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Pac-12 Spotlight: Five teams with the most recruiting buzz

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

Max Williams
Max Williams
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About a month into the season is a good time to pump the brakes and see which schools really have the recruiting world’s attention. In the Pac-12, there are five schools that have a little more buzz than the rest.

RELATED: Five Big Ten teams with recruiting buzz | SEC teams | ACC teams

COLORADO BUFFALOES

The Buffaloes have put together a strong recruiting class - currently fifth in the Pac-12 - with little fanfare but a lot of talent among the group. Recent three-star receiver commit Tarik Luckett is having a terrific season at San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) JSerra Catholic and the other pledge in September, Maurice Wilmer, has a lot of potential to play linebacker for the Buffs.

There could still be a lot of top prospects headed to Boulder. Four-star WR Kyle Ford is definitely a top target but should be considered an outside shot at this point. Three-star defensive lineman Siale Liku is definitely serious about Colorado along with three-star defensive end Darius Robinson from Canton, Mich., and four-star defensive back Isaiah Rutherford, who would be a huge coup for the Buffaloes since a lot of Pac-12 and SEC teams are pursuing him

OREGON DUCKS

First-year coach Mario Cristobal and his staff have done an extraordinary job so far with the 2019 recruiting class and have built an impressive lead in the Pac-12 recruiting rankings especially by going into California and landing top prospects Jonah Tauanu’u, Mycah Pittman, Mykael Wright, Jeremiah Criddell, Sean Dollars, Mase Funa and others.

The Ducks might not be done. Five-star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux is on Oregon’s radar, although some SEC and ACC powers could have a slight edge and there is no question in the 2020 class that No. 1 D.J. Uiagalelei is serious about Oregon, Clemson and others. Cristobal used to coach at Alabama. He’s taking knowledge from that stop plus an aggressive recruiting style to Eugene and it’s been working.

STANFORD CARDINAL

David Shaw’s club had maybe the busiest September of any team in the conference, landing three commitments - two of which came from outside the region. Stanford received pledges from three-star running back Nathaniel Peat out of Columbia (Mo.) Rock Bridge and three-star offensive lineman Walter Rouse from Washington (D.C.) Sidwell Friends. The 6-foot-6, 280-pound prospect could be one of the next great offensive linemen to come through Stanford.

Things could pick up even more later Thursday when four-star defensive end Joshua Pakola from Mountain View (Calif.) St. Francis makes his announcement. Stanford is the favorite but UCLA and others have been making a push as well.

USC TROJANS

The last time the Trojans did not win the Pac-12 team recruiting title was 2013, but they’re very much in danger this recruiting cycle because Oregon is recruiting so well. Still there is a lot of buzz about what could happen in USC’s recruiting class - and it starts this weekend when four-star cornerback Max Williams makes his decision. His finalists are USC, Utah, Louisville, Notre Dame and Oregon.

The only commit for USC so far this fall came from San Diego Madison speedster Kenan Christon but things could dramatically ramp up in the coming months. Four-star receiver Kyle Ford is a top target along with four-star defensive linemen Laiatu Latu and Stephon Wright, four-star offensive tackle Sean Rhyan along with Thibodeaux and others. USC always gets many of its top targets. That should not change heading into December.

WASHINGTON HUSKIES

It was a productive month of September for the Huskies on the recruiting trail by landing commitments from four-star offensive tackle Julius Buelow and three-star offensive lineman Troy Fautanu to bolster a much-needed position group this cycle. There are still many top-end targets on the wish list and it looks like Washington could be trending for many of them.

Another position group that needs some support in 2019 is the defensive line and top Hawaii recruit Faatui Tuitele, a massive four-star defensive tackle from Honolulu St. Louis leads the way. Linebacker also looks to be picking up with Concord (Calif.) De La Salle four-star Henry To’oto’o and Atherton (Calif.) Menlo Atherton’s Daniel Heimuli topping the list. If Chris Petersen can polish off the class with some of those prospects, the Huskies should be in great shape.

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