Winner: Oregon Ducks
You like dramatic entrances? Oregon is your team.
Next season, the Ducks will make their Big Ten debut alongside UCLA, USC and Washington. They're not entering as gracious visitors, though; Oregon swiped wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan, a top-50 prospect, from Ohio State on Wednesday.
Oregon also plucked another 4-star wideout, Ryan Pellum, out of USC's class. Those two last-second thefts allowed the Ducks, who added 20 blue-chip prospects, to sign the program's highest-rated haul.
Loser: USC Trojans
USC, on the other hand, followed a frustrating 7-5 season on the field with an unspectacular recruiting class.
Pellum's late decommitment, while not ideal, isn't a massive issue. The problem is that the Trojans' class is thin on elite talent. While USC signed just 11 blue-chip players, Oregon landed 20. Future conference foes Ohio State (17), Penn State (17) and Michigan (18) far outpaced the Trojans—and, shoot, Wisconsin even grabbed nine.
Lincoln Riley and his staff will be plenty active in the transfer portal, but 2024 wasn't a strong cycle on the trail for USC.
