College football recruiting: Georgia, USC and Oregon are biggest winners of February
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February wasn’t exactly a scorching-hot month on the recruiting trail, as just seven blue-chip college football prospects announced their commitments.
However, we saw more than 20 other Power 4 pledges, and of the seven blue-chippers to commit, two ranked among the top 50 recruits nationally. March and April will see a major uptick in decisions as recruits look to lock in their spots before official visits this summer. A few teams made some significant moves in boosting their classes last month, headlined by USC and Oregon grabbing a couple of commitments apiece.
Rivals breaks down the biggest winners of February:
USC
The Trojans officially locked up the No. 1 class in the 2026 cycle at the beginning of the month, but have already been making waves in 2027 as well. Since general manager Chad Bowden came on board, keeping the top California talent at home has been an even bigger priority.
All four of USC’s commitments — including each of three they landed in February — hail from the Golden State, which looks again to be loaded in 2027. They beat out Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska and a host of others for Quentin Hale, the nation’s No. 9 wide receiver. A few days prior, they landed program legacy three-star defensive lineman Isaia Vandermade, one of the top players in the loaded Trinity League at Santa Margarita Catholic.
Big rankings riser Eli Woodard out of Temecula Chaparral came on board a week before that, and recently jumped from an unranked three-star to a borderline top-200 prospect in the new Rivals300. Those three add to a January haul that included four-star cornerback Aaryn Washington, who previously played at nearby Mater Dei before transferring to IMG Academy.
Oregon
Dan Lanning and Co. are keeping the momentum rolling after signing the nation’s No. 4 class in 2026, which also had the highest average rating per commit of any program in the country. Early in 2027, they’ve already got five commits in the fold. Three of those came in February after hosting a big number of visitors for junior days in January.
Arguably the biggest win of the month was beating out both Texas and Texas A&M for four-star running back Cadarius McMiller. The Navy All-American chose the Ducks after a junior season where he finished with 108 carries for 943 yards and 17 touchdowns.
His decision came after two massive wins along the offensive line on February 1, as the Ducks scored commitments from high three-star Avery Michael and Rivals300 offensive tackle Drew Fielder. A late bloomer who just started playing tackle this season, Fielder saw his recruitment blow up when he moved inside. Oregon, ASU, Kansas, Cal, Nebraska, Washington, Michigan, UCLA, Boise State, San Diego State and Arizona were among the schools in to see him in January, but his visit to Eugene at the end of the month put them clearly as his top school.
Georgia
Only one five-star came off the board in February, and the Bulldogs were the school who won out in a hotly contested race.
Kemon Spell is still 10 months away from signing officially with a school, but his recruitment has had a bevy of twists and turns thus far. An early commitment to Penn State, he opted to reopen things during the fall when the Nittany Lions faltered and ultimately fired head coach James Franklin. They remained in the mix though, along with Notre Dame, Georgia and a handful of others. At one point, they were even predicted to get him back in the fold by Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong.
But a visit to Athens at the end of January helped seal the deal for Kirby Smart, landing UGA the No. 1 running back in the country in 2027. Spell is one of five early commits for a Georgia class that currently ranks No. 5 nationally.
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