Adding another team to the SEC Football 'In recruiting trouble' list

A few weeks ago, in a review of 2025 Team Rankings provided by 247Sports and On3 three SEC football programs were identified to be in serious trouble.

Based on the recent Team Rankings update by On3, the three programs continue to lag what would qualify as a successful recruiting cycle. Months away from the early Signing Period, teams have time to catch up. But, trends are hard to reverse. Lost momentum is not often regained.

The Auburn Tigers are a good example of lost momentum. Among SEC football programs, Auburn joins Vanderbilt, Florida, and Mississippi State on the SEC's 'In recruiting trouble' list. A glance suggests the Tigers are doing fairly well. The Tigers are slightly ahead of Texas for the SEC's sixth-best class, and No. 13 nationally. The Bulldogs, Gators, and Commodores are far behind Auburn in national rankings.

In looking more closely at Auburn, recruiting problems surface. No college football fan has ever heard of a Top 400 list of player rankings. On3 packages a Top 300, as does ESPN. Rivals has a Top 250 and 247Sports has their Top 247. One reason these 'top players' lists top off at 300 players is that it is rare for a 300-plus-rated recruit to become a college football star. It does happen, but not frequently.

For the Auburn Tigers to compete with Alabama, Georgia, Texas, LSU, and other top SEC teams, the Tigers need every signing class to have many Top 150 recruits. Hugh Freeze is having a problem landing them in the 2025 cycle.

Auburn has 17 commits and currently, 12 of them are ranked outside On3's ratings of the Top 200 recruits. Hugh Freeze needs game-changers to catch up to the SEC big dogs and he's not getting them in the 2025 cycle.

How bad is it for Auburn? In June and July, the Tigers have added six, 2025 commits. Their overall player rankings, based on the On3 Industry calculations are No. 152 (Broderick Shull, OT), No. 153 (Alvin Henderson, RB), No. 397 (Donovan Starr, CB), No. 452 (Hollis Davidson, TE), No. 586 (Bryce Deas, ATH), and No. 636 (Jacobe Ward OL). Before those additions, Auburn had other commits ranked No. 446, No. 540, No. 575, and No. 901.

Every summer Auburn counts on its Big Cat Weekend for high profile commits. This summer's Big Cat Weekend could become make or break for Hugh Freeze.

In fairness to Auburn, three other SEC programs are not trending much better; Arkansas, South Carolina, and Ole Miss.

SEC Football - 2025 Class Team Rankings

• Alabama Crimson Tide - No. 2 by the 247Sports Composite and the On3 Industry Rankings

• Georgia Bulldogs - No. 3 by 247 and On3

• LSU Bengal Tigers - No. 5 (On3) and No. 6 (247)

• Texas A&M Aggies - No. 7 (247) and No. 8 (On3)

• Oklahoma Sooners - No. 8 (247) and No. 9 (On3)

• Auburn Tigers - No. 12 (247) and No. 13 (On3)

• Missouri Tigers - No. 13 (247) and No. 15 (On3)

• Texas Longhorns - No. 14 (On3) and No. 21 (247)

• Tennessee Vols - No. 15 (247) and No. 16 (On3)

• Kentucky Wildcats - No. 19 (247) and No. 20 (On3)

• Ole Miss Rebels - No. 25 (On3) and No. 44 (247)

• South Carolina Gamecocks - No. 27 (On3) and No. 34 (247)

• Arkansas Razorbacks - No. 29 (247) and No. 32 (On3)

• Mississippi State Bulldogs - No. 38 (247) and No. 43 (On3)

• Florida Gators - (No. 56 (On3) and No. 67 (247)

• Vanderbilt Commodores - No. 66 (On3) and No. 68 (247)