With the early signing period starting Wednesday, college football programs have been working hard to add as much talent to their future rosters as possible.
Schools have been actively recruiting the transfer portal to fill needs while complementing their rosters with high school recruits. While some teams have thrived, others have been limping to the finish this recruiting cycle.
Alabama has the No. 1 recruiting class, and though the staff hasn't been active adding players in the portal yet, the Tide are bringing in a record amount of ESPN 300 talent. Others have been active in the portal, filling immediate needs, as Oklahoma, Michigan and UCLA are all closing strong with transfers.
Wednesday's events shook things up even more with commitments, decommitments and flips, combined with transfer decisions that will impact who wins the recruiting cycle and who missed out. Here are six schools that are on top and four that have big question marks to answer.
Biggest winners
Oregon Ducks
The Ducks were close to being on the wrong side of this list after losing five-star quarterback Dante Moore, who flipped to UCLA. But the staff reacted quickly, flipping ESPN 300 quarterback Austin Novosad from Baylor. He's the No. 270 prospect overall and the No. 13 pocket-passing quarterback.
The Ducks poached four-star running back Jayden Limar from Notre Dame and ESPN 300 corner Daylen Austin, ranked No. 142 overall, from LSU. Coach Dan Lanning and his staff also landed a commitment from ESPN 300 defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei, the No. 65 prospect overall, who chose Oregon over USC and Ohio State. Despite starting the day No. 14 in the recruiting class rankings, the Ducks finished in the top five.
Oregon didn't just win via recruiting high school prospects. The Ducks won big via the transfer portal when they landed former Rhode Island offensive lineman Ajani Cornelius, who had many Power 5 offers despite coming from an FCS school.
Oklahoma Sooners
The Sooners have had a commitment from the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in Jackson Arnold since January. The fact that the staff has been able to keep him is a win in itself for what it'll be adding to the quarterback room with the five-star prospect from Texas.
Oklahoma also landed Arnold's high school teammate, safety Peyton Bowen, ranked No. 14 in the ESPN 300. The commitment to the Sooners was Bowen's third team in a 24-hour span as he entered Wednesday committed to Notre Dame before flipping to Oregon. He then chose the Sooners over the Ducks on Thursday afternoon.
Coach Brent Venables has done a good job the past week to improve his roster immediately through the transfer portal. He added Indiana true freshman linebacker Dasan McCullough, who had 49 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks and 3 pass breakups in 2022. His younger brother, Daeh, also committed to Oklahoma with Dasan.
Daeh is an ESPN 300 safety recruit in the 2023 class and gives the coaches another good defensive prospect to help turn that side around. In addition, Venables got Notre Dame defensive tackle transfer Jacob Lacey and tight end Austin Stogner, who transferred from Oklahoma to South Carolina and is now transferring back to Oklahoma.
He also added juco cornerback Kendel Dolby, one of the top junior college prospects in the class.
Alabama Crimson Tide
It's difficult to beat Nick Saban twice, whether it's on the field or in recruiting. Texas A&M finished with the No. 1 recruiting class in the past cycle, and it seemed evident that Saban would do what he could to change that.
The Crimson Tide strengthened their grip on the top class for 2023. The staff had been closing strong as the early signing period approached, beating out Ohio State to land a commitment from ESPN 300 defensive end Keon Keeley on Dec. 12 and flipping five-star offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor from Iowa hours before signing day.
On signing day, the Tide added two five-star defenders in linebacker Jaquavious Russaw and defensive tackle James Smith, giving them 11 of the top 28 prospects in the ESPN 300. By comparison, Texas A&M had eight of the top 28 recruits last year.
Finishing at No. 1 overall, ahead of Georgia, is a statement win for Saban on the recruiting trail.
Miami Hurricanes
There haven't been many hotter teams in the past few weeks than Miami on the recruiting trail. With Mario Cristobal putting the full-court press on in recruiting and having some major alums backing name, image and likeness programs for the players, the Hurricanes have been recruiting at a high level.
On Nov. 29, Cristobal and his staff were able to flip ESPN 300 defensive end Collins Acheampong from Michigan. Since that flip, Miami has added six more high school recruits to the class, including five-star offensive lineman Samson Okunlola, running back Mark Fletcher, defensive end Rueben Bain and ESPN 300 athlete Christopher Johnson.
The staff also went into the transfer portal to add immediate contributors and added former Alabama offensive lineman Javion Cohen and UCF corner transfer Davonte Brown.
Michigan Wolverines
The Wolverines had a big lead-up to the early signing period, adding commitments from linebacker Hayden Moore, who flipped from Nebraska, safety D'Juan Waller Jr. out of Ohio, and defensive lineman Roderick Pierce III all in the past week.
