Signing day winners, schools that missed in football recruiting

With the early signing period starting Wednesday, college football programs have been working hard to add as much talent to their future rosters as possible.

Schools have been actively recruiting the transfer portal to fill needs while complementing the roster with high school recruits. While some teams have thrived, others have been limping to the finish this recruiting cycle.

Alabama currently has the No. 1 recruiting class, and though the staff hasn’t been active adding players in the portal yet, the Tide are adding a ton of talent through the high school ranks with 20 ESPN 300 recruits as of Tuesday night. Others have been active in the portal, filling immediate needs, as Oklahoma, Michigan and UCLA are all closing strong with transfers.

Wednesday’s events have shaken things up even more with commitments, decommitments and flips, combined with transfer decisions that will impact who wins the recruiting cycle and who missed out. Here are six schools that are on top and four that have big question marks to answer.

Biggest winners

The Ducks were close to being added to the missed-out list after losing five-star quarterback Dante Moore, who flipped to UCLA. But the staff reacted quickly, flipping ESPN 300 quarterback Austin Novosad from Baylor. He’s the No. 270 prospect overall and the No. 13 pocket-passing quarterback.

That wasn’t the only big commitment, though, as Dan Lanning and his staff also flipped five-star safety Peyton Bowen from Notre Dame. Oklahoma had been recruiting Bowen, and the Irish were trying to keep him in the class, but Oregon was able to swoop in and sign him for its first five-star in the class.

In addition to Bowen, the Ducks were also able to get a commitment from ESPN 300 defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei, the No. 65 prospect overall who chose Oregon over USC and Ohio State, and also flipped ESPN 300 corner Daylen Austin, ranked No. 142 overall, from LSU.

The Sooners have had a commitment from the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in Jackson Arnold since January. The fact that the staff has been able to keep him in itself is a win for what it’ll be adding to the quarterback room with the five-star prospect from Texas.

But coach Brent Venables has done a good job the past week to improve his roster immediately through the transfer portal. He added