Rivals national recruiting analyst John Garcia Jr. is joined by national recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman, Caleb Jones of AuburnSports.com and Jack Knowlton of TideIllustrated.com to tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
MORE FACT OR FICTION: Kaliq Lockett should be a top-five receiver
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1. Alabama will finish with a higher-ranked signing class than Auburn.
Spiegelman: FACT. As July comes to an end, Alabama holds the second-ranked class in the Recruiting Team Rankings. This Cold Summer in Tuscaloosa has yielded commitments from elite 2025 prospects such as Ty Haywood, Keelon Russell, Dijon Lee, Caleb Cunningham and others, and the Tide don't appear to be done rolling yet. Alabama is also trending for elite running back Akylin Dear, who should have a decision in place before his senior season gets underway.
After a colossal Big Cat Weekend on the Plains, Auburn is sitting at No. 6 in the Recruiting Team Rankings. The Tigers flipped Derick Smith and Antonio Coleman, and landed commitments from top-100 defensive backs Anquon Fegans and Blake Woodby. They, too, may not be done with Rivals250 defensive end Jared Smith set to come off the board later this week and three of the nations best quarterbacks (Julian Lewis, Deuce Knight and KJ Lacey) in their sights entering the fall.
Garcia: FACT. Even after Auburn flipped a pair of Crimson Tide commitments from its list of pledges over the last few days, Alabama still stands as the No. 2 class nationally despite holding one less recruit on board compared with No. 6-ranked Auburn. It would take a few more big blue-chip gets, and perhaps a pair of dynamic flips of a top-ranked quarterback and No. 1 in-state recruit Naeem Offord (Ohio State commitment who has visited multiple times this offseason) for Auburn to close the gap Alabama has ahead at the moment.
At the same time, Kalen DeBoer's program has several uncommitted recruits with serious Alabama momentum attached to their name, as Sam said, from Dear to Lone Star State wide receiver Kaliq Lockett among those planning on coming off the board sometime soon. Throw in the on-field expectations and UA should be in better shape to close out the stronger class in the end.
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2. Auburn's recruiting hot streak to end July will carry into August.
Jones: FACT. Auburn could be on the verge of adding some more names and making some serious noise as a top-five recruiting class. Hugh Freeze has done an outstanding job prioritizing in-state prospects in both the 2025 and 2026 class. I expect that to continue into August.
Garcia: FICTION. Only in numerical comparison. There's little chance August is as fruitful for Auburn. It just racked up seven verbal commitments over the last week of July, so it won't be easy to challenge those numbers in early August. But there's little doubt the momentum will slow down to a stop. In-state edge Jared Smith comes off the board on Aug. 3 and the Tigers are heavily favored going into that public decision.
Auburn will also continue to work on trying to flip a high-profile quarterback currently committed elsewhere, such as Deuce Knight, who was back on the Plains over the weekend. Other flip candidates remain in the mix along with others, though most in that group don't have clear commitment or final decision timelines.
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3. The recruitment of Rivals250 defensive lineman Antonio Coleman is over.
Knowlton: FICTION. The Cold War that is Alabama vs. Auburn recruiting has surged recently after Auburn flipped both Antonio Coleman and Derick Smith from the Crimson Tide. While each prospect has remained linked to Auburn for some time, Coleman's flip means he has now been committed to both Alabama and Auburn twice, and with a few months still to go before National Signing Day another twist in his recruitment feels inevitable. Alabama now has just one defensive tackle commit — three-star London Simmons — and is unlikely to give up on Coleman heading into the fall.
Could Coleman's frequent flipping mean a third team works its way into the mix? It's unlikely but in Coleman's recruitment, nothing feels like a sure thing until he puts pen to paper this winter.
Garcia: FICTION. Coleman is saying all the right things following his fourth pledge between the two programs but we should know better by now. The season has yet to begin and there are still four months until the Early Signing Period begins on Dec. 4.
In between, the back-and-forth between the rivals won't slow in recruiting and of course there is a certain late November tilt set to take place between the two – and it's in Tuscaloosa.
Coleman has been wide open with visits to other programs despite his committed status, dating way back to the first Alabama commitment last September. The season always warrants more recruiting trips, so it would be an upset to see him only visit Jordan-Hare Stadium once the season kicks off.
