Historic college football program overtakes Texas in overall team recruiting rankings

As the portal window is preparing to close, a new top team leads 247sports' combined rankings. The recruiting service has combined the incoming 2026 freshman class and the 2026 transfer portal class into a single ranking system.

Texas had been atop that combined ranking, but recently developments in the portal shifted the overall leader-- not just from a team, but away from the SEC. While that league controls six of the current top 10 spots, it no longer boasts the overall leader.

The New No. 1

With the commitment of Oregon defense lineman Tionne Gray, Notre Dame surpassed Texas to claim the top spot. That is despite just seven portal additions being noted for the Irish, with Gray and Ohio State wide receiver transfer Quincy Porter leading that group.

Notre Dame retakes the lead in the overall team rankings on @247Sports, passing Texas, after signing Oregon DT Tionne Gray out of the transfer portal.

The Irish will have one of the nation’s most talented and complete rosters next fall. pic.twitter.com/p5wyiISvTF
— Drew Mentock (@AndrewMentock) January 15, 2026

But Notre Dame did have a very strong incoming freshman class as well, with three five-star recruits who ranked among the nation's top 30 players and five players in 247sports' top 66 overall. The biggest star of the bunch is North Carolina edge rusher Rodney Dunham, who 247 ranked as the second-best edge rusher nationally in the class and the No. 8 overall player. Tight end Ian Premer of Kansas and safety Joey O'Brien of Pennsylvania were the other five-star freshman recruits.

The entire SEC is ranked within 247's top 40, and aside from Notre Dame and the six SEC schools, the rest of the top comes from the Big Ten, with Ohio State (third), USC (fourth), and Oregon (sixth) representing that league. Miami at 11th is the top ACC school and Texas Tech at 14th is the top Big 12 squad in 247's rankings.

Big turnover numbers

Notre Dame's 36 incoming players is a relatively low total, considering the coaching shifts, portal moves, and freshman classes just recruited. Among the teams with plenty of incoming players are North Carolina (with 55 players, ranking 20th) and West Virginia (boasting a whopping 75 new incoming players and ranked 32nd). 247 ranks the classes by average rating of the incoming players, so teams grabbing more players don't have any inherent advantage.

Top-recruit leaders

Notre Dame's four total incoming five-star players ties for the most in that category. No. 2 ranked Texas also has four, as do No. 6 Oregon and No. 7 Alabama. The top ranked team without an incoming five-star player is No. 13 Ole Miss.

In order to claim the top spot, the Irish had to fare well in both the incoming freshman rankings (Notre Dame is No. 4) and the portal rankings (Notre Dame is No. 9 there). USC lead the freshman rankings while LSU sits atop 247's transfer portal rankings.