Gators, Longhorns among disappointing 2017 classes

The Rivals.com team rankings are constantly in flux, especially this time of year, and will look very different on Signing Day than they do today as teams round out their classes. However, there are some obvious surprises, both good and bad, as the rankings currently stand.

We break down five teams that need a strong close to the 2017 recruiting cycle below.

Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.

MORE: Over-performing 2017 recruiting classes

The skinny: After years of reeling in top-10 classes nationally, maybe this is becoming the norm for the Gators. The Gators, who finished 23rd in 2015 and 14th in 2016, once again find themselves outside the top 10, despite reeling in nine four-star recruits to this point, including Kadeem Telfort, Zachary Carter, Elijah Blades and Marco Wilson. Florida still has the potential to finish strong with a multitude of four-star recruits, plus five-star Aubrey Solomon, who are making their way to Gainesville during three big official visit weekends in January.

Farrell’s take: The Gators are held to a higher standard since the Urban Meyer days and should always be in or near the top 10. With only 15 commitments, they could still push up into that range, but being behind FSU and Miami as well as a few teams like South Carolina and Maryland at this stage can be concerning.

The skinny: While having the 26th ranked recruiting class is not something a majority of programs would be disappointed in, considering the Huskies are coming off of a national semifinal appearance, their situation is a little bit different. The Huskies did do a good job keeping several of the elite in-state talent home, with four-stars Hunter Bryant, Salvon Ahmed and Henry Bainivalu all committed, but they lost five-star Foster Sarell to Stanford.

Farrell’s take: Washington has only 14 commitments so they should be a bit low, and their average star ranking is good, but I would expect a top-15 finish after this season. Time will tell if they can get there. They should replace Oregon as that 10-15 range program in the Pac-12.

The skinny: With the No. 24 recruiting class in 2016, expectations were high for the Tar Heels this year. However, to this point this has not materialized as UNC at No. 28. Grabbing in-state four-star commitments from Jonah Melton, Jake Lawler and Xach Gill was important, but more needs to be done in the next three weeks to consider this a good recruiting season for the Tar Heels.

Farrell’s take: UNC hasn’t had as much buzz as they did last year following their ACC title game appearance, and I expected the dividends from that season to carry over to the 2017 cycle. It hasn’t happened yet. They only have 17 commitments, so they will push ahead of some teams, but their 3.18 star average is lower than expected.

The skinny: After yet another lackluster season, and with a coaching change, it should come as no surprise that the Longhorns are once again looking up at most of their head-to-head recruiting competition. Since taking over in Austin, coach Tom Herman has been working overtime to try and make up for lost ground, but will he have enough time? One thing working in their favor is that they only have 13 commitments, so there is room for improvement. Four-star quarterback Sam Ehlinger is a huge addition for the program among Texas' current commits.

Farrell’s take: Longhorns fans always hate these lists and, rightly so, get a bit upset when they appear so low during the summer. But we are now fewer than three weeks away from Signing Day and the expected recruiting bump from the Herman hire hasn’t exactly happened yet. I expect them to finish strong and push into the top 25, but after all those years of starting off at No. 1 in June and finishing in the top 10 come February, these come-from-behind classes are getting old.

The skinny: This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise considering the dark cloud of possible sanctions hanging over the program, but it is still odd to see the Rebels this low. After reeling in the No. 8 class last year, which was considered more of the norm than an oddity, Ole Miss’ only two four-star commits to this point have come from Breon Dixon and D.D. Bowie. Coach Hugh Freeze has an uphill battle during these last three weeks as competing schools are not being bashful in using the potential sanctions against the Rebels while on the recruiting road.

Farrell’s take: The NCAA issue is clearly affecting things here, and the loss of in-state five-star Cam Akers hurts. We’ve come to expect Ole Miss finishing in the top 25 under Freeze; he’s finished in the top 10 twice since 2013, so No. 62 with a sub-three-star average is alarming.