Three-Point Stance: Hot teams, small classes, biggest flips

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s Three-Point Stance is here with a look at some hot teams in each Power Five conference, some small classes that could end up underrated and five of the biggest flips this season that will impact college football down the line.

POSITION BY POSITION: Comparing the 2018 class to its predecessors

Signing Day is still over a week away, and there are some programs that are really pushing up the rankings. Here are the hottest teams in each Power Five conference heading into the home stretch.

Big Ten – Nebraska – Nebraska fans should be excited about the progress the program has made early under Scott Frost. The Huskers were second-to-last in the Big Ten coming out of the Early Signing Period and now they are in the top 20 nationally and No. 4 in the conference. Commitments from four-stars like Miles Jones, Dominick Watt and Cam Jones have pushed them way up the charts and additions of Casey Rogers and Braxton Clark can’t be overlooked. Frost has added double-digit recruits since he’s been hired and they have become the talk of the Big Ten in recent weeks.

SEC – Auburn – No one in the SEC is setting the world on fire since Georgia dominated the Early Signing Period, but Auburn has added a few key pieces to the 2018 class. Speedster Anthony Schwartz was a big get followed by athlete Harold Joiner and fellow athlete Roger McCreary. The Tigers have also done a good job trying to secure a few of their commitments who didn’t sign early. The Tigers have the No. 7 class in the country and are ahead of rival Alabama.

ACC – Florida State – The ‘Noles have jumped from the 60s to the Top 25 with some key recent commitments after a shaky start under Willie Taggart. They flipped tight end Cameron McDonald from USC, added key offensive line help from Jalen Goss and most importantly flipped linebacker Xavier Peters, a kid I am very high on, from Kentucky. The commitment from defensive lineman Dennis Briggs keeps the momentum rolling along.

Big 12 – Oklahoma – The Big 12 hasn’t been churning out commits since the Early Signing Period, but that’s mainly because most of the programs did a very good job securing early signatures. Oklahoma landed five-star Brendan Radley-Hiles as well as linebacker DaShaun White on the same day, a great defensive 1-2 punch and just added three-star tight end Brayden Willis. The Sooners also had linebacker Nik Bonitto announce for them on national television despite signing early. They have had some impressive momentum.

Pac-12 – UCLA – With a transitional class, like Taggart’s at Florida State, the Bruins have been very busy hitting a few home runs but also adding a few projects. Offensive lineman Chris Murray is key pickup as is defensive end Elijah Wade, while athlete Delon Hurt brings versatility. The Bruins have easily been the most active team in the Pac-12 since the Early Signing Period.

Our Rivals.com Team Recruiting Rankings factor in quality and quantity, but classes with fewer than 20 signees are at a bit of a disadvantage. Here are five smaller classes right now that are loaded with top talent.

USC – The Trojans' class won’t be this small for long but they lead the country in average star ranking per recruit - every commitment is at least a four-star - and have an amazing 1-2 punch in JT Daniels and Amon-Ra St. Brown. This is a class that could push near the top as USC adds more and more talent in the next week or so.

Clemson – You could make an argument that this is the best class in the country if you wanted to because No. 1 recruit Trevor Lawrence headlines things and no position is more important than quarterback. Five of the Tigers' 15 commitments are five-star prospects -- an amazing percentage.

Florida State – The Seminoles average nearly four-stars per recruit in a small class, so the quality is there. It’s a far cry from Clemson and USC and won’t finish as high as either class, but there is a lot of talent in here led by Jaiden Woodbey.

Florida – Another transitional class, Dan Mullen has some positive momentum going in Gainesville with a 3.79 average star ranking for his 14 commitments, putting the Gators in the national top seven in that category.

Texas A&M – And yet another transitional class as Jimbo Fisher pieces together a solid group for the Aggies. They are a far drop from Florida State and Florida but a 3.36 average star ranking for 14 commits with some big targets still left out there isn't shabby.

Xavier Peters' flip to Florida State got me thinking – who have been the biggest flips this year? Here are five that stand out to me.

Justin Fields – There’s no bigger flip than this. Well, it’s what we called a “delayed flip” as the five-star quarterback decommitted from Penn State and took his sweet time deciding between Georgia, Florida, Florida State and others before picking the Bulldogs.

Adam Anderson – LSU had him after an early Georgia commitment, but the Bulldogs landed him in the end. LSU needs defensive line help whether it’s on the interior or outside pass rushers, so this is a big loss as Anderson could be the next great hybrid for the Dawgs. This was another “delayed flip.”

Brendan Radley-Hiles – Another “delayed flip,” Radley-Hiles was once committed to Nebraska but ended up at the Huskers' old Big 12 rival Oklahoma. The California pipeline to Norman continues and Radley-Hiles will help it continue with his ability to lead and recruit.

Cade Mays – Mays was a “delayed flip” from Tennessee after things went sour with the Vols' coaching search and landed at Georgia, the third prospect on this list to end up in Athens. The massive offensive lineman could be a key component to what is looking on paper to be the one of the top offensive lines in the country in a few years.

Jaiden Woodbey – Hey, an actual flip as Woodbey remained committed to Ohio State before flipping to Florida State after a last second visit to Tallahassee.