It’s time to say the quiet part out loud: The Big Ten is starting to become a problem for the SEC on the recruiting trail.

If you haven’t been paying attention, Ohio State and Oregon have picked up some big victories in the 2025 cycle in places that are considered SEC strongholds.

The most recent examples include former LSU pledge Dakorien Moore — the top receiver in the class — choosing the Ducks over Texas, LSU and Ohio State, and linebacker Riley Pettijohn selecting the Buckeyes over Texas, Texas A&M and USC. Both five-star recruits reside in Texas.

These aren’t isolated cases, either. The Buckeyes also have long-standing pledges from two of the top three cornerbacks in the class in Devin Sanchez and Na’eem Offord, who are from Texas and Alabama, respectively. The No. 5 receiver in the class, Dallas Wilson out of Tampa, Fla., has been committed to the Ducks since January 2023.

Ohio State has 11 top-100 commitments while Oregon has four. Alabama and Georgia lead the SEC with six each.

Normally, a few wins by out-of-towners in SEC territory wouldn’t be viewed as a big deal. But the SEC and Big Ten have the same amount of five-star commitments in the 2025 class, and the battle for top-100 recruits is a lot closer than it was last cycle.

In the Class of 2024, the SEC signed 25 of the 37 five-stars and 52 top-100 recruits. The Big Ten, meanwhile, signed five five-stars and 25 top-100 prospects.

In this cycle, the SEC has seven five-stars and 31 top-100 commits while the Big Ten has seven five-stars and 20 top-100 commits.

Dallas Wilson, a five-star wide receiver from Tampa, Fla., is committed to Oregon. (Manny Navarro / The Athletic)

The battle will continue over the next few months as several uncommitted five-stars from the Southeast and Texas have Big Ten programs among their finalists.

Some examples:

• Cornerback DJ Pickett (from Florida) has Oregon, Miami, Georgia and LSU among his finalists heading into his announcement on July 17.

• Receiver Vernell Brown III (Florida) is down to Ohio State, Florida, Florida State and Miami on July 21.

• Offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. (North Carolina) has Ohio State, Nebraska, Georgia and Tennessee as his finalists heading into his announcement on Aug. 17.

• Receiver Jaime Ffrench (Florida) will choose between Ohio State, LSU, Miami, Tennessee and Texas when he announces on Aug. 30.

• Safety Jonah Williams (Texas) has reportedly narrowed his choices down to Oregon, Texas A&M, USC and LSU.

Yes, recruiting is no longer regionally dominated, and we’ll need to see who actually signs where in December. But it’s at least noteworthy that the SEC’s vise grip on the best recruits in the country is being challenged more than in years past.

And now, some thoughts on the recruiting classes around the SEC. We last checked in on the conference landscape before the start of official visits in June. Let’s see where each program stands six weeks later.

Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.

Alabama

Class ranking: No. 2
Commitments: 20 (3 five-stars, 14 four-stars)

California has become a major pipeline for former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer. Six of Alabama’s commitments are from the Golden State, including five-star cornerback Dijon Lee — one of 13 recruits Bama has picked up since the start of June and one of three top-100 commitments who play in the secondary. With only one receiver in the class so far, the top remaining targets at the position include top-100 prospect Derek Meadows of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman and five-star Caleb Cunningham of Choctow County (Miss.) High. Meadows is scheduled to announce his decision on Friday.

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Georgia

Class ranking: No. 3
Commitments: 19 (2 five-stars, 15 four-stars)

Kirby Smart’s program has picked up 12 commitments since the start of June and is dominating in its home state with a dozen pledges, including three of the 13 top-100 national prospects who call Georgia home. The Bulldogs are also considered favorites to land the top two players in the state in five-star defensive linemen Elijah Griffin and Justus Terry. Six of the commitments are pass catchers, headlined by the nation’s top-ranked tight end, Elyiss Williams of Camden County (Ga.) High.

LSU

Class ranking: No. 6
Commitments: 15 (2 five-stars, 12 four-stars)

Brian Kelly’s program has picked up five commitments since the start of June — all blue-chippers on the offensive and defensive lines and all from out of state. The top addition came this past week in four-star edge rusher Damien Shanklin from Indianapolis. Eight of the team’s 15 pledges are linemen. One area the Tigers are hoping to address is the secondary following the decommitment of top-100 cornerback Jaboree Antoine. Top targets include Pickett, the five-star corner from Florida, and three-star in-state product Jhase Thomas.

