MORE ASK FARRELL: Is it time to put Kirby Smart on the throne as best recruiter?
There were a lot of discussions as Tom Herman started to rebuild Texas, as Lincoln Riley took over at Oklahoma and as Jimbo Fisher came to Texas A&M about the cut-throat recruiting battles that would happen between the three in the chase to win national championships.
It looks like a brutal engagement for years to come.
In the 2019 team rankings, Texas finished fourth, followed by Oklahoma at fifth and Texas A&M came in sixth. The Longhorns topped the list even though it only had one five-star commitment in athlete Bru McCoy, who enrolled at USC before deciding against that and going to Texas.
Oklahoma finished with the most five-stars out of the three with four - quarterback Spencer Rattler and receivers Jadon Haselwood, Theo Wease and Trejan Bridges. The Sooners became the first school in Rivals history dating back to 2002 to sign three five-star receivers.
The finish for Texas A&M is tied for its best ever with the 2014 recruiting class at sixth overall and Fisher did an excellent job landing five-stars DeMarvin Leal, Kenyon Green and Erick Young. He said on ESPN that he would put his defensive back signees against anybody in the country.
All three programs - Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M - did an excellent job this recruiting cycle and it doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon. But we ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell if he sees any surprises among the three finishers and whether one program has a lot of momentum moving forward into the 2020 class.
FARRELL'S TAKE
"This is a tough one because all three teams are recruiting well. I would say that Texas has the biggest advantage when it comes to in-state recruits and the Horns are doing a great job recruiting nationally so I'll say they have the edge as long as they keep winning on the field. But all three teams will be recruiting well moving forward and the Texas-Oklahoma battle in the Big 12 will be fun to watch. Texas A&M is a sleeping giant but it has Alabama to contend with so that will be tough."
