West region battles: Five two-team battles to watch

Check out some of the West Region's best prospects caught in the middle of a two-team fight.

TWO-TEAM BATTLES: Southeast | Mid-Atlantic

The top-rated receiver in the 2018 class is far from making a commitment and there are many other schools involved in his recruitment, but USC and Stanford definitely have captured his attention so far. St. Brown and USC coach Clay Helton talk often and staying home to star for the Trojans could be a big consideration. With Mater Dei teammate JT Daniels, a 2019 five-star quarterback, already committed to USC, that could also help as St. Brown works toward a decision. Stanford has always intrigued St. Brown and his brother, Osiris, plays for the Cardinal.

The five-star receiver said this summer he soon planned to release a top list of schools, but that hasn’t happened a few weeks into his senior season. More than a half-dozen schools have been mentioned by Hall in recent months and there are a few reasons to think the Gators and the Trojans might be battling it out for his services. If the Long Beach Poly standout plans to stay home – and join his former Los Angeles Hawkins teammates – then USC makes a lot of sense. Plus, Hall has been close with the Trojans’ coaching staff and a lot of players there for a long while. If he decides to leave town, then joining Long Beach Poly four-star quarterback Matt Corral in Gainesville might make sense.

This one might be over before it’s even started because Rising has said multiple times even this fall that he’s locked in with the Longhorns and his only official visit will be to Austin. But Oregon’s coaches and many commits continue to pursue the four-star quarterback from Newbury Park, Calif., and Rising has visited the school. Let’s also not forget that Rising was involved in one of the biggest surprise flips in recent memory when he went from Oklahoma to Texas this offseason without many people expecting it. If Oregon continues to look strong and the Longhorns struggle this season, would the four-star standout consider a Pac-12 flip?

Nebraska did a phenomenal job hosting Crocker during his official visit weekend and now the Huskers have set the bar really high for all the other schools involved. The main competition seems to be Oregon for the standout four-star receiver from Northern California, although a handful of others should not be ruled out. Oregon has always been high on Crocker’s list, but the four-star called his trip to Nebraska “absolutely amazing” so the Big Ten squad could be the team to beat right now.

Floyd has been committed to USC for months and he has a bunch of connections to the school, including multiple Los Angeles Hawkins teammates committed to the Trojans. However, the 2019 four-star linebacker is also keeping a close eye on how many players at his position USC is taking in this recruiting class and it could be cause for concern if others are added. Four linebackers are already on the USC commit list while four-star LB Solomon Tuliaupupu and others are also high on the Trojans. Not only that fact, but UCLA position coach Scott White has been aggressively coming after Floyd and it’s being noticed. There’s a long way to go in this one and Floyd has the talent to be a national recruit, but this looks like a local battle between the L.A. schools.