By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

For the first time in his career as a head coach, Lincoln Riley and USC are projected to finish with the nation’s top recruiting class, signifying that they are serious about competing for national championships in today’s era of college football.

The early signing period recently kicked off and the Trojans signed 35 prospects.

Oregon currently ranks second, followed by Alabama, Notre Dame and Georgia.

Once again, the SEC is dominating, with five of the top 10 classes (Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and Texas A&M), compared to three from the Big Ten (USC, Oregon and Ohio State), one from the ACC (Miami) and none from the Big 12.

Here’s everything you need to know:

USC has not finished with the No. 1 class since 2006.

Five-star tight end Mark Bowman headlines a class that includes four other top 50 prospects: wide receiver Boobie Feaster, edge rusher Luke Wafle, cornerback Elbert Hill and defensive lineman Jaimeon Winfield.

USC focused on California prospects (signing 20) while strategically dipping into other states as needed. Four signees are the top recruits in their home states: Wafle (New Jersey), Hill (Ohio), four-star quarterback Jonas Williams (Illinois) and four-star linebacker Talanoa Ili (Hawaii).

In case you missed it, the biggest news of the week — and of the entire recruiting cycle — dropped Tuesday evening when five-star quarterback Jared Curtis announced his flip from Georgia to Vanderbilt.

The Nashville native is the nation’s top prospect and had committed to Georgia twice, once in March 2024 and again in May after he decommitted for the first time in October 2024.

This decision had been expected this week, but Curtis pumped the brakes when news leaked Tuesday afternoon that his flip was official. He made his announcement Tuesday night and is now Vanderbilt’s first five-star signee of the modern era.

LSU coach Lane Kiffin is the self-proclaimed “Portal King,” but he’s got an important task at hand with high school recruiting next two months.

The nation’s No. 2 prospect, Lamar Brown, has been committed to LSU since July. Even after the Tigers fired Brian Kelly, Brown- a Baton Rouge native- has been one of LSU’s most loyal supporters, and he was expected to sign with the program on Wednesday.

However, Brown is now waiting until the February signing period to file his paperwork, meaning it’s now Kiffin’s job to convince the state’s best player that LSU is still the right place for him.

Five-star Ohio State receiver commit Chris Henry Jr. has not yet signed with the Buckeyes and said Wednesday afternoon that he is “still trying to weigh my options” on the heels of receivers coach Brian Hartline taking the head coaching job at USF.

Henry, who plays at powerhouse Mater Dei in Southern California, is the nation’s No. 10 prospect and No. 1 receiver. He committed to Ohio State in July 2023.

Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby and his staff scored a couple of significant wins on the recruiting trail this week. The Bulldogs flipped five-star safety Bralan Womack (the nation’s top safety) from Auburn. Followed by four-star edge Micah Nickerson from Missouri. Both signed on Wednesday.

Bill Belichick had a disastrous first year as North Carolina’s head coach, but it didn’t come back to haunt him on the recruiting trail. The Tar Heels had 39 signees, including 13 blue-chippers.

Among Belichick’s most impressive pickups: four-star athlete Jakob Weatherspoon, a former Ohio State commit, four-star wide receiver Keeyun Chapman and four-star quarterback Travis Burgess. And last minute, the Tar Heels flipped four-star defensive lineman Vodney Cleveland from Texas and four-star tight end Dream Rashad from Purdue.

Hats off to Franklin, who, despite being at Virginia Tech for two-ish weeks, is already on pace to finish with a top 25 class.

The Hokies signed seven blue-chippers and put the icing on the cake Wednesday when they flipped four-star linebacker Terry Wiggins from Penn State.

This, after they picked up a commitment from former Penn State quarterback commit Troy Huhn as well. So far, so good for Franklin, who might already have the Hokies ahead of schedule.

Signing day always brings a few fun surprises. With the transfer portal and NIL players who signed today with one team could be on another team by May.