Texas A&M

Class ranking: No. 7
Commitments: 18 (13 four-stars)

The Aggies have commitments from four top-100 players, including four-star linebacker Noah Mikhail from the San Diego area — one of five new additions to the class since the start of June. Half of the pledges are linemen, led by 6-foot-6, 248-pound defensive lineman Kiotti Armstrong from Jasper (Texas) High. The other position of strength in the class is cornerback, with four commitments. There are four five-star recruits the Aggies are still pursuing — safety Jonah Williams, offensive tackle Michael Fasusi, receiver Kaliq Lockett and athlete Michael Terry.

Oklahoma

Class ranking: No. 8
Commitments: 21 (12 four-stars)

Brent Venables had the top recruiting class in the SEC before the start of June mainly because the Sooners had 15 commitments. They’ve dropped to the back end of the top 10 but have added four pledges since the start of July, including one from top-100 wide receiver Cortez Mills out of Florida. The Sooners are heavy on receivers and defensive backs, with five each. The focus going forward appears to be landing more linemen. Top targets include Fasusi and three-star defensive tackle Floyd Boucard from Miami.

Missouri

Class ranking: No. 11
Commitments: 17 (10 four-stars)

The Tigers have climbed up significantly after starting June with seven commitments and the No. 10 class in the league and No. 31 class nationally. Eli Drinkwitz’s program picked up two top-100 players this month in four-star offensive tackle Lamont Rogers and four-star receiver Donovan Olugbode. The offensive line haul that position coach Brandon Jones has put together has been impressive, and Missouri remains in the hunt for Babalola, the five-star tackle from the Kansas City area. The Tigers are also in the fight for top-100 defensive lineman Iose Epenesa of Edwardsville (Ill.) High.

Class ranking: No. 13
Commitments: 16 (10 four-stars)

Hugh Freeze and the Tigers had the No. 5 class in the league and a top-10 class nationally at the start of June but have slipped a bit despite landing top-100 safety Eric Winters and flipping top-150 running back and Alabama native Alvin Henderson from Penn State. A pair of Auburn commits backed off pledges in June: four-star linebacker Tyler Lockhart and four-star offensive tackle Carde Smith. The strength of the class remains the offensive line, and the Tigers are still in the hunt for five-star Andrew Babalola of Overland Park (Kan.) Blue Valley Northwest and four-star Malachi Goodman of Paramus (N.J.) Catholic. Auburn is one of seven Power 4 schools without a QB commitment. Five-star USC commitment Julian Lewis, a Georgia native, is being heavily pursued, but the Tigers are also kicking the tires on Texas commitment KJ Lacey from Alabama and Notre Dame commitment Deuce Knight from Mississippi.

Tennessee

Class ranking: No. 15
Commitments: 16 (8 four-stars)

Josh Heupel’s recruiting class ranked 15th in the nation at the start of June and is still at No. 15 even after the additions of six new commitments, including top-100 offensive tackle Douglas Utu from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman. The class is heavy on defensive backs and defensive linemen, with four commits at each position. How high Tennessee rises will depend on where some elite targets still on the board end up, including Sanders, the nation’s No. 1 offensive tackle, top-100 safety Lagonza Hayward and four-star receiver Travis Smith Jr., who announces Friday.

Class ranking: No. 19
Commitments: 17 (7 four-stars)

Mark Stoops had the No. 38 class and only six commitments at the end of May. The Wildcats have been surging since, adding three blue-chip defensive linemen since June 27, including four-star edge rushers Javeon Campbell from nearby Frankfort (Ky.) Western Hills and Cedric Works from Clayton (Ohio) Northmont. Some key targets to follow moving forward: three-star offensive lineman Isaac Sowells Jr. from Louisville and three-star receiver Dejerrian Miller from St. Louis. It’s more likely the Wildcats will finish with a top-30 class than in the top 20.

