The Nation's No. 1 OT recruit Mark Matthews names final 4 schools

While teams are focused on building up for the season with spring practices, the spring is bringing recruiting into focus. The Nation's top recruits are beginning to close in on decisions, and taking official visits, which will start to shape the race for the Nation's top class. Among the recruits that every team would love to land is elite 5-star offensive tackle Mark Matthews.

Rivals and 24/7 Sports each rank Mark Matthews as the 3rd-ranked player in the Country, the top offensive tackle in the class, and the top-ranked player out of Florida. While every school would love to land a player like Matthews, moving forward, only 4 teams will be in contention for the Nation's top tackle.

Mark Matthews includes the hometown Hurricanes in final 4 schools

On Saturday, Mark Matthews cut his recruitment down to 4 teams leaving just the Miami Hurricanes, LSU Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, and Georgia in the race.

Given that Miami is the lone in-state school left in Matthews' recruitment, they'll be widely seen as the favorite moving forward. Mario Cristobal will have the best pitch of any program given that he'll likely send another offensive tackle to the NFL Draft as the top lineman picked in Miami star Francis Mauigoa.

The trio of SEC programs will all have ground to make up, but each will have a strong case to make moving forward. Lane Kiffin and LSU are always looking to make a splash, and we just saw the Tigers go all-in for a season with Jordan Seaton. Kirby Smart develops stars in the trenches better than anyone else, and Matthews could be the next future 1st rounder. Mike Elko is slowly building a monster in College Station, and Matthews could blend NIL and development if he picks the Aggies.

The rest of the Spring into the Summer will likely be filled with recruiting visits which will end up deciding who lands the gamechanging offensive lineman.