The SEC is so fertile with high school talent, it is almost sickening. Four different SEC schools currently have more five-star commitments than the Big 12 has as a conference. The success on the field may not have netted a national championship the past couple of seasons for the SEC, but the conference continues to be a leader in the recruiting game.
Alabama is playing on a different playing field when it comes to recruiting despite some changes on the coaching staff this offseason. Regardless, the Crimson Tide are well on their way to another recruiting national championship. SEC West rivals LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn are putting together great classes as well, but they tend to get overlooked by Alabama’s efforts. In the east, Tennessee continues to be a program on the rise with a very impressive class being put together brick by brick. Georgia continues to do well, as you might expect.
Current Rivals SEC Team Rankings (as of February 1, 2015)
1. Alabama
2. Tennessee
3. Georgia
4. texas A&M
5. LSU
6. Auburn
7. South Carolina
8. Mississippi State
9. Arkansas
10. Ole Miss
11. Missouri
12. Kentucky
13. Vanderbilt
14. Florida
The Top Recruit
DT Kahill McKenzie (Concord, CA): Tennessee
For the moment, no SEC school has landed a bigger commitment in the Class of 2015 as Tennessee with Kahill McKenzie... literally. McKenzie is the nation’s sixth-ranked player and measures in at 6' 4" and 340 pounds to be the top defensive tackle in the country. He is the prized recruit for Butch Jones at Tennessee, where the Vols have come on very strong in this recruiting cycle.
Recruiting Battle To Watch
Auburn and Florida are going down to the wire for the number one recruit in the nation, defensive end Byron Cowart of Seffner, Florida. The top player in the nation according to Rivals has visited both schools in the past month, and no others. Although Alabama could be in the mix, as well as Florida State or Clemson and Georgia, the decision is highly expected to be between Auburn and Florida. Florida could really use a boost in the recruiting rankings with Jim McElwain getting a late start on the process, but former Gators head coach Will Mushcamp is now at Auburn as defensive coordinator and that could be a big factor.
Florida has nowhere to go but up
The pains on the field experienced by Florida the last few years have been a drain on recruiting in this recruiting cycle. A coaching change can have a negative impact on the situation as well, and the extended uncertainty over the status of Muschamp as head coach at Gainesville did not help the cause. In steps McElwain, a former Nick Saban assistant with a solid knowledge of how to recruit in the SEC. Like Michigan in the Big Ten, McElwain and his staff in Gainesville are allowed a free pass in the Class of 2015, but dramatic improvements must be made starting in 2016 with a full recruiting calendar. The Gators will not be on the bottom of the SEC recruiting rankings for very long.