The 2027 recruiting cycle is starting to settle, and the late-July picture is pretty clear: a handful of national powers made the most of the business window.
ESPN’s Eli Lederman broke down Power Four classes from March through the end of July and placed five programs in his top tier, labeled “Traditional power that made the most of the business window.” Texas A&M, Texas, Ohio State, Oregon and Notre Dame all landed there, and each one built its case a little differently.
Texas A&M still sits atop the 2027 class rankings overall, and for good reason. The Aggies have held the No. 1 spot by consensus for months, and their run from March through June was especially loud.
They picked up eight blue-chip pledges in 2025, then averaged a five-star commitment per month during that stretch. Among the headliners are offensive tackle Mark Matthews and linebacker Kaden Henderson, both the No. 1 prospects at their positions.
Texas also earned a spot in the top tier, powered by a pair of five-star additions in cornerback John Meredith and interior offensive lineman Ismael Camara. Steve Sarkisian said at SEC Media Days that Meredith intends to join the 2026 roster.
The Longhorns also stacked nine four-star commitments, with all but one of those decisions coming in the last five months. That group includes defensive lineman Kasi Currie and tight end Brock Williams, both top-five prospects at their positions.
Ohio State’s recruiting machine has been rolling for a while now, and the Buckeyes kept it going over the last five months. They added blue-chip talent across the lines, including defensive linemen Wyatt Smith, Karlos May and Marcus Fakatou, with Fakatou ranked as the No. 2 defensive lineman in the cycle. On offense, Ohio State added interior linemen Caden Moss and Davis Seaman, plus offensive tackle Jimmy Kalis.
Oregon’s class also got a major boost during the business window. Both of the Ducks’ five-star commits came in that span: defensive end Rashad Streets on April 3 and wide receiver Dakota Guerrant on June 16. Oregon added 12 four-star prospects as well, and six of those rank among the top 10 at their positions.
Notre Dame may have put together the most impressive five-month surge of anyone. Texas A&M still owns the strongest class overall, but no program matched the Fighting Irish’s pace since the start of March.
Fifteen of Notre Dame’s 19 blue-chip commits have come in that window, including all three five-stars. Oluwasemilore Olubobola kicked off that run on May 12, followed by defensive end Abraham Sesay and interior offensive lineman Albert Simien, who committed within two weeks of each other in June.
What makes Notre Dame’s haul stand out even more is where it came from. None of the talent in the class came from within state borders. The Irish also landed three blue-chip defenders from the Chicago area in defensive linemen David Folorunsho and Brayden Parks, along with linebacker Roman Igwebuike.
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What makes the miss harder to shake is the sense that the Buckeyes may have been chasing a player who never fully embraced the idea of being in their program. When a recruitment goes on that long and ends with that kind of disappointment, it raises the obvious question for Ohio State: whether all that investment was ever going to produce the return it hoped for, or whether the real edge in this race was something the Buckeyes could not match. [Read more 🡒]