There will be some high-profile recruits who make decisions in the coming weeks as their senior seasons approach, and of course, there will be flips as we get closer to the early signing period. But now that we’ve moved past June and the July Fourth commitment wave, we have a pretty good idea of where each program stands in the 2026 recruiting cycle.
Programs like Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Texas A&M and others have had strong summers. But today, we’re focusing on the teams that have been less fortunate over the past few weeks. Let’s examine which programs still have much to do to reach their standards.
(Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.)
Auburn: 78th nationally, last in the SEC
The Tigers have signed top-10 classes each of the past two recruiting cycles. For the most part, coach Hugh Freeze has made good on the unofficial mandate he received when he was hired: Get Auburn’s recruiting back to where it needs to be.
His “worst” class ranked 18th back in the 2023 cycle, and he had just weeks to really build that one. So it’s pretty staggering to look at the 2026 team rankings and see Auburn in the 70s, hovering around Oregon State and Toledo.
The Tigers hold just eight commitments, which is a factor in the lower ranking. A majority of the programs in the top 25 have at least 15 commitments in their class. But Auburn has to play catch-up elsewhere, too.
Only three of the Tigers’ eight commitments are blue-chip prospects. Their average player rating is 89.16, which is not horrible but not where a program needs to be to compete at a high level in the SEC. Auburn’s average player rating was 91.57 in 2025 and 92.10 in 2024.
The Tigers did flip four-star quarterback Peyton Falzone from Penn State in late June and landed four-star linebacker Adam Balogoun-Ali, but that’s the only real splash they’ve made. They’ve also had three blue-chip commits flip to other programs in recent weeks.
Freeze and Auburn athletic director John Cohen addressed recruiting, House settlement interpretations and roster-building methods with reporters last week. Freeze alluded to Auburn needing to pay to retain players on the current roster, which impacts how much they’ll spend recruiting.
Cohen mentioned Aug. 1 as a critical date.
“Aug. 1 is the first day a prospective student-athlete can receive (a financial) offer on paper,” Cohen said. “That’s a big day. It’s not a rumor. It’s not innuendo. It’s not this person said this. It’s an offer on paper. We’re a good distance away from Aug. 1st and a really good distance away from December.”
We’ll know where Freeze stands in December. He’s just 11-14 through two seasons as Auburn’s coach and needs to dramatically improve to cast aside doubts about his future with the Tigers.
That uncertainty likely hasn’t helped on the recruiting trail either.
Virginia Tech: 82nd nationally, last in the ACC
Another situation where a coach’s future with the program is far from certain. Brent Pry is just 16-21 in three seasons as the Hokies’ coach, and Virginia Tech underwhelmed when it had pretty high expectations in 2024.
So, Pry badly needs wins. It’s going to be difficult to achieve recruiting at this rate. Pry’s first four classes were all ranked somewhere between 35th and 45th nationally.
The Hokies landed a commitment from homegrown four-star offensive lineman Thomas Wilder, which was a good step. But Wilder is the only blue-chip pledge in Virginia Tech’s class. He’s the only commitment the Hokies have ranked in the top 500.
Virginia Tech’s average player rating is just 86.24 ahead of only Wake Forest, NC State and Virginia in the ACC. The Hokies have received just nine verbal pledges this cycle, which is another contributing factor to the low ranking. Virginia is the only program in the ACC within that range with just 11 commitments. Everyone else in the league has at least 15 commits.
From an in-state perspective, Virginia Tech has commitments from just three of the state’s 25 top prospects (none are among the top 10). Michigan and Penn State each have three, too. Rutgers and Syracuse have two.
Virginia Tech has to make up a lot of ground over the next few months because there’s not much to celebrate on the trail right now — other than to take solace in how rival Virginia (ranked 77th nationally, next to last in the ACC) isn’t far ahead.
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz has commitments from only four blue-chip prospects, far off the Tigers’ pace in recent cycles. (Steve Roberts / Imagn Images)
Missouri: 74th nationally, 15th in the SEC
We’ve highlighted slow starts from the Tigers in the past. But Missouri generally finishes well enough. The Tigers have signed the 20th-ranked class in the past two cycles.
