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This is nothing new. Players have long recruited other top players to play with them. But there is a different feel to the 2020 race. Notably, only a few teams are truly involved with the majority of the top 2020 prospects.
Of the presently committed 18 five-star prospects, 13 of those players are pledged to just five teams: Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and LSU. Expand those numbers out, and 21 of the 34 top-50 prospects who are committed and 35 of the 70 committed players in the top 100 of the 247Sports Composite are committed to those programs.
“There definitely is an arms race between Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, those type of schools,” Georgia quarterback commit Carson Beck told 247Sports. “All the top talent is going to get truly split between those schools unless one school comes together and form that No. 1 class that’s just unreal.”
For those unfamiliar, Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State have combined for every national championship in the College Football Playoff era. Georgia, under Kirby Smart’s direction, played for a national championship in 2017 and has pulled in three straight top 3 classes. LSU, the fifth team in this perceived group, is among the steadiest producers of NFL talent. Or, as the parents of five-star corner Elias Ricks quickly put it when asked, is "DBU.”
This is not to say other programs aren’t landing five-star prospects or recruiting well. It's that this quintet is dominating the race for the top class in 2020 to the point it’s almost inconceivable another team could crack the upper crust.
“There is a growing interest from high-profile prospects, from coast to coast, to play in the SEC,” 247Sports Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong said. “From the College Football Playoff to the NFL draft to the big stadiums and huge fan bases, these kids are very excited about playing there. Clemson and Ohio State are SEC programs in a different league. The perception is the same as the others with the way they churn it out in the draft year in and year out."
Of the presently committed 18 five-star prospects, 13 of those players are pledged to just five teams: Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and LSU. Expand those numbers out, and 21 of the 34 top-50 prospects who are committed and 35 of the 70 committed players in the top 100 of the 247Sports Composite are committed to those programs.
“There definitely is an arms race between Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, those type of schools,” Georgia quarterback commit Carson Beck told 247Sports. “All the top talent is going to get truly split between those schools unless one school comes together and form that No. 1 class that’s just unreal.”
For those unfamiliar, Clemson, Alabama and Ohio State have combined for every national championship in the College Football Playoff era. Georgia, under Kirby Smart’s direction, played for a national championship in 2017 and has pulled in three straight top 3 classes. LSU, the fifth team in this perceived group, is among the steadiest producers of NFL talent. Or, as the parents of five-star corner Elias Ricks quickly put it when asked, is "DBU.”
This is not to say other programs aren’t landing five-star prospects or recruiting well. It's that this quintet is dominating the race for the top class in 2020 to the point it’s almost inconceivable another team could crack the upper crust.
“There is a growing interest from high-profile prospects, from coast to coast, to play in the SEC,” 247Sports Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong said. “From the College Football Playoff to the NFL draft to the big stadiums and huge fan bases, these kids are very excited about playing there. Clemson and Ohio State are SEC programs in a different league. The perception is the same as the others with the way they churn it out in the draft year in and year out."
