6 biggest winners from college football recruiting in July

1. Alabama football

Notre Dame and Ohio State were jockeying for the top spot in the team rankings last month but after a strong July, Alabama is firmly in the mix for the title of best college football recruiting class in 2023.

Following another four-star pledge on Monday, the Crimson Tide are now ranked 2nd overall in the team rankings via 247 sports but much of their damage was done in July as Bama landed three five-star recruits including Caleb Downs and Richard Young in 2023.

Alabama football has four of the top 24 players in 2023 and eight of the top 78. That impressive haul includes two top-10 quarterbacks.

Eli Holstein committed back in May and Nick Saban followed it up by getting Dylan Lonergan in July, along with Georgia legacy Justice Hayes at running back. He also beat out SEC teams for team one of those commitments.

Alabama even hosted five-star Notre Dame EDGE commitment, Keon Keeley, for an unofficial visit over the weekend. But even without Keeley, there are a bunch of prospects left on the board that Alabama can realistically get or flip.

The same is true for Ohio State and Notre Dame. Yet, OSU has 19 commitments and Notre Dame has 20. Alabama has 17 and it trails Notre Dame by mere points for first.

So how long will it take for Alabama to take over No. 1? After the month of July and a strong start to August, it shouldn’t take long at all.