The Texas Longhorns and Florida State Seminoles are atop ESPN’s most recent list of top 25 college football recruiting classes for 2012.
ESPN is the only site among the three major recruiting services to rank the current classes. Scout.com and Rivals.com will post their class rank lists in the next few months.
Texas has already received commitments from 18 high school football players, including nine among ESPN’s top 150.
Coach Mack Brown is one of the nation’s best recruiters, and his ability to consistently bring talented players to Texas has been one of the keys to the Longhorns’ continued success on the field.
The Longhorns have verbal commits from five-star prospects Kennedy Estelle, Johnathan Gray, Malcolm Brown and Caleb Jones, all of which are among the top 10 at their respective positions.
Texas has also received verbals from four-star prospects Peter Jinkens, Bryson Echols and Connor Brewer. If this class comes to fruition next February, this will easily be the nation’s best.
Florida State had a top five recruiting class in 2011 and are following up with another strong list of prospects for 2012.
The Seminoles have received commitments from 14 prospects, eight of which are among ESPN’s top 150.
Coach Jimbo Fisher has received verbals from five players that are rated among the top 10 at their respective positions, including the nation’s #2 defensive end Mario Edwards.
Dante Fowler, another five-star defensive end, has also given his commitment to Florida State. The Seminoles have landed enough talented players over the past two years to position themselves for a serious run at the BCS national championship in the near future.
Like Texas and Florida State, Alabama coach Nick Saban has been able to attract some of the nation’s best high school talent over the past four years.
The Crimson Tide are currently listed at No. 3 on ESPN’s top 25 list of recruiting classes, having received commitments from 14 prospects.
Alabama has gotten verbals from five-star prospect Reggie Ragland, the nation’s top-rated middle linebacker, and five-star prospect Eddie Williams, the nation’s #3 rated safety.
The Florida Gators are No. 4 on ESPN’s top 25 classes, with new coach Will Muschamp receiving commitments from 15 high school players, six of which are among ESPN’s top 150.
Florida has a verbal commitment from five-star prospect Brian Poole, the nation’s #2 cornerback and five-star prospect Jessamen Dunker, the nation’s #7 offensive tackle.
The Gators have also received a commitment from four-star prospect Colin Thompson, the nation’s #3 tight end.
Rounding out ESPN’s top five classes are the Michigan Wolverines. New coach Brady Hoke has obviously been able to sell his program on some of the country’s best high school players.
After signing a poor recruiting class in 2011 – at least by Michigan’s standards – the Wolverines have received commitments from 20 prospects in 2012, three of which are among ESPN’s top 150.
The Wolverines have received verbals from four prospects that are ranked among the top 10 at their respective positions, including five-star player Kyle Kalis, the nation’s #6 offensive tackle.
Among ESPN’s current list of the top 25 recruiting classes, seven teams are from the SEC, six are from the ACC, five are from the Big 12, three are from the Pac-12 and two are from the Big Ten.
