As the 2026 college football recruiting cycle gains momentum, several programs have distinguished themselves with impressive early commitments. Rankings will always be different, varying sites and analysts and they are subject to change as the cycle progresses, but here’s an overview of the top recruiting classes and standout commitments shaping the future of college football.

Top 5 Recruiting Classes (Early Standings in no Order)

1. Ohio State

• Top Commitments: Five-Star Wide Receiver Chris Henry Jr., Four-Star Safety Blaine Bradford, Four-Star Linebacker Simeon Caldwell, and Four-Star Offensive Tackle Maxwell Riley

Class Overview:

Ryan Day has the luxury of building his 2026 class around one of the most coveted players in the country: five-star receiver Henry, whose father, the late Chris Henry, was a star receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals. Henry Jr. stands 6-6 and has a combination of length and quickness that isn’t seen too often from players coming out of high school. He could rival Jeremiah Smith for day one impact readiness for a school that is clearly turning into WRU in college football. The rest of the Buckeyes’ class has started to take shape, totaling 13 recruits in the top 300 as of now. The team has added a handful of ESPN 300 prospects since March, including Blaine Bradford out of Louisiana and linebacker Simeon Caldwell out of Florida. 

2. USC Trojans

• Top Commitments: Five-star Cornerback Elbert Hill, five-star cornerback RJ Sermons, five-star offensive tackle Keenyi Pepe and four-star defensive lineman Jaimeon Winfield.

Class Overview:

Under the leadership of head coach Lincoln Riley, USC has assembled a formidable defensive class, highlighted by multiple five-star recruits. The Trojans’ aggressive recruiting strategy has positioned them as a national contender. The Trojans have double-digit (14) ESPN 300 commits as of today and with several joining the list since January. The Trojans have seemed to put an emphasis on building up the defense since this has been a glaring weakness for the team over the last few years.

The Trojans have also been doing a good job stealing recruits from different states that are usually associated in their pipeline states, and this could be the differentiator for staying as a top class in 2026. The move of hiring Chad Bowden from Notre Dame seems to be paying dividends with big recruiting advantages along with dominating the transfer portal as well. 

3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

• Top Commitments: Five-star offensive tackle Tyler Merrill, four-star quarterback Noah Grubbs, and four-star edge rusher Rodney Dunham.

Class Overview:

Notre Dame has bolstered its reputation as an offensive line powerhouse with the addition of Merrill. The Fighting Irish are also strengthening their defense and quarterback position, aiming for a balanced and competitive class. After shocking the CFB world by making the CFP final last year, the Fighting Irish look to keep the momentum rolling by staying on top of the college football world getting a top 2026 class to keep retooling their roster.

4. Penn State Nittany Lions

• Top Commitments: Four-star offensive lineman Kevin Brown, four-star edge rusher Daniel Jennings, and four-star quarterback Peyton Falzone.

Class Overview:

Penn State is capitalizing on its recent College Football Playoff appearance by securing top in-state talent and expanding its reach. The Nittany Lions’ emphasis on both offensive and defensive line prospects reflects their commitment to building a strong foundation throughout the entire team, creating a balanced 2026 class. The Nittany Lions jumped out to a fast start fueled by strong in-state recruiting and have kept that momentum going. Several of their top commits are Pennsylvania natives, including four-star Harrisburg High School teammates Kevin Brown and Messiah Mickens. This also included a verbal commitment from four-star QB Peyton Falzone.

James Franklin also landed in-state athlete David Davis Jr., who has clocked a 20.5 mph max speed and has the cover skills to fit into the back end of a defense one day. Franklin is owning his state, which is critical when staying on top of the recruiting rankings and making sure the top talent doesn’t leave your backyard, especially as some of the top programs around the Country like to dip into Pennsylvania.

5. Georgia Bulldogs

• Top Commitments: Five-star quarterback Jared Curtis, Four-star Cornerback Justice Fitzpatrick, and Four-star Wide Receiver Vance Spafford

Class Overview:

The Bulldogs have been a consistent staple among the top three overall classes during Kirby Smart’s tenure and look to do so again in 2026. A big step toward finishing near the top is bringing five-star quarterback Curtis back into the mix. After a decommitment, the Bulldogs were able to fend off other suitors and give themselves a potential impact QB for the future they’ve been looking for years now, after getting multiple top QB recruits in recent past. Fitzpatrick has great lineage, being the brother of NFL safety Minkah Fitzpatrick as he plays a very similar style of football to his brother, which bodes well for Georgia.

Emerging Trends

• Regional Strengths: Programs are increasingly focusing on regional recruiting to build strong pipelines. For instance, Penn State’s emphasis on in-state talent from Pennsylvania has bolstered its class rankings. Illinois seems to be joining this list by keeping top recruit Nasir Rankin inside his home state as well. Good recruiting starts by dominating your home ground, and an unexpected program keeping elite players at home is massive for their trajectory.

• Top Recruits going against the norm: Zion Elee, a five-star defensive end from Maryland, is ranked as the No. 1 defensive prospect in the 2026 class. His commitment to Maryland is a historic one, being the highest-rated recruit in the program’s history.  Rutgers got two top wide receiver recruits in Dyzier Carter and Elias Coke, both being four-stars. Syracuse has a top ten class according to multiple sources which is great for coach Fran Brown to continue to build on his image.

