Top Five Recruiting Classes in the ACC Two Months from Signing Day

Times are changing in college football as NIL and the transfer portal has had an impact on every team and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

The 2024 season is also unique because, for the first time, 12 teams will qualify for the College Football Playoff.

We have also seen different teams enter the ACC, SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten conferences over the last couple of years. In the next few weeks, the Pitt Panthers will take on new ACC conference members, Cal and SMU.

With the Pac-12 looking to resurrect itself and the SEC and Big Ten leaders reportedly meeting in the near future, the next few months will be interesting.

As far as the new-look ACC, the three newcomers (Cal, Stanford and SMU) have started the 2024 season with a combined record of 9-4. In terms of conference play, SMU is 1-0, Stanford is 1-1 and Cal is 0-1.

However, the early storyline of the conference has been the start of three longtime members: Duke, Georgia Tech and Boston College. Those three programs, two of which have new head coaches in Bill O’Brien and Manny Diaz, have gotten off to tremendous starts, going a combined 12-3. Duke is 5-0 for the first time since 1994.

The big question is whether any of these changes have had an impact on team recruiting. The answer appears to be yes.

Now that we’ve entered the month of October, we’re two months away from National Signing Day in December.

Taking a look at the Rivals 2025 team recruiting rankings, here are the top five ranked ACC programs:

Miami — 22 commitments, 8th overall

Highest Ranked Recruits:

• DB Hylton Stubbs (Jacksonville, Florida)
• DB Bryce Fitzgerald (Miami, Florida)
• DB Jaboree Antonie (New Iberia, Louisianna)
• OL SJ Alofaituli (Las Vegas, Nevada)
• LB Gavin Nix (Bradenton, Florida)
• DB Chris Ewald, Jr. (Hollywood, Florida)
• OL Max Buchanan (Sanford, Florida)

Georgia Tech — 23 commitments, 19th overall 

Highest Ranked Recruits:

• OL Josh Pelty (Roswell, Georgia)
• DT Christian Garrett (Bogart, Georgia)
• WR Samuel Turner (Decatur, Georgia)
• ATH Dalen Penson (Sandy Creek, Georgia)
• OL Justin Hasenhuetl (Rabun Cap, Geeorgia)
• DE Andre Fuller (Loganville, Georgia)

SMU — 22 commitments, 22nd overall 

Highest Ranked Recruits:

• WR Daylon Singleton (DeSoto, Texas)
• DB Javion Holiday (Duncanville, Texas)
• DB Sael Reyes (DeSoto, Texas)
• QB Ty Hawkins (Bradenton, Florida)
• WR Jalen Cooper (Cibolo, Texas)
• OL Dramodo Odoms (Houston, Texas)
• WR Carterrious Brown (Arlington, Texas)

Clemson — 14 commitments, 26th overall 

Highest Ranked Recruits:

• RB Gideon Davidson (Lynchburg, Virginia)
• DT Amare Adams (Florence, South Carolina)
• DE Ari Watford (Norfolk, Virginia)
• OL Brayden Jacobs (Alpharetta, Georgia)
• LB Logan Anderson (Fyffe, Alabama)

Duke — 25 commitments, 29th overall 

Highest Ranked Recruits:

• DE Bryce Davis (Greensboro, NC)
• DE Bariate Kara (Loganville, Georgia)
• DB Kolbe Harmon (Brentwood, Tennessee)
• Athlete Bradley Gompers (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
• DT Tommy Rupley (Belmont, Massachusetts)

Next Five

34th — Syracuse

37th — Stanford

39th — Florida State

41st — Pitt

45th — Boston College