College football recruiting rankings: SEC, Big Ten dominate as top classes

In the past, fans were guaranteed a buffet of dramatic storylines on National Signing Day, but changes to the college football calendar have made the first Wednesday in February little more than a formal punctuation to the yearly recruiting cycle. With no major last-minute flips to speak of, the real story of this year’s National Signing Day was the dominance of the new-look Big Ten and SEC. 

The two conferences have long held an edge when it comes to recruiting, but thanks to realignment they are threatening to lap the field. The SEC and Big Ten boast 20 of the country’s top 25 recruiting classes in 2024, according to 247Sports. That includes 74% of the players ranked in the Top247. The SEC was particularly impressive. Of 247Sports’ 32 five-star recruits, 63% committed to an SEC team and 46% of all the Top247 recruits committed to SEC schools. It’s marks 16th straight year the league has finished No. 1 in the recruiting rankings. 

The SEC was heavily bolstered by its two strongest recruiting powers in Georgia and Alabama. The Dawgs brought home their first No. 1 class since 2020 with five five-star recruits. Kalen DeBoer was able to keep Nick Saban’s last recruiting class together, adding a couple pieces of his own to help the Tide finish second. The Big Ten was paced by one of its newest additions in Oregon, which finished third. Miami was the only non Big Ten or SEC school in the top five at No. 4. That was followed by Ohio State, Texas, LSU, Auburn, Oklahoma and Notre Dame.

Check out the top 10 classes below, and be sure to stay with us throughout the rest of National Signing Day as these rankings will likely change. Click the link at the end of the table to see where your team ranks if it is not inside the top 10.