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Ask Farrell: Which under-the-radar class is the best?

Leading up to the start of the early signing period, the rumors are rampant, the speculation hits fever pitch and prospects who are looking to make their decisions face the reality that it’s time to finally choose.

With all that, the top of the team recruiting rankings could see significant movement over the next few days, but especially on Wednesday and through the end of the week as a majority of top prospects will sign and come off the board.

There is already all kinds of talk about which teams will benefit most, but as it stands now the top 10 looks like this: Clemson on top followed by LSU, Alabama, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Florida, Michigan, Auburn, Miami and Washington.

A lot of those programs are constantly in the recruiting news, whether it’s Clemson landing five-star linebacker Trenton Simpson over the weekend - after North Carolina was considered the far-and-away leader - and whether the Tigers will get five-star linebacker Justin Flowe now or LSU and whether the Tigers can get five-star Jordan Burch or five-star running back Zachary Evans and others in the coming days.

But there are also a lot of teams that have quietly cobbled together outstanding recruiting classes who have for one reason or another slipped under the national spotlight.

MORE ASK FARRELL: Farrell's NSD predictions | Which visits are the most intriguing?

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Michigan is quietly putting together an outstanding class even though the Wolverines have received only one commitment since late July. All the work was done early and Michigan looks to be putting only final touches on its class.

Miami is hanging in the top 10 despite a poor season under first-year coach Manny Diaz and the Hurricanes could have some surprises up their sleeve in the closing days. Washington has moved into the top 10 as well even with a coaching change that has not hurt recruiting in the slightest.

And then there are teams rounding out the top 20 who have had quiet success as well as Oklahoma and Oregon are tied at No. 11 followed by Penn State, North Carolina, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech among the top 20 schools.

FARRELL'S TAKE

We ask Rivals National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell which team that has slid under the spotlight has been compiling the best recruiting class and which one could make a run toward the top five with a big finish on signing day?

“The first part of the question is Michigan as you don’t hear a lot about them but Jim Harbaugh has put together a top-10 class with a lot of talent. AJ Henning and Blake Corum highlight a nice offensive class but I really like what the Wolverines have done on defense. The linebacker group is deep and talented and the defensive back duo of Andre Seldon and Jordan Morant is hard to beat and they are just lacking interior defensive line help right now. This is a big class and a good one.

"As for a team pushing for the top five, that’s easy. It’s Georgia and it will get there whether it’s this week or by February. But for this week alone, I’m going with Florida, who will push from No. 6 into the top five.”

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