Ask Farrell: Which team's slow recruiting start is a surprise?

It might only be mid-July but recruiting classes are filling up quickly. Clemson, which is atop the recruiting rankings, leads the way with 18 commitments, and the next five teams all have 20 or more commits even before the season gets underway.

In the team recruiting rankings, LSU is second, followed by Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan and Miami. Both the Wolverines and the Hurricanes have 21 commits each.

Rounding out the top 10 are Notre Dame, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, easily the biggest surprise class so far in coach Mack Brown’s first season.

Seventeen of 25 five-stars are already committed.

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There is still a tremendous amount of time before the Early Signing Period, but some teams that are usually high in the recruiting rankings have slipped a little bit heading through the summer.

Oklahoma is No. 14 after finishing in the top eight the last three recruiting cycles. Florida State is No. 15 as prospects are probably waiting to see if coach Willie Taggart can turn it around in Tallahassee.

Auburn is No. 21 with only six four-star pledges. Texas is all the way down at No. 34 with only eight total commits. Nebraska, trying to build off coach Scott Frost’s momentum, is at No. 46 with eight pledges. USC is No. 62, sandwiched between Tulane and Duke.

We ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell which team is he most surprised by that’s had a slow start to this recruiting cycle, while others are already putting their finishes touches on the class?

“I would say Nebraska surprises me the most, but it’s not really a bad thing. The Huskers are being picky and Frost is finding guys he wants and that fit his system. I just expected more prospects to want to jump on board early for Nebraska based on the buzz around Frost and the big hire. But the quality of the class is very good and the slower approach will probably turn out better than Mike Riley’s strategy. I like the areas Nebraska is recruiting.”