryce Underwood since Lyons is planning a religious mission.

The four-star cornerback from Cornelius (N.C.) Hough has five programs standing out the most and one program could be interesting to watch because of a big coaching change.

South Carolina has really impressed Matthews for a long time but especially this season with Clemson, Penn State, Tennessee and North Carolina standing out. Visits to Florida State and Clemson have now been locked in for later in January.

Auburn, Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M, Oregon, Clemson, Ohio State and Michigan are the programs standing out most to the four-star defensive tackle from Buford, Ga., but something else is being closely watched by Perry-Wright as well.

He’s taking a close look at which programs have signed which defensive linemen in high school and the transfer portal so that could be something he strongly considers moving forward.

Two teams are standing out the most to the four-star offensive lineman from Avon Lake, Ohio and now it’s up to Riley to make his decision.

No visits are planned as Riley has seen his two favorites often and now it’s whether Clemson or Ohio State could win out in the end.

Missouri and others are high on the list but the Buckeyes and the Tigers stand out most.

The Mount Olive (N.C.) North Duplin defensive tackle committed to Texas A&M in October but that was before North Carolina hired new coach Bill Belichick.

Ruffin thinks that hire is “big-time” and he loves it so that could be something to watch for the Tar Heels but the word is that Ruffin is still locked in with the Aggies.

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There are at least a handful of programs trying to flip the Florida State five-star quarterback with Washington, UCLA, Missouri and Michigan State among them and this past weekend he and teammate Shane Rosenthal were in Seattle visiting with the Huskies.

Other trips will probably happen especially with so much movement in the high school and portal ranks but at this point the Newbury Park, Calif., quarterback remains locked in with the Seminoles.

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