So we’re not too worried about Missouri’s recruiting, especially after winning 21 games over the past two seasons, but it must climb between now and December. In 2024, the Tigers signed eight blue-chip prospects. They followed that up by signing 11 in 2025.
Missouri has commitments from just four blue-chip prospects right now, so it’s off the pace from its recent efforts. The Tigers’ class currently is only 10 members deep. South Carolina owns the same total, but it has seven blue-chip commits.
It’s not that Missouri hasn’t been active recently. It’s picked up eight commitments since June. But the Tigers started from such a low point (only two commits entering the summer), they have quite the hole to dig out of. We’ll see where they eventually land.
Nebraska: 63rd nationally, 17th in the Big Ten
With roster limits set at 105 players now, the Cornhuskers have to keep this class relatively small in order to meet the threshold in future years. They’re at 126, including players who would have been cut if the roster size was strictly enforced, per The Athletic’s Mitch Sherman.
Nebraska has 12 commitments presently. That would be fine, but with a small class, a program’s margin for error dwindles. The fewer players, the more the misses hurt. Of the Cornhuskers’ 12 commitments, nine are ranked outside the top 500.
So Nebraska’s fan base must trust coach Matt Rhule’s evaluations and development because it will have to turn prospects who might be longer-term projects into real contributors. The Cornhuskers’ average player rating is just 88.00.
Without more high-end talent in the class, the program must walk a thin line to produce winners.
South Carolina: 55th nationally, 14th in the SEC
The Gamecocks are here mainly because of volume. South Carolina has missed on recruiting targets, but its average player rating is still 91.18. The issue is that the Gamecocks have just 10 commitments.
As noted earlier, seven of those prospects are blue-chippers, including two in the top 100. South Carolina has genuine momentum as a program coming off a nine-win season, and expectations are high this year with star quarterback LaNorris Sellers. So it would’ve been logical to assume the Gamecocks would be higher in team rankings, but we’ll see when/if they can make the jump this cycle.
Coach Shane Beamer has usually been good for some splashes later in the recruiting calendar. If South Carolina can assemble the season its fans hope for, it’ll likely get more high-profile pledges.
The Gamecocks seem on track to land a commitment from four-star quarterback and top-100 prospect Landon Duckworth. Duckworth was committed to South Carolina before reopening his recruitment, and it seems like the two sides will reunite. That will provide a boost the Gamecocks need.
Four-star quarterback Bowe Bentley (1) stands as the biggest prize so far in Oklahoma’s 2026 recruiting class. (Angela Piazza / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Oklahoma: 33rd nationally, 10th in the SEC
The Sooners have had solid additions this summer, headlined by four-star quarterback Bowe Bentley, who is also a top-100 prospect. Bentley was one of five blue-chip commitments Oklahoma has received since June.
The Sooners have been active, landing 15 commitments, but nearly half of the class (seven prospects) is ranked 500th or lower. Their average player rating is 88.72. As noted with Nebraska, that formula is a more difficult path to success. But similar to other programs mentioned, there’s uncertainty with the head coach.
Brent Venables must display notable improvement this season after having losing records in two of his first three years as the Sooners’ coach. It doesn’t help that Oklahoma has an extremely difficult schedule.
That sort of doubt always makes things tougher when recruiting. Fortunately for the Sooners, they don’t have as high to climb as other programs on this list, but it’s still a difficult path forward considering the thing that could really boost recruiting — stability — will occur only by winning games.
Honorable mention
Colorado: 97th nationally, last in the Big 12
The Buffaloes would deserve more examination under normal circumstances, but this sort of recruiting is what we’ve come to expect from Deion Sanders.
Colorado has clearly emphasized the transfer portal and has been very selective in recruiting. The Buffaloes have just six commitments, with only one blue-chip pledge.
Sanders has typically landed some high-profile commitments late in the process, so it would not be a shock to see him add some top talent as we get closer to December. But the program will simply never finish too high in the recruiting rankings because of its approach.
(Photo of Auburn coach Hugh Freeze (left) and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables: Jake Crandall / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)