By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The college football season recently ended. This was the first season with a 12-team playoff. I want to take a look at some of the top transfer portal recruiting classes around the Southeast.

LSU: The Tigers have the top portal class in the nation with 16 commits. Eight of them are 4-star players and seven are 3-star players.

This class is highlighted by edge rusher Patrick Payton (Florida State), CB Tamarcus Cooley (NC State), TE Donovan Green (Texas A&M), CB Mansoor Delane (Va Tech), IOL Braelin Moore (Va Tech), WR Nic Anderson (Oklahoma), WR Barion Brown (Kentucky), TE Bauer Sharp (Oklahoma) and CB Ja’Keem Jackson (Florida).

Ole Miss: The Rebels are the second ranked portal class with 22 commits. They have eight 4-star recruits and fourteen 3-star recruits.

Some of the big names are WR Harrison Wallace III (Penn State), RB Jordon Simmons (Akron), S Kapena Gushiken (Washington State), OT Percy Lewis (Auburn), WR Traylon Ray (West Virginia), QB Pierce Clarkson (Louisville), WR Caleb Odom (Alabama), RB Kewan Lacy (Mizzou) and TE Luke Hasz (Arkansas).

Auburn: The Tigers have the fourth ranked class that consists of 16 commits. Six of them are 4-star players and eight are 3-star players.

This class has S Taye Seymore (Georgia Tech), OT Mason Murphy (USC), OT Xavier Chaplin (Va Tech), CB Raion Strader (Miami OH), WR Eric Singleton Jr. (Georgia Tech), LB Xavier Atkins (LSU), QB Ashton Daniels (Stanford), DL Dallas Walker IV (Western Kentucky) and QB Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma).

Miami: The Hurricanes are the fifth rated class with 11 commits. It includes seven 4-star recruits and four 3-star recruits.

They have QB Carson Beck (Georgia), TE Alex Bauman (Tulane), IOL James Brockermeyer (TCU), CB Xavier Lucas (Wisconsin), CB Charles Brantley (Michigan State), S Zechariah Poyser (Jacksonville State), WR CJ Daniels (LSU), CB Emmanuel Karnley (Arizona) and DL David Blay (La Tech).

Kentucky: The Wildcats have the sixth rated portal class that has 19 commits. They have six 4-star players and thirteen 3-star players.

Some of the standouts are Edge Mi’Quise Grace (South Dakota), WR Kendrick Law (Alabama), Edge Sam Greene (USC), IOL Joshua Braun (Arkansas), WR Troy Stellato (Clemson), DL David Gusta (Washington State), RB Dante Dowdell (Nebraska), WR Tru Edwards (La Tech) and TE Henry Boyer (Illinois).

Florida State: The Seminoles have the seventh ranked class. Last season was a disaster that showed what can go wrong by building a roster with transfer players.

They are hoping for better results in 2025. They have 16 commits, consisting of five 4-star recruits and eleven 3-star recruits. Some of those players are LB Caleb LaVallee (North Carolina), WR Squirrel White (Tennessee), Edge Jayson Jenkins (Tennessee), IOL Luke Petitbon (Wake Forest), OT Micah Pettus (Ole Miss), WR Duce Robinson (USC), LB Elijah Herring (Memphis), TE Randy Pittman Jr. (UCF) and Edge James Williams (Nebraska).

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have the twelfth ranked class with 24 commits. They have two 4-star players and twenty-two 3-star players.

The big names are RB Fluff Bothwell (South Alabama), QB Luke Kromenhoek (Florida State), WR Brenen Thompson (Oklahoma), DL Darron Reed Jr. (Auburn), WR Anthony Evans III (Georgia), WR Ayden Williams (Ole Miss), IOL Koby Keenum (Kentucky), LB Jalen Smith (Tennessee) and Edge Malick Sylla (Texas A&M).