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4-Star LB Dawson Merritt Commits to Alabama

Consensus 4-Star LB and composite Top 100 recruit, Dawson Merritt, has committed to Alabama after his official visit to Tuscaloosa a couple weeks ago.

Merritt’s only other official visit was to Nebraska, but Alabama had long been in the lead for Merritt.

This is Alabama’s 19th commitment in the 2025 class, which currently ranks 4th nationally and 3rd in the SEC.

4-Star WR Joshua Moore Commits to Florida

4-Star WR Joshua Moore has committed to the Florida Gators over Florida State and Miami, among other offers.

Moore took his official visit to Florida at the end of May, with consecutive visits to Miami and Florida State each of the next couple of weeks after that.

This is Florida’s 7th commitment for the 2025 class, which currently ranks 46th in the country and is only ahead of Vanderbilt in the SEC.

4-Star Edge Jayden Woods Commits to Penn State

Consensus 4-Star Edge Jayden Woods has committed to Penn State over other offers like Kansas State, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Tennessee.

Penn State has been hot on the recruiting trail lately, now earning Woods’ commitment after an official visit to Happy Valley a few weeks ago.

This is Penn State’s 19th commitment for the 2025 class, which currently ranks 11th in the country and is now 3rd in the Big Ten, as this commitment brings Penn State ahead of USC in the Big Ten.

4-Star OT Carde Smith Decommits from Auburn

Consensus 4-Star OT Carde Smith has decommitted from Auburn, after having been committed to the Tigers since April 10 of this year. Smith took an official visit to Auburn the weekend June 14th, and took an official visit to USC this past week.

Following his decommitment, USC is expected to be the school to watch here.

Even without Smith, Auburn’s 2025 class of 15 commitments still is 8th nationally and 4th in the SEC

4-Star IOL Max Buchanan Commits to Miami

Fringe 4-Star IOL Max Buchanan has committed to the University of Miami over Florida State, UCF, Clemson, and other offers.

Buchanan cited the caliber of offensive line coaching between Head Coach Mario Cristobal and OL Coach Alex Mirabal as for why he believes Miami is the right school for him.

Buchanan is the 12th commitment in the 2025 class for the Hurricanes, which ranks Miami 3rd in the ACC and 19th nationally.

Athlon Releases National Bowl Projections

Athlon Sports Magazine has gone ahead and released its bowl projections for every bowl, including each of the College Football Playoff games.

As for the playoff, Athlon projects first round matchups of No. 8 Alabama v. No. 9 Michigan, No. 5 Oregon v. No. 12 Liberty, No. 6 Texas v. No. 11 Notre Dame, and No. 7 Ole Miss v. No. 10 Penn State with first round byes for No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Florida State, and No. 4 Utah.

Athlon also has often-discussed Colorado and Coach Deion Sanders in the Sun Bowl vs. North Carolina.

4-Star Mason Alexander Commits to Pittsburgh

4-Star CB Mason Alexander commits to Pittsburgh over Purdue, Wisconsin, and others. Alexander ranks as one of the top recruits in Indiana, with 3 of the 4 recruiting services ranking him in the Top 5 for the state.

Alexander took his official visit to Pitt this past weekend, and told Head Coach Pat Narduzzi of his intentions to commit to Pitt during the visit.

This is Pitt’s second 4-star in the class of 2025 which currently has 17 commitments, ranks 43rd nationally, and 10th in the ACC.

5-Star WR Kaliq Lockets Names Top 5 and Sets Commitment Date

Composite 5-Star Kaliq Lockett has set a commitment date for August 7th after having narrowed his list down to his Top 5.

Currently, his Top 5 (and On3’s prediction percentage) is Texas (76.7%), Texas A&M (5.0%), LSU (4.3%), Florida State (2.9%), and Alabama (2.2%), so Texas is clearly the favorite for the in-state WR.

4-Star Tyler Williams Commits to Georgia

Fringe 4-Star WR Tyler Williams has committed to Georgia over Miami and UCF, among others. The WR from Riverview, Florida was torn between Georgia, Miami, and UCF, but ultimately the feeling Georgia gave him and the results they have put up as a program in the last several years was unmatched, so he committed.

This is Georgia’s 16th commitment in the 2025 class, a class which currently ranks 3rd in the country and 2nd in the SEC, narrowly sandwiched between LSU and Alabama.

3-Star CB Shamar Arnoux Commits to USC

High 3-Star CB Shamar Arnoux committed to USC over Auburn and Florida State. The one-time Tennessee commit is now committing to join high school teammate and highly coveted 5-Star QB Julian Lewis at USC.

ESPN is by far the lowest on Arnoux, placing him as the 86th ranked CB in the 2025 class. Rivals is fairly high on Arnoux, ranking him as the 16th best CB in the country. Ultimately, his composite ranking on On3 is somewhere in the middle, at 45th best for the position and 493rd overall.

This is USC’s 12th commitment, which ranks them 12th in the country and 4th in the Big Ten, only behind Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State.