WHERE THEY STAND
How SEC teams stack up in the 247Sports.com rankings (with national rank):1. Alabama (1)2. Georgia (3)3. LSU (7)4. Auburn (8)5. Texas A&M (9)6. Tennessee (10)7. South Carolina (15)8. Kentucky (22)9. Florida (23)10. Mississippi State (25)11. Arkansas (27)12. Missouri (42)13. Ole Miss (46)14. Vanderbilt (65)
Before Nick Saban’s ongoing decade of dominance on the recruiting trail as Alabama’s football coach, there was another Southeastern Conference power that racked up its share of top-ranked classes.
The Florida Gators were once a standard to surpass on national signing day, and that was regardless of whether Steve Spurrier, Ron Zook or Urban Meyer was the coach. Will Muschamp posted three consecutive top-10 classes at Florida from 2012 to 2014, including the No. 3 crop in 2013 that included defensive tackle Caleb Brantley, cornerback Vernon Hargreaves and safety Keanu Neal, but the Gators are on pace to post their lowest ranking since prominent recruiting services such as Rivals.com and Scout.com began in 2002.
Florida entered this weekend with the No. 23 class according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings. This will be Jim McElwain’s third crop of signees in Gainesville, with his first two having been ranked 21st and 12th nationally.
“It’s a hot topic, for sure, and I think part of it is that the in-state competition is always incredible in Florida,” ESPN recruiting analyst Derek Tyson said. “Florida State has been on a great run in recent years, and now you’ve got Mark Richt at Miami, and they’re getting some guys. There are also teams from outside the state like Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State and Clemson, which has always done well in the state of Florida.