Big Ten makes inroads in football recruiting, but SEC still rules day

Alabama took home the top recruiting class for the seventh consecutive season, with the Crimson Tide securing one of the best overall national recruiting classes since Florida's 2010 class, according to 247Sports.com.

The class featured a record six five-star recruits led by running back Najee Harris and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the day was Alabama's signing of Jarez Parks, a four-star defensive end from Sebastian (Fla.) River High.

Parks chose to greyshirt next season rather than compete for a spot somewhere else. Greyshirting is when a player delays his enrollment in classes until the second semester of his freshman season.

"That shows you the power of Alabama," said Tom Lemming, a national recruiting analyst for CBS Sports Network.

Lemming said in more than 30 years of covering recruiting he's never seen a situation where a player of Parks' caliber decided to greyshirt rather than play right away.

"For a kid with that talent to take a greyshirt offer from Alabama is crazy," said Mike Farrell, national recruiting director at Rivals.com.

Ohio State and Michigan combined to sign 18 of the top 100 players, including seven five-star recruits. The Buckeyes helped the Big Ten land the second-best recruiting class among the conferences.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said this year's class was pretty much set before Wednesday's action thanks to January enrollees.

"Early entry by players, the midsemester enrollees, has kind of changed the landscape, also, of signing date, the so-called 11th hour, and signing date decisions," said Meyer, who landed one of the best classes since he arrived in Columbus. "Our class has been in place for quite a while."

Farrell credits coaches such as Meyer, Michigan's Jim Harbaugh and Penn State's James Franklin for giving the Big Ten its big showing.

"With Meyer, Harbaugh and Franklin now, compared to three or four year ago, Big Ten recruiting has shifted quite a bit and their recruiting nationally," he said. "You can almost say they had a better year than the ACC, which is rare."

USC's strong showing — a top-four class according to 247Sports.com — should be credited to Trojans coach Clay Helton.

"Clay Helton is an understated and underrated recruiter," Lemming said. "USC is really the school there that you always worry about if you're in the Pac-12 because there is an enormous amount of talent in that area and he was able to reap it."

Marvin Wilson, the nation's No. 1 defensive end, surprised some by signing with Florida State instead of LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma and USF. His addition helped Jimbo Fisher land his fourth consecutive top 10 class.