Take Two: Moving on in Gainesville
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Alabama is No. 1 in the team recruiting rankings and No. 1 in the College
Football Playoff pool. Things are so good in Tuscaloosa that one wonders whether
the Crimson Tide are simply unstoppable.
UCLA is ranked ninth in the College Football Playoff and the Bruins have beaten
USC twice in a row (favored by about a field goal again on Saturday) but it's
still hard to argue against the Trojans as the recruiting power in Los Angeles.
Iman Marshall is the nation's No. 3 overall prospect.
USC, once again, has the top-rated class in the Pac-12 by Rivals.com
and the Trojans are one of the team pegged to finish really strong with guys
(all five-stars) among others looking at them as signing day approaches.
There is no question UCLA has made significant strides on the field
since Jim Mora was hired. The Bruins are a top 10 team and they've had
their recruiting success as well. The problem is that USC has built up so many
strong pipelines over the years -- and the kids coming up now remember the USC
glory days -- that it still holds a significant pull.
UCLA is making progress but in terms of recruiting, it still seems like Los
Angeles is a USC town.
"I haven't noticed much of a change since Mora first arrived here in 2012. He's
still landing his fair share of haymakers, and regardless of whether his Bruins
beat USC this weekend or not, he's still going to likely end up winning the
battle for Keisean Lucier-South, Osa Masina and a few others. Yet USC is still
the favorite to land most of the big names left in the West, and the Trojans
look like they'll finish somewhere in the top five in the country in recruiting,
just ahead of the Bruins. USC appears to have developed a UCLA basketball-like
brand. Where even if the coaching situation is rocky or they're losing often or
they continually drop the big game to UCLA, they're still going to get the
majority of top recruits in the region because of their history and brand."
BruinSportsReport.com
"They're going to need to win a national championship for it to change. Kids are
still talking USC offers, they're excited about USC. You have the big-time kids
like Iman Marshall and John Houston and Rasheem Green are projected to go to
USC. UCLA has done a great recruiting job but the perception is still that USC
is the offer and UCLA is not and that's not going to change any time soon."
-- Farrell
Adam Gorney
West Recruiting Analyst
Mike Farrell
National Recruiting Director
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