Rivals national recruiting analyst Greg Smith has a trio of predictions on Indiana's matchup with Ohio State, Notre Dame's recruiting finish and Linkon Cure's final decision.
THREE PREDICTIONS: Solomon Thomas, Florida flips, No. 1 class
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1. OHIO STATE COVERS THE SPREAD AND BLOWS OUT INDIANA.
It’s been a magical season for the Indiana Hoosiers. Coach Curt Cignetti just got a massive extension and things look to be trending up for the program. But there will be some serious adversity in the Cinderella story this weekend.
The best win on Indiana’s schedule is over a 5-5 Michigan team. You can only play who is on your schedule but the Hoosiers' slate has been heavy on the cupcakes so far. Going to Columbus to play Ohio State will be the toughest test by far this year. Ohio State will win with ease and cover the 12.5-point spread. The Buckeyes will leave the game as one of the true national championship contenders.
2. NOTRE DAME FINISHES OUTSIDE TOP 10 OF RECRUITING RANKINGS.
For a chunk of the cycle, Notre Dame was holding on to the top spot in the Rivals team recruiting rankings. It raced off to a hot start in the 2025 cycle but as other teams got cranked up the Irish have slowly dropped. Their recruiting class is still good and offensive tackle commit Will Black got bumped to a five-star in the most recent update.
However, I don’t see the Irish landing many more difference-making prospects. But the teams behind them – Oregon, USC, Texas A&M and Ole Miss – could all land some big fish down the stretch.
3. LINKON CURE SIGNS WITH KANSAS STATE.
One of the interesting storylines going under the radar at the end of the cycle was Oregon’s pursuit of four-star tight end Linkon Cure. The long-time Kansas State commit had planned to go to Oregon a couple weeks ago but a snowstorm prevented that trip from happening.
Without that return trip, I don’t see Cure moving off his pledge to Kansas State. The Wildcats will hang onto the borderline five-star, giving the team a huge win on the recruiting trail.
Score one for Mother Nature.