Conclusion

The 2026 recruiting cycle is shaping up to be highly competitive, with several programs making significant early commitments. While rankings are fluid and subject to change, the current landscape indicates a strong emphasis on building balanced teams with a focus on both offensive and defensive prowess. The normal suspects for having top recruiting classes seem to be at the top still but watch out for a few sleeper teams that are looking to spend their NIL money in order to get into the upper echelon of college football. As the cycle progresses, expect these rankings to evolve, with programs continuing to secure top-tier talent across the nation.

More College Football Recruiting News:

College football is now at a critical point where rules intended to provide clarity can also bring back the darkest times for the game. Greg McElroy, an ESPN analyst and former Alabama quarterback with extensive experience in the game’s history, has expressed his concern about new college football regulations that may lead to negative outbreaks.

A Champion’s Perspective on College Football’s Dangerous Gamble

McElroy knows college football’s underbelly better than most. The 2010 BCS National Champion turned ESPN analyst has spent over a decade analyzing the sport’s transformation, from his playing days at Alabama through the Wild West era of early NIL to today’s increasingly regulated landscape. His recent comments about NIL Go, the new Deloitte-managed clearinghouse, paint a troubling picture of potential regression.

“Here’s the unforeseen circumstance that surrounds the NIL Go platform: It welcomes the underbelly of college football back into the sport, potentially,” McElroy warned during his Always College Football podcast.

His concern stems from a fundamental shift in how college athletics approaches player compensation. The NIL market is projected to reach $1.67 billion in 2024-25.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Today’s starting quarterbacks for the top 25 teams earn an average of $821,000 annually, expected to climb to $1.31 million by 2025. But McElroy’s warning suggests this prosperity might be short-lived if new regulations drive transactions underground.

“Right now it’s free. It’s fair. You’re allowed to give guys whatever you want to give them,” McElroy explained, referencing the current system where collectives account for over 80 percent of the NIL market. The former quarterback’s concern intensifies when considering that 72 percent of the collective money flows to football players, creating a massive target for regulatory scrutiny.

The NIL Go platform, launched June 11, 2025, requires all third-party deals exceeding $600 to undergo a fair-market-value assessment by Deloitte. As industry expert Stewart Mandel noted, this threshold captures virtually every meaningful NIL arrangement. The College Sports Commission, led by CEO Bryan Seeley, wields unprecedented enforcement power, including player suspensions and postseason bans.

McElroy’s historical perspective proves particularly relevant. College football’s past is littered with scandals involving illegal payments, from Alabama’s Albert Means case that cost the program $200,000 and resulted in a two-year bowl ban, to Arkansas losing scholarships over the J&H Trucking Service violations.

Former Heisman winner Johnny Manziel recently confirmed what many suspected: “There was a bag man at LSU. There was a bag man at ‘Bama. There was a bag man at every school around the country if you were competing for a national title”.

“But now that every single NIL deal could potentially be scrutinized, it welcomes bad actors back into the game,” McElroy continued, highlighting the paradox at the heart of his concern. If legitimate NIL deals face rejection or extensive review, the temptation to circumvent the system through traditional under-the-table payments becomes more attractive.
KEEP READING: Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion Banks $2,500,000 Just Weeks After HC Mike Elko’s NIL Warning
The numbers support McElroy’s anxiety. With the House settlement providing $2.8 billion in back damages to former players while restricting future earning potential through increased regulation, the pressure on programs to find competitive advantages intensifies. Schools can now pay athletes directly up to $20.5 million annually, but this caps total compensation rather than expanding it.

“So does that now welcome back some of the back alley payments we once saw in the sport that had gone away for the last few years?” McElroy asked, capturing the essential tension between transparency and accessibility.

His warning is powerful because it raises awareness of college football’s cyclical nature. It is the nature of the game that specific actions taken in a good-faith attempt to reform might lead to unexpected consequences and thus repeat the problems they aimed to solve.

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Heidrick actually opens the show by taking a moment to talk about the WNBA. “First and foremost, Caitlin Clark missed five games for the Fever, and it has been a struggle for them,” Heidrick says. “But she was back … [with] 32 points in her big return. … She got hot, she found a rhythm.” Per Heidrick, the Fever needed that.

Later on, Heidrick discusses the implications of the House settlement and how it will affect current and former college athletes. “The NCAA is going to pay almost $3 billion in back damages over the next 10 years to athletes who competed in college at any time from 2016 to the present day,” Heidrick informs listeners. She goes onto provide more context for this massive update, including how the funding will be allocated and which programs will benefit the most from this settlement.

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Heidrick closes out the show by discussing how roster limits, another aspect of the House settlement, will affect some women’s sports. Per Heidrick, unless some teams and programs find other ways to generate revenue, “someone is going to get left behind.” As Heidrick warns, “there are going to be cuts, people are going to feel this, because that money just does not grow on trees.”

Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about women’s college basketball, the WNBA, basketball history and much more!

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