Fact or Fiction: Missouri will flip a top in-state target
Rivals national recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove and Josh Henschke from BlueAndMaizeReview.com, Gabe DeArmond from PowerMizzou.com and Kyle Kelly from InsideNDSports.com tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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1. Michigan will finish with a top three Big Ten recruiting class in 2023.
Cosgrove's take: FACT. The Wolverines currently sit with the Big Ten's fifth-ranked class, but with only 15 pledges their conference ranking has more to do with the number of prospects committed than it does with the quality of the class. Michigan will likely add a few highly rated recruits heading into signing day, and a few of their current commits are likely to get rankings bumps, making a top-three finish not only in reach but likely.
Henschke's take: FACT. Michigan has had a recent trend of closing its recruiting classes strong and I think that continues with the 2023 class. With what’s left on the board and how many potential commits the Wolverines could add into the fold, it should be enough to give them top-three distinction.
RELATED: Big Ten recruiting rankings | Michigan's 2023 class
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2. Missouri will flip at least one top-15 in-state prospect in the 2023 cycle.
Cosgrove's take: FICTION. This is a toss-up for me because there is some strong pull out of Columbia for top prospects to stay home, but I just don't see a recruit in the top 15 that I can point to and say they are the guy who will flip. Marvin Burks recently committed to Ole Miss and current Missouri players along with coaches will likely continue to pursue him. So Burks is the most likely at this point, but barring any further coaching changes, Missouri could be on the outside looking in for additional top-15 in-state players for now.
DeArmond's take: FACT. This is probably the toughest question I've been asked for this feature. Basically, the only realistic options are Marvin Burks or potentially Jaidyn Doss. I don't see any of the other top-15 guys that are committed elsewhere ending up back at Mizzou. Burks didn't exactly seem solid in the commitment to Ole Miss when it happened and was back in Columbia this past weekend when the Tigers played Kentucky, so he seems the most likely. I don't have a sense of what Mizzou's communication has been with Doss lately, but depending on the Tigers' needs at wide receiver and what happens with the coaching situation at Nebraska, I can see him coming back in play. Ultimately, I guess I'll say fact, but if we did things like a confidence level in the answer I don't think mine would be very high.
RELATED: Missouri state rankings | Missouri's 2023 class
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3. Notre Dame’s next commitment will come from a Clemson gameday visitor.
Cosgrove's take: FACT. Notre Dame had a number of priority visitors on campus over the weekend and word out of South Bend is that the atmosphere was electric. Any recruit who had the Irish toward the top of their list prior to the weekend visit would be hard pressed not to commit and I didn't even have to take an in-depth look at the visitor list before deciding to go with FACT. That being said, Kaleb Smith decommitted from Texas Tech in order to take the trip, and there were a number of players who could be considered Notre Dame leans in attendance, making the next commit likely to come from the list of Clemson gameday visitors.
Kelly's take: FACT. There are three Notre Dame targets that I am particularly keeping an eye on coming out of Saturday: 2023 three-star wide receiver targets Khalil Barnes and Kaleb Smith and 2024 three-star cornerback target Karson Hobbs. The initial word coming out of Barnes' visit is that it went extremely well, and Smith decommitted from Texas Tech so he could officially visit Notre Dame. Hobbs grew up a Notre Dame fan and has already been to South Bend twice this season. The Irish have turned up the heat on him and have given him — and Barnes and Smith – plenty to think about moving forward.
RELATED: Notre Dame's 2023 class