No shortage of team rankings storylines as Signing Day nears

National Signing Day is less than two weeks away and there are a number of compelling storylines to follow as teams jockey for position in the Rivals.com Team Recruiting Rankings.

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Alabama held a huge lead in the team rankings in early December when the rankings were updated last. Now Ohio State has closed the gap to just over 200 points, which is essentially one or two commitments. Keeping in mind only the top 20 commitments in each class count towards the team ranking, the Buckeyes would need to land a few more of their top targets to usurp the Tide. Five-star defensive tackle Marvin Wilson, Rivals100 defensive tackle Jay Tufele, Rivals250 wide receiver James Robinson and three-star Thayer Munford are still possibilities, but it would take a combination of these four to overtake Alabama.

Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide are in good position with a few more highly rated players. Rivals100 defensive lineman LaBryan Ray is considered an Alabama lean and Rivals100 wide receiver DeVonta Smith has a good chance of selecting Alabama on Signing Day. Five-star defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon is trying decide between Alabama and Michigan.

Georgia has pushed up the rankings and is currently sitting in third place. It will be hard for the Bulldogs to get into the top two because they already have 23 commitments.

The SEC is dominating the top 15 of the team rankings. Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, LSU, Tennessee, South Carolina and Auburn have all been recruiting at an impressive rate. Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Maryland represent the best recruiting classes in the Big Ten. Florida State and Miami are carrying the flag for the ACC in the team rankings, but Clemson would be in the conversation if the Tigers could take a bigger class. More on that shortly.

With only one team each in the top 15, the Pac-12 and Big 12 aren’t recruiting as well as the other Power Five conferences. At No. 4 in the team rankings, Oklahoma has an impressive class. USC represents the best class in the Pac-12, though it is currently a disappointing class by the Trojans' standards. USC doesn't have a five-star commitment yet and is No. 15 in the team rankings. Luckily for USC fans, the Trojans are known for finishing strong on Signing Day.

At first glance it’s pretty surprising to see Clemson not in the top 15 of the team rankings. The Tigers just beat Alabama to win the College Football Playoff National Championship and they should be cleaning up on the recruiting trail, right? Clemson fans shouldn’t worry. Dabo Swinney and his staff have a great recruiting class but can only take 14 commitments this cycle. The Tigers have the third highest average stars per commitment rating in the country and have commitments from three five-star prospects. Clemson is targeting running back Travis Etienne for the last spot in its recruiting class.

Stanford is in a similar situation as Clemson. The Cardinal may not have had the success that Clemson did this season but, with only 11 players in this recruiting class, Stanford's 2017 haul ranks 26th. The three five-star commitments help give Stanford the fourth-best average stars per commitment ranking in the FBS. Only Alabama and Ohio State have more five-stars than Stanford, and its three top commitments are all in the top 15 of the Rivals 100, a claim no other school can make.

Oklahoma is blowing away the Big 12 in the conference team rankings. The Sooners have the fourth-best class nationally and lead the second-place team in the Big 12 team rankings (Oklahoma State) by more than 1,000 points. Better times are ahead for the Big 12 with Texas bringing in Tom Herman and Baylor rebuilding with Matt Rhule, but West Virginia has disappointed this year as well.

Discounting Clemson because of their scholarship limitations this cycle, Florida State is leaving the rest of the ACC in the dust. The Seminoles lead rival Miami by more than 500 points and Louisville by almost 800 points. North Carolina didn’t live up to expectations on the field this year and it looks like the same will happen on the recruiting trail as well. Virginia Tech is getting closer to returning to hovering around the national top 25 in the team rankings like the Hokies did earlier in this decade. They still have a chance to move up the rankings with some big targets such as Rivals100 defensive back Devon Hunter left on the board.