Fact or Fiction: UGA-Bama, Clemson-ACC, USC-Oregon
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. The No. 1 recruiting battle to watch is Georgia vs. Alabama.
Farrell’s take: FACT. I was thinking about this for some reason and Ohio State and Michigan came to mind first. But that hasn’t been a very close recruiting battle in recent years, at least not as close as Alabama and Georgia.
The Bulldogs have won the last three recruiting titles and Alabama won six in seven years before that. And when Georgia swipes a recruit such as Jake Fromm away or the two teams go head-to-head for Amarius Mims, it can change the college football landscape. Name a better recruiting matchup, I dare you.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. While the Alabama/Georgia recruiting battles will be legendary for years to come, there’s one that’s even better and it’s Clemson vs. The World. The Tigers have two of the last four national championships and have yet to win a team recruiting title on Rivals. Either that’s superb coaching or a mis-ranking on some elite prospects who were developed very well through the program.
Justyn Ross was the No. 1 player in Alabama who picked Clemson over the Crimson Tide. The Tigers beat Georgia and others for Georgia native Trevor Lawrence. They went to California for five-star quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei and five-star receiver Joe Ngata. Clemson going anywhere for anybody is the most exciting thing to watch in recruiting.
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2. North Carolina will be the biggest threat to Clemson in the ACC.
Farrell’s take: FICTION. FICTION. Not yet but just wait. Sam Howell should have another big season and as Mack Brown continues to add talent to the roster UNC will be a problem in a couple of years. The Tar Heels may win their division next year, that wouldn’t shock me, but they are far from Clemson right now in roster talent. But like I said, just wait. So who is the biggest threat to Clemson right now in the ACC? No one. But if I had to pick it would be Louisville in its own division.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. The word “threat” should be taken lightly here because Clemson is going to be refocused and rejuvenated after getting blitzed in the national title game and the Tigers should be looking for victims every week. Miami with D’Eriq King at quarterback and a strong defense, especially up front, could be interesting. But those teams don’t meet during the regular season, so the Hurricanes would be the biggest threat if the two teams meet in the conference championship. But it's not North Carolina. A new staff at Florida State could have the Seminoles playing well early on and Clemson has to go to Tallahassee, so that's another one to watch in the conference.
3. Oregon is the new USC in recruiting.
Farrell’s take: FACT. Maybe not in the sense of national recruiting like USC did under Pete Carroll, but Mario Cristobal has the Ducks rolling and every big-time recruit on the West Coast seems to mention Oregon when talking about staying closer to home. I hear about Oregon much more than USC even from California kids and that’s impressive.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Oregon has had a great run over the last few years, there’s no doubt about it, and Cristobal and his staff deserve a ton of credit. The players the Ducks signed in the last couple recruiting cycles could lead them to the College Football Playoff soon.
But there has been a little bit of a renaissance within the USC program since the disastrous 2020 recruiting class. New coaches have come in and brought some fresh ideas and a new approach, including defensive coordinator Todd Orlando. But no one is more important to USC’s recruiting efforts than new assistant Donte Williams, one of the best recruiters in the country. He came to USC from Oregon. It was maybe the biggest recruiting coup in the Pac-12 this cycle.