Auburn had a ‘big’ Big Cat weekend, flipping two former Alabama football commits. Suddenly college football pundits swooned over Hugh Freeze with praise, with one report stating Auburn was “red hot on the recruiting trail.”

Auburn indeed made strong progress in both its 2025 and 2026 classes. Alabama very much wanted Derek Smith, who is Auburn’s highest-rated commit. But the Crimson Tide wanted Smith as a defensive back and Auburn was happy to pledge he could play his preferred position; wide receiver. The Tigers also landed 4-star safety, Anquon Fegans. According to Alabama football insiders, Fegans was never high on the Tide’s wish list.

Auburn fans are rightfully relieved that the Tigers’ recent commits bumped up the ’25 class to the SEC’s fourth-best, behind Alabama, LSU, and Georgia. The On3 Industry Rankings have Auburn as the nation’s No. 6 class.

Suddenly obscured by Auburn’s recent recruiting success is that the Tigers are still falling short on elite talent. Based on On3, Industry rankings, the Tigers’ ’25 class has only four top 100 recruits, none of whom are 5-stars. Alabama has nine top 100 recruits, including four 5-stars.

National recruiting expert for On3, Hayes Fawcett, recently provided a ranking of college football’s top 20 summer commits. Ten programs have landed the 20, top commits. Five programs added two or more top commits, with the other five gaining one each. Alabama Football dominates the list with five commits, followed by Georgia and Ohio State with three each, and LSU and Oregon with two each. The count for the Auburn Tigers is zero.

Alabama Football Summer Elite Recruiting

• Alabama Crimson Tide – 5-star, Ty Haywood, ranked No.3 by Fawcett; 5-star, Caleb Cunningham, ranked No. 4; 5-star, Dijon Lee, ranked No. 6; 5-star, Keelon Russell, ranked No. 8; 4-star, Justin Hill, ranked No. 18

• Georgia Bulldogs – 5-star, Isaiah Gibson, ranked No. 5; 5-star, Zayden Walker, ranked No. 7; 4-star, Talyn Taylor, ranked No. 16

• Ohio State Buckeyes – 4-star, Riley Pettijohn , ranked No. 12; 4-star, Faheem Delane, ranked No. 15; 4-star, Quincy Porter, ranked No. 17

• Oregon Ducks – 5-star, Dakorien Moore, ranked No. 1; 4-star, Dorian Brew, ranked No. 13

• LSU Bengal Tigers – 5-star, DJ Pickett, ranked No. 2; 4-star, Derek Meadows, ranked No. 14

• Kansas State landed 5-star, Linkon Cure, ranked No. 9. Texas added ’26 class, QB, 4-star, Dia Bell, ranked No. 10. Florida added 4-star, Vernell Brown III, ranked No. 11; Tennessee added 4-star, Douglas Itu, ranked No. 19; and Miami added 4-star, Hylton Stubbs, ranked No. 20.