The big moves for the Michigan staff, however, have come from the transfer portal. Michigan isn't typically known for taking in a large number of transfers because of the difficulty in getting credits transferred, but the coaches have been active this offseason. On defense, Michigan has gotten transfer commitments from Nebraska freshman linebacker Ernest Hausmann, who had an excellent first season for the Huskers in 2022, and East Carolina edge rusher Josaiah Stewart.
The Wolverines' offensive line has won the Joe Moore Award for the best offensive line unit the past two seasons and is adding three good transfers to help continue that consistent play going forward: Stanford's Drake Nugent and Myles Hinton, and Arizona State's LaDarius Henderson.
UCLA Bruins
The Bruins have gone all-in on the transfer portal and are primarily using it to build their roster, which is why the 14 high school commitments in the class is unusually low. Chip Kelly has already added Kent State starting quarterback Collin Schlee, Penn defensive end Jake Heimlicher, Cal linebacker Femi Oladejo, Purdue offensive lineman Spencer Holstege and Army running back Anthony Adkins through the portal.
As important as those additions are, Kelly's biggest get actually was a recruit. On Monday, UCLA flipped five-star quarterback Dante Moore, the No. 3 prospect overall in the 2023 class, from Oregon, giving the Bruins an outstanding option at quarterback in the future.
He's joined in the class by ESPN 300 receiver Jeremiah McClure in what is a good mixture of high school prospects and transfers for next season.
Schools that missed out
Ohio State Buckeyes
The Buckeyes are right on the border of not showing up on the missed-out list. The coaches added a big get in ESPN 300 defensive end Joshua Mickens on Wednesday.
But they lost a commitment from ESPN 300 cornerback Kayin Lee to Auburn and new head coach Hugh Freeze. The staff also wasn't able to get a commitment from ESPN 300 defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei, who chose Oregon.
The Buckeyes still have a good class that leads the Big Ten and is ranked No. 10 overall (despite starting the day at No. 9), but by their standards, the early signing period leaves them looking up.
On top of that, the Buckeyes lost a commitment from quarterback Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 prospect in the 2024 class, earlier in the week, a setback for Ohio State's big-picture recruiting situation.
The program was in the top three of the class rankings at one point in the cycle, so by other programs' measures this would still be an excellent day. By the Buckeyes' standards, it leaves something to be desired.
Iowa Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes suffered a big loss the day before signing day when five-star offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor flipped to Alabama.
Proctor is the No. 10 prospect overall and the No. 2 tackle in the class. He's also an in-state recruit from Southeast Polk High School in Runnells, Iowa. Considering the struggles the Iowa offense faced this season, it was important to get a five-star offensive lineman in the fold.
Despite the fact that Iowa initially beat out Alabama for his commitment, the Crimson Tide and Oregon kept recruiting him. Ultimately, he decided to flip to Alabama, leaving the Hawkeyes with a major hole to fill. Prior to Proctor's announcement, they were No. 27 in the class rankings; now, Iowa is out of the top 40.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Irish were trying to hold on to five-star safety Peyton Bowen through signing day, but there were other suitors trying to get his commitment as well, including Oregon and Oklahoma. Ultimately, the No. 14 prospect flipped his commitment to Oregon. The Ducks also flipped four-star running back Jayden Limar.
Bowen and Limar are not the only ESPN 300 recruits who decommitted from Notre Dame this cycle. In August, the Irish lost a commitment from ESPN 300 defensive end Keon Keeley, who eventually committed to Alabama.
The staff also lost a commitment from ESPN 300 running back Dylan Edwards, who flipped his commitment to Colorado when Deion Sanders was hired.
The Irish spent several months in the 2023 cycle atop the class rankings. However, despite entering signing day at No. 4, they ended it at No. 7.
Cincinnati Bearcats
Losing coach Luke Fickell has proved to be a big loss for the Bearcats on the recruiting trail. The program has lost 12 commitments since November, including defensive back Daeh McCullough, who flipped to Oklahoma; corner Cameron Calhoun, who flipped to Michigan; and wide receiver Malik Elzy, among others.
At one point in the recruiting cycle, Cincinnati was in the top 25 of the recruiting rankings, but the team has now fallen all the way to No. 72 since Fickell's departure.
New coach Scott Satterfield hasn't had much time to turn things around, so the blame isn't on him. He has tried to add some to the class, flipping corner Rayquan Adkins from Louisville and adding in a few transfers, but he'll have his work cut out for him with the Bearcats moving to the Big 12 next season.