Texas

Class ranking: No. 22
Commitments: 13 (7 four-stars)

Steve Sarkisian has picked up only five commitments since the end of May, but there’s still time for the Longhorns to climb up the rankings with several key targets left on the board. They did well in adding four-star edge rusher Smith Orogbo and four-star safety Kade Phillips — both Texas natives — this month. No, the Horns didn’t win the battle for Moore, but they’re still very much in it for Ffrench and Lockett. They’re also still in the race for two other five-stars — Fasusi (offensive tackle) and Jonah Williams (safety). Don’t be shocked if Texas finishes with a top-10 class for the fourth year in a row.

South Carolina

Class ranking: No. 28
Commitments: 17 (5 four-stars)

Shane Beamer lost the only top-100 recruit in the class when four-star cornerback Shamari Earls from Virginia flipped to Georgia last Sunday. However, there have been some positive developments in Columbia. On Thursday, the Gamecocks beat Penn State for four-star wide receiver and Pennsylvania native Lex Cyrus. And they had a solid run in-state in June with commitments from four-star edge rusher Jaquavious Dodd, four-star offensive tackle Shedrick Sarratt and four-star running back Jaquel Holman. South Carolina’s class features six defensive linemen, and the Gamecocks are still pursuing top-100 edge rushers Jared Smith from Alabama and Bryce Davis from North Carolina. Davis announces July 20. Smith is likely to announce in August.

Arkansas

Class ranking: No. 30
Commitments: 16 (3 four-stars)

Sam Pittman had six commitments and the No. 53 class in the country entering June and has picked up 10 pledges since. The Razorbacks beat out Florida State, Georgia and Florida for top-100 linebacker Tavion Wallace out of Georgia. The next few additions probably won’t be blue-chippers but will fill important needs. Among the targets to watch are three-star running back Cameron Settles — an in-state product from Little Rock — and three-star offensive linemen Lionel Prudhomme from Louisiana and Nelson McGuire from Texas. All three are scheduled to commit in the next month. Arkansas has three offensive line commitments, headlined by four-star Connor Howes from Florida.

Class ranking: No. 39
Commitments: 17 (3 four-stars)

The Bulldogs had only four commitments and the lowest-ranked class in the SEC entering June. It’s been a different story for first-year coach Jeff Lebby of late. Mississippi State picked up four pledges on June 23, led by four-star offensive lineman Mario Nash Jr. of De Kalb (Miss.) Kemper County. The biggest piece most likely to jump on board next is Lockhart, a four-star linebacker and ex-Auburn commitment. Lebby is trying to flip in-state four-star offensive tackle Tyler Miller, who has been committed to LSU since March.

Ole Miss

Class ranking: No. 45
Commitments: 12 (6 four-stars)

Ole Miss has had four players decommit in the last month, including two top-100 prospects in running back Akylin Dear and receiver Jerome Myles. But don’t hit the panic button just yet. The Rebels have also picked up eight pledges since the start of June, including three blue-chippers on defense, led by four-star defensive lineman Andrew Maddox of Hattiesburg (Miss.) Oak Grove. Lane Kiffin is still pursuing Cunningham, the in-state five-star receiver, Notre Dame quarterback commit and Mississippi native Deuce Knight and four-star safety Ladarian Clardy out of Florida.

Florida

Class ranking: No. 67
Commitments: 9 (5 four-stars)

Florida fans have been understandably frustrated with Billy Napier as some of the program’s top targets have committed elsewhere since the start of June. But the Gators have not completely struck out. They picked up in-state pledges from four-star receiver Joshua Moore from South Florida and four-star tight end Tae’shaun Gelsey from Jacksonville and are very much in it for some other top prospects. Napier is trying to flip offensive lineman Solomon Thomas (Florida State) and defensive tackle Malik Autry (Auburn) and is hoping to land a commitment soon from Brown, the uncommitted five-star receiver from Orlando.

Vanderbilt

Class ranking: No. 68
Commitments: 9 (1 four-star)

Clark Lea lost three-star linebacker commit Austin Howard to Mississippi State a couple of weeks ago but has added six players since the start of June, led by three-star receiver Cameran Dickson out of Texas. The burning question going forward is if Lea will be able to hold onto the only blue-chipper in the class: four-star safety Carson Lawrence, who has been committed for over a year. The in-state product has taken official visits to West Virginia, Ole Miss and Virginia Tech.

(Photos of Steve Sarkisian, Ryan Day: Stephen Lew, Joseph Maiorana / USA Today)