Final 2026 recruiting rankings add 12 new five-stars

The final Rivals recruiting rankings saw 12 new players earn their fifth star.

General view of a television camera with an ESPN college football sleeve before the game between the Houston Cougars and the Colorado Buffaloes at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Aside from the fact that the Indiana Hoosiers were crowned as national champions, another sign that the college football season is over is the release of recruiting services' final rankings.

The recruiting experts over at Rivals released the Rivals300 rankings on Tuesday, which included quite a few shakeups throughout the list. One of the more notable changes was the fact that USC EDGE signee, Luke Wafle, leapt from the No. 38 player in the class to the No. 1 overall player.

However, there were quite a few changes near the top of the rankings, as Rivals gave the nod to 12 different players for a fifth star.

Let's take a look at the 12 players who earned a fifth star on Tuesday. It's worth noting that Rivals hadn't officially given out all five-star ratings prior to Tuesday, so some players will have had the ranking numerical-wise, but not star-wise.

A view of a tv camera and the ESPN college football logo. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Jaimeon Winfield, DL, USC

Previous ranking: No. 44

New ranking: No. 11

Julian Walker, EDGE, South Carolina

Previous Ranking: No. 68

New ranking: No. 15

Jerquaden Guilford, WR, Ohio State

Previous ranking: No. 85

New ranking: No. 17

Brandon Arrington, CB, Texas A&M

Previous Ranking: No. 14

New Ranking: No. 20

Immanuel Iheanacho, OL, Oregon

Previous ranking: No. 9

New ranking: No. 21

Khary Adams, CB, Notre Dame

Previous ranking: No. 27

New ranking: No. 23

Millard South Jett Thomalla (4) looks for receivers against Basha during a game at Basha High School in Chandler on Aug. 30, 2024. | Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Jett Thomalla, QB, Alabama

Previous ranking: No. 47

New ranking: No. 24

Joey O'Brien, S, Notre Dame

Previous ranking: No. 29

New ranking: No. 25

Cincere Johnson, LB, Ohio State

Previous ranking: No. 41

New ranking: No. 26

Ian Premer, TE, Notre Dame

Previous ranking: No. 28

New ranking: No. 27

Corey Barber, WR, LSU

Previous ranking: No. 111

New ranking: No. 28

Salesi Moa, S, Michigan

Previous ranking: No. 40

New ranking: No. 30

In terms of the entirety of the 32 five-stars and where they will end up, 13 of them are slated to end up at a Big Ten program, 11 are going to an SEC program, five are going to Notre Dame, two will be attending a Big 12 program and just one is heading to an ACC program.

Considering the Big Ten has seemingly taken over as the premier conference in the sport, it's not surprising to see that those programs bring in some of the best players. In terms of the overall Rivals300, USC and Notre Dame landed the most at 17 apiece.

This group seems as talented as any in past years, with many of them having a chance to make immediate impacts. It will certainly be interesting to revisit these rankings in a couple years to see how things shake out.