SEC does well on Signing Day

The Alabama Crimson Tide remarkably secured the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation for the eighth time in the last nine years. However, several other SEC schools are hot on the trail of the Tide after this 2019 Signing Day.

Four of the top five teams on the 247Sports Composite team rankings come from the SEC. Collectively, the conference won big on National Signing Day.

Here’s a closer look:

No. 1 Alabama

The Tide walked away with a top-tier recruiting class in 2019 that was impressive, although not surprising. The Nick Saban led all-star team featured three 5-star signees, and 23 4-stars. Bama even beat out LSU for Ishmael Sopsher, a 4-star, Top 100 defensive tackle out of Louisiana.

Welcome DL @isopsher to the Alabama Football Family!#ROLL1N9 | #RollTide#OutworkYesterday pic.twitter.com/Wrxyk7G577

— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) February 6, 2019

Even if Saban expects a quality class each year, he still feels that Alabama is fortunate to have such high caliber athletes continue to commit to the program.

No. 2 Georgia

The Georgia Bulldogs wrapped up signing day at No. 2 this year after holding the top spot just last year.

Georgia pulled off one of the biggest shocks of the day flipping long-time Auburn five-star receiver commit George Pickens, who visited Athens rather recently on the weekend of Jan. 18. Pickens joins offensive guard Clay Webb as the top two players in Alabama, both of whom chose Georgia over the Tide.

The Dawgs finished Wednesday with 24 commits, topped with five 5-stars and 15 4-stars.

#DawgNation, say hello to our newest Dawgs. #NewBreed19, it's time to be great. Let's get it.#ATD #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/o8SQHEqWVV

— Georgia Football (@FootballUGA) February 6, 2019

No. 4 Texas A&M

Plenty of A&M fans across Texas are committed to and fully trust in their second-year coach, Jimbo Fisher, who led Texas A&M to 9-4 in his first season. This Signing Day, the Aggies posted their first top-5 class since 2014. A&M falls right behind their in-state rival, Texas, who placed at No. 3 in the rankings this year.

The Aggies had 23 players sign during the early-signing period in December so Wednesday was not extremely eventful for them. However, they certainly did enough to secure a top spot in the 2019 rankings with 27 commits overall, bringing in two 5-stars and 14 4-stars.

https://twitter.com/AggieFootball/status/1093286486290489344

No. 5 LSU

Although they missed out on Louisiana native Ishmael Sophser, the Tigers still managed to move right past Oklahoma in the ranks and settle in at No. 5.

After a 10-3 season that shocked many in college football, it is no surprise Coach Orgeron and company pulled off an impressive Top 5 class this 2019 season. LSU finishes with 25 total commits, and manages 11 4-stars and three 5-stars, tying with Alabama in the five-star signees.

The Class of 2019 is Official
Hold That Tiger! pic.twitter.com/gt1DbMiS76

— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) February 6, 2019

No. 9 Florida

Dan Mullen and his Florida Gators jumped into Top 10 company, highlighted by two huge signees on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning one of the country’s top pass rushers, Khris Bogle, flipped his verbal commitment from Alabama and made it official with the Gators to kick off an exciting day for Florida.

Then later in the afternoon, cornerback Kaiir Elam jumped on the Florida train as he chose Florida over their conference rival in the Georgia Bulldogs. Mullen wrapped up his successful day landing 25 commits to top off the Signing Day, with 17 of them being 4-stars.

https://twitter.com/GatorsFB/status/1093336042571292673

Final Thoughts

Alabama may still very well be the team to beat in the SEC after this class. However, what seems to be certain is that with a recruiting class for the SEC like this one, things can certainly start to shake up in the conference and the Tide may not be the only team atop the mountain at the end of this season.