5 good/bad surprises in 2023 college football recruiting class

Notre Dame football is barely inside the top 10

There’s no doubt that Notre Dame football signed a really strong 2023 college football recruiting class. There are 24 signees total and 20 of them are ranked as four-star prospects.

However, at one point, it looked like Notre Dame was going to land multiple five-star prospects. There were some major decommitments and the Irish didn’t wind up going all in for five-star QB Dante Moore and settled for CJ Carr in the 2024 class.

Notre Dame held the No. 1 ranking for much of the summer and while the Irish couldn’t be expected to sign the No. 1 class, landing outside the top five was a little surprising to me, as was the fact that Notre Dame was shutout in terms of five-stars.

Oklahoma finishes in the top five

One of the things not talked about enough in the 2023 college football recruiting class is that Oklahoma was able to finish 4th in the 2023 team rankings.

Despite the 6-7 season, which doesn’t meet Oklahoma’s expectations, the Sooners signed a really good class and even flipped Peyton Bowen from Notre Dame. The Sooners signed three five-stars total including one of the QBs that’s not talked about enough in Jackson Arnold (No. 8 overall).

It’s the kind of recruiting class that makes you think OU will do just fine in the SEC.