Pac-12 spotlight: Hot and cold teams

The Pac-12 routinely has some of the best recruiting battles in college football, and that is once again the case this recruiting cycle. As we head toward the busy summer season of recruiting, it’s time to take a look at three programs that are hot on the trail and three others that need to pick up the pace.

HOT/COLD TEAMS: Big Ten | SEC | ACC

Once again, coach Chris Petersen and his staff have done a wonderful job loading up on talented four-star players who also fit the Huskies’ system. Coming off a berth in the College Football Playoff, Washington has already landed six four-star prospects – more than any other team in the conference – and remain in contention for many other elite prospects in the region. The Huskies went to California to land four-star WRs Marquis Spiker and Austin Osborne, have two four-star QB commits in Colson Yankoff (a former Oregon pledge) and Jacob Sirmon and recently landed four-star DE Draco Bynum out of Oregon. Things are going well as Washington has the eighth-best class nationally.

The Trojans can basically write their ticket on landing high-level prospects every recruiting class, but coming off a Rose Bowl victory, this one could be extra special. It might just take a little bit of time, since many five-star and top four-star recruits probably won’t commit until closer to Signing Day. Five-star QB Matt Corral and five-star LB Palaie Gaoteote have already pledged, although Georgia is pushing hard for Corral to flip. There is a chance – a good one actually – that the top five players in the state of California end up at USC - Jalen Hall, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Isaac Taylor-Stuart and Solomon Tuliaupupu are all seriously looking at the Trojans.

Fending off Michigan for four-star dual-threat quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was huge. If the Las Vegas Bishop Gorman standout picked the Wolverines, UCLA’s class would be far less impressive. Thompson-Robinson has superstar potential even with his limited varsity experience, and his pledge could open a pipeline for the Bruins to Gorman, one of the best high school programs nationally. UCLA also dipped back into Texas to land four-star DB Cam Jones, the only other four-star in this class. The Bruins still need to recruit better locally this cycle, but the staff is aggressive and a good season could change some minds.

There has been a lot of talk about how first-year coach Willie Taggart is a great recruiter and how aggressive his coaching staff would be on the trail. That might still be the case, but it has not kicked into high gear yet. The Ducks have only one commitment so far in this recruiting class, from three-star running back Travis Dye. The state of Oregon is loaded with talent this recruiting cycle, but three four-stars have already committed elsewhere with Trey Lowe and Draco Bynum picking Washington and speedster Braden Lenzy going to Notre Dame. The top two players in the state – Talanoa Hufanga and Chase Cota – could end up at Oregon, so things aren’t all bad.

The Cougars won nine games two seasons ago and eight last season (they were 8-2 before losing three straight to finish out), but recruiting has not really exploded to start the 2018 recruiting class. Washington State has done a nice job dipping into Southern California, Texas and the junior college ranks to land its first three pledges, but with Washington doing so well and it being a weaker year in the state it could be a challenging time for coach Mike Leach and his staff, even if they continue to do well on the field.

There is only one school in the Pac-12 without a single commit this recruiting cycle, and it’s the Sun Devils. That is especially bad news since the coaching staff has already hosted a bunch of top in-state prospects on campus. Arizona State is coming off back-to-back losing seasons and seems to have no momentum. What’s puzzling is that the Sun Devils have not rushed out offers to top in-state prospects like WR Gunner Romney, speedy Jawhar Jordan or QB Tyler Shough, who has landed offers from Alabama, Georgia and others.