I just spent the last hour scrolling through ESPN's 2027 recruiting class rankings and I need to talk about this. USC is sitting there outside the top 15 while Oregon is hoarding 247 composite five-stars like they are collecting infinity stones and Ohio State is doing Ohio State things and Georgia is Georgia and I am supposed to just accept this as business as usual? The 2027 year is still wide open. We have a full dead period ahead of us and the staff is quietly working behind the scenes. The crystal balls are not even close to settled yet. I keep seeing the same names pop up on the commitment lists for the Big Ten and SEC programs and I keep waiting for the shoe to drop on a couple of silent commits that nobody is talking about.
The 2026 class is already locked in for the most part. Oregon landed five five-stars and that is their best haul ever. Texas stacked Dia Bell and Richard Wesley. Miami got Jackson Cantwell. All of that is done. But the 2027 year is where we make our move. I have been tracking the OVs and the visits during this summer dead period and there is some real momentum building for a few priority targets that the 247 guys are not talking about enough. The staff is not chasing the same names as everybody else. They are identifying specific position needs and going after guys who fit the scheme. That is how you build a class that outperforms the rankings.
The noise about NIL leveling the playing field is real. Five-star prospects are spreading out across more programs than ever. That means the old recruiting hierarchy where the same six programs hoarded every elite prospect is breaking down. USC can absolutely compete in this new landscape. I look at the 2027 board and I see opportunities to flip guys who are soft comimts to other programs. The bagman game is real and our NIL collective is not sitting on their hands. Some of the names I am hearing about being in play for USC are guys who are currently committed to Big Ten rivals. That is going to be the story of this year.
I am not panicking about the ESPN rankings. They are a snapshot in June of a class that does not sign until December 2027. A lot can change. The staff is playing the long...