How Texas Can Still Catch Texas A&M for the No. 1 Recruiting Class in America

For the Texas Longhorns, the majority of the focus this summer is on the impending season, looking to return a national championship to Austin for the first time in over 20 years, after failing to live up to expectations last season.

Despite failing to reach that goal last season, the Longhorns were still able to defend home turf and ruin their bitter rivals, the Texas A&M Aggies bid for a perfect season. That alone was worth something to the program that wants to one-up the other program in everything.

Now the current competition between the two is recruiting class rankings, and while the Aggies have the No. 1 overall class this cycle, the Longhorns aren't far behind. What would they need to do to catch them?

What Will It Take to Claim the No. 1 Spot?

Texas Longhorns band performs prior to a game against the Central Florida Knights at Texas Memorial Stadium. Texas beat Central Florida 35-3. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Longhorns were late bloomers in the cycle, and are now blowing past a top-10 finish, looking for their second No. 1-ranked recruiting class under Sarkisian. To get there, though, it won't be an easy task as the Aggies have been holding the top spot for a while, led by six five-star commits in the class.

In their own right, though, the Longhorns have two five-star commitments, including the No. 1 receiver in the cycle, Easton Royal. To add to that, they have two more four-star commitments in the class, bringing the total to 12.

Step 1 of overtaking the Aggies is retaining Royal, who has been one of the biggest storylines of the cycle with the LSU Tigers looking to swoop in and flip his commitment for a big win under new head coach Lane Kiffin. Keeping him allows the rest of the class to catch up to the early start from the Aggies.

Another reason the step is important is that it gives the Longhorns an edge in recruiting the No. 2 receiver in the class and a top-10 prospect, Monshun Sales. He would give the Longhorns' class ranking a big boost, pushing them higher, as he has a recruiting score of 98.31.

Sales isn't the recruit the Longhorns are targeting either, including another five-star prospect in Ismael Camara, the No. 29-ranked recruit in the country, and Landen Williams-Callis, a top-50 prospect in his own right.

If Sarkisian and his staff can land all three of those, it would give them four five-stars and a 13th four-star, providing the extra push needed to knock their rivals out of the No. 1 spot.

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