National Signing Day: Which College Football P5 Conferences Landed the Most Talent
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
Top competitors want to play against the best of the best, or with them, and college football fans love the online chatter, watercooler and drive-time banter on which college football conferences are the best with the most talent. If the recruiting rankings are an honest assessment of an individual player’s talent and skill coupled with a projection of future abilities, a breakdown of where all the top talent went in the 2021 recruiting class on National Signing Day should help end some debates.
National Signing Day came to pass without the usual drama and flair of last-minute decisions that impact multiple programs or the flip that no one saw coming which sends shockwaves along the college football landscape. As is, the only change in team recruiting rankings towards the top took place between Oklahoma and Michigan with the Wolverines jumping into that coveted No. 10 spot pushing the Sooners to the 11th best recruiting haul.
Alabama won the day helping the SEC lead the way placing four teams in the Top 7; No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 LSU, and No. 7 Texas A&M. Outside the Top 10, the SEC pushed five more teams into the Top 25; No. 13 Florida, No. 16 Tennessee, No. 18 Ole Miss, No. 24 Arkansas, and No. 25 Mississippi State.
Representing the Big Ten, Ohio State drew the second-best class with Wisconsin slotted at No. 15 followed by No. 19 Maryland, No. 20 Nebraska, No. 21 Penn State, and No. 23 Iowa. The ACC had four in the Top 25; No. 5 Clemson, No. 12 Miami, No. 14 North Carolina and No. 22 Florida State.
Far outdistancing their peers, No. 6 Oregon and No. 8 USC were leaps ahead of No. 27 Cal and No. 29 UCLA per the rankings. Same holds true in the Big 12 where No. 11 Oklahoma and No. 17 Texas drew better than the next closest team, No. 39 Oklahoma State and No. 40 West Virginia.
Power Five Conference Teams Ranked in the Top 25
SEC – 9
Big Ten – 6
ACC – 4
Pac-12 – 2
Big 12 – 2
The Collection of Recruiting Talent
The 2021 recruiting class consisted of 34 5-Stars, with one unsigned (DE J.T. Tuimoloau), and 327 4-Star players with 4 remaining available. On NSD, nine unsigned and/or uncommitted 4-Stars inked with a team locking everyone in place. The talent dispersed across the country on NSD:
2021 5-Star Talents per Conference
SEC – 15 5-Stars – 44 percent
Big Ten – 8 5-Stars – 24 percent
ACC – 6 5-Stars – 18 percent
Pac-12 – 2 5-Stars – 6 percent
Big 12 – 2 5-Stars – 6 percent
2021 4-Star Talents per Conference
SEC – 105 4-Stars – 32
Big Ten – 64 4-Stars – 20
ACC – 57 4-Stars – 17
Pac-12 – 53 4-Stars – 16
Big 12 – 32 4-Stars – 10
Photo credit: CFP; Lucas Oil Stadium