5 Biggest Losers From Early Signing Period Day 1

The Early Signing Period is a chance for the best programs in college football to stay at the top of the sport, and for some upstart teams to show everyone that they are for real in 2020. And then...there are these five, all of whom had chances to rake in some of the biggest recruits in the country, but fell flat on their face as those players went off to their most hated rivals.

5. Michigan State

They might be around .500 once again, but Sparty have quickly become one of the most unwatchable teams in the country, and Mark Dantonio has struggled with recruiting players that could turn things around. Only two Top-20 and only three Top-40 recruits in the state of Michigan have decided to commit to Michigan State, while four of the Top 13 are headed to Ann Arbor. The highlight of Michigan State's 2020 class is 3-star OLB Darius Snow, who ranks as the No. 400 overall recruit in the nation. Sparty's class defines lackluster in 2020.

4. UCF

Part of what made Scott Frost so successful at UCF, and what has enabled Josh Heupel to sustain that success, was the ability to go head-to-head with the likes of Florida State, Miami, and Florida for the state's best recruits -- and even win some of those battles. That has failed to materialize in 2020, as the Knights have failed to land one 4-star or 5-star player so far. According to 247, Tulane and East Carolina have better recruiting classes than UCF at this point. The Knights face losing their stranglehold on the AAC due to poor recruiting.

3. Arkansas

According to 247sports, Rice, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Northern Illinois, and Rutgers have all had better recruiting classes than the Razorbacks in 2020, as Arkansas' class is the worst in the SEC by a mile. Chad Morris, who won just four games in two years, left the program in absolute shambles. While the hiring of Sam Pittman has re-energized the program, he has a lot of work to do on the field and on the recruiting grounds to get out of the hole Morris dug for this program.

2. Baylor

Baylor might have just missed out on a Big 12 title and earned a Sugar Bowl birth in 2019, but that hasn't boosted Matt Rhule in recruiting much at all. Baylor currently has the worst recruiting class in the Big 12, as bottom feeders like West Virginia and even KANSAS have done better on the recruiting trail than a team that won 11 games in 2019. Rhule is a fantastic in-game coach and developer of talent, but his skill as a recruiter deserves some criticism. It could be an obstacle for the Bears if they want to stay afloat as a competitive program.

1. USC

Who would have thought that in 2020 the likes of Troy, Rutgers, Bowling Green, Toledo, and North Texas would all have better recruiting classes than USC? The Trojans are dead last in recruiting in the Pac-12, trailing the likes of Oregon State and Arizona. The Trojans might not have decided to pull the plug on the struggling Clay Helton, but this is as good a reason as any to bite the bullet and do so. He has had precisely two good seasons out of five, and he had JuJu Smith-Schuster and Sam Darnold to carry him. Even worse, he has been getting pushed around on the recruiting trail and Oregon seems to have usurped them as THE team in the Pac-12.