Five storylines to follow entering the 2017 recruiting cycle

The Class of 2016 is in the books – with the exception of five-star letter-of-intent holdout Demetris Robertson – and the focus of the recruiting world is now onto the class of 2017. But which teams can turn their solid 2016 class into momentum on the trail going forward? Which schools could be on the decline? We take a look at the five storylines to watch as the 2017 cycle takes center stage.

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Despite not looking like a lock to take the top spot for most of the 2016 cycle, the Tide closed extremely well on National Signing Day and were crowned the recruiting national champions for the seventh time in the last nine years. The success on the recruiting trail has spilled over to the field, with the school nabbing four of the last seven national titles. So will anything change with the class of 2017? It seems unlikely, especially if they continue on their current clip. The school already has nine commits in the class of 2017, and all but one are ranked as four-stars or higher. Florida State, LSU and others will make a run, but as usual it will be tough to knock off Nick Saban and company.

There has already been one update to the class of 2017 rankings since the initial list was released last year, with another right around the corner. But who will be in the top spot when all is said and done? In the class of 2016, the top spot changed several times before Rashan Gary ultimately finished the cycle as the main man. But can a defensive tackle do it again? Right now defensive tackle Marvin Wilson is in the catbird seat, but wide receiver Trevon Grimes and defensive end Josh Kaindoh are lurking as threats to the top spot.

Year after year, Georgia head coach Mark Richt took criticism for losing some of Georgia’s top talents to other SEC rivals and while Kirby Smart’s first class was impressive, there were still a few big fish that got away. How will that shake out in 2017? The state of Georgia is loaded once again and Dawgs figure to be battling Alabama, Clemson, Florida and several other programs when it comes to five-stars Nate McBride and William Poole. Georgia finished No. 10 in this year’s rankings, but Smart will likely be expected to bring in a top five class with a full year to recruit.

So far Urban Meyer is 1-0 against Jim Harbaugh on the field and 2-0 against him when it comes to the recruiting rankings. The Buckeyes narrowly edged the Wolverines in Harbaugh’s first full recruiting cycle this year and now the attention will turn to 2017 to see who gets the edge both on the field and in recruiting. Harbaugh took some heat in the media and from his fellow coaches for some of his outside-the-box recruiting tactics, but the results were impressive, with the Wolverines landing the nation’s top overall player in Gary. There are likely to be several players the schools battle for in the class of 2017 and it will be fun to watch how things shake out by next year’s Signing Day.

New Trojans head coach Clay Helton not only held onto to most of the recruits in USC’s class, but closed well enough that the school finished ranked No. 8 in the Rivals.com Team rankings. Since coming off NCAA-imposed sanctions the school has been recruiting on a very high level, but has yet to see the results turn into a run at a on-field national championship. After winning the recruiting title in 2015, the country will be watching to see things go on the field. If poor results follow and it looks like more coaching instability is coming to L.A., it could mean a downturn on the recruiting trail.