Is Oklahoma football the team to beat for 5-star DL David Stone?

One of the most anticipated commitments in the 2024 recruiting class is finally on the horizon as five-star defensive lineman David Stone announced on Thursday that he would be making his announcement in mid-August.

Stone, a long-time Oklahoma football target, also announced a top six of Oregon, Michigan State, Texas A&M, Miami, and Florida along with the Sooners.

Some of these teams were surprising (Florida, Texas A&M) while the other four have been high on Stone’s list for a while. Oklahoma is the home-state favorite, Michigan State is his “home away from home” program, Miami has been involved heavily lately, and Oregon has been shown love for months.

Two of these programs may have been perceived as the favorites for a while, though: Oklahoma and Michigan State.

These two schools also went to battle for Bai Jobe in the 2023 cycle, but the Spartans won out for the Oklahoma-based product. Will this end the same way or are the Sooners the team to beat?

Is Oklahoma football the favorite to land Stone?

Since last year, Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports has had a crystal ball placed in favor of the Sooners to land Stone. And that crystal ball holds a ton of weight because he’s incredibly connected. But it’s been a year. Still, that crystal ball has yet to change.

Stone has spoken highly of the Oklahoma football program and his relationship with the new coaching staff. He loves his home-state Sooners.

But Mel Tucker and Michigan State aren’t going to just roll over and give up. No, I expect the Spartans to fight this one down to the wire. If he were to pick another program not named Oklahoma, I’d expect it to be Michigan State.

If he threw a surprise curveball, I wouldn’t be totally shocked to hear Miami followed by Oregon.

However, I believe that if he were to make an announcement today (July 28), he would pick the Sooners. And for that reason, yes, I believe Oklahoma is the favorite here.