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Published Aug 18, 2016
Pac-12 Breakdown: Five 2018 recruiting battles to watch
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Adam Gorney  â€¢  Rivals.com
National Recruiting Director
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The first class of 2018 rankings were released last week, which helped frame the recruiting battles to come for the rising junior class. Here are five of what should be the fiercest and most newsworthy recruitments in Pac-12 country.

RELATED: Rivals250 for class of 2018 | Position rankings for class of 2018

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St. Brown is in one of the most interesting situations in the 2018 class because he has one brother, Equanimeous, playing at Notre Dame and another brother, Osiris, who is a 2017 four-star receiver pledged to Stanford. That means Notre Dame and Stanford are without question two of the early frontrunners for St. Brown, but there is a third school that is seriously involved much closer to home. UCLA has really captured the four-star’s attention, St. Brown loves position coach Eric Yarber and if the Bruins continue to build that program into a Pac-12 power, then all three St. Brown brothers could wind up playing at different schools.

The battle for Woodbey could be one of the more hard-fought ones in the country, because the four-star has many of the elite programs among his top schools. USC, Florida State, Ohio State and Alabama are in his top group. The Bosco standout is also giving LSU a closer look and he’s really hoping for a Miami offer since he watched tapes with his father of former Hurricanes stars growing up. If USC is to keep Woodbey home, the Trojans are going to have a major recruiting contest on their hands because every major program is coming after him.

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Thompson-Robinson is already one of the most-prized recruits among 2018 quarterbacks and he’s not even the varsity starter yet. That’s how it goes at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, because four-star Ohio State commit Tate Martell still has his senior season to play. That seems OK with Thompson-Robinson, though. It looks like UCLA has the early edge in his recruitment, but the Bruins don’t have the four-star quarterback locked up yet. Florida has definitely made a push, especially after his recent visit to Gainesville. Arizona State, Michigan and many others are already involved. Plus, with two big seasons to come and more exposure, Thompson-Robinson’s recruitment could get way busier.

Stanford and BYU are the two frontrunners for the Corona (Calif.) Centennial quarterback, except there is one sticking point: The Cardinal has yet to offer. However, McKee is entering his junior season and should put up huge numbers in Centennial’s explosive spread offense, which should attract the attention of coaches across the country. McKee is a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so that could play some consideration in his recruitment and might favor BYU. But Stanford is definitely high on his list and the 6-foot-6, 210-pound four-star recruit is also hearing from Washington, Texas A&M, Oregon and others.

The Corvallis (Ore.) Crescent Valley four-star athlete, currently the top-rated prospect in the 2018 Oregon rankings, is in an interesting situation. His brother, T.J., played at Oregon State and Hufanga goes to high school down the road from the Beavers’ campus. But it’s certainly not the only school high on his list. Oregon recently offered and he seemed super excited about it. Arizona State, BYU, UCLA, Utah and Washington State are also involved early and with a big junior season, Hufanga could see his recruitment take off. Probably a linebacker in college, the four-star will have a lot of choices.

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