There's still months to go before the class of 2026 is officially able to sign National Letters of Intent and join the fold.

So, looking at recruiting classes purely based on "who has the most points" often gives a staggering advantage to whoever has the most verbal commitments.

A better way to evaluate a class months before Signing Day is to blend the traditional rankings and the "average rating per commit" - i.e. what is the average level of talent across each of a school's pledges? 

In the traditional numbers, USC has the No. 1 recruiting class so far this cycle, but the Trojans also boast 31 pledges -  four more than No. 2 Georgia, and at least six more than every other program in the top 13.

The Ducks sit at No. 9 in those rankings, but have just 14 commitments, fewer than half of USC's number. 

Which means that data doesn't tell the whole story.

Oregon Ducks recruiting class ri...

Oregon Ducks recruiting class rises to No. 1 nationally i...

Oregon's recruiting class is No. 1 for second year in key area

No surprise that a qualitative over quantitative analysis would show Oregon > USC. Talk is that USC's "success " in recruiting so far may just keep Riley employed. I sure hope so!