When Notre Dame landed a commitment from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei wide receiver CJ Williams Aug. 8, its 2022 recruiting class jumped from the No. 3 to No. 1 in the Rivals team recruiting rankings.
Fast forward 70 days, and the Fighting Irish have not added any additional members to its class, but their standing on top of the rankings remains. Can Notre Dame actually finish with the No. 1 class in the country?
It would take a dream scenario for the Irish for that to happen.
Let’s take a look at an outcome that would be ideal for Notre Dame. The Irish hold on to their current 21 commitments and add two five-stars in safety Xavier Nwankpa (No. 14 player in the country) and quarterback Walker Howard (No. 26), plus high four-stars in defensive lineman Anthony Lucas (No. 80) and offensive guard Billy Schrauth (No. 125).
After doing some math per the Rivals formula, Notre Dame would add a net of 379 points to its current total of 2,408, giving it 2,787 points.
Putting that total in previous years would have Notre Dame land in the following spots: No. 3 in 2021, No. 5 in 2020, No. 3 in 2019 and No. 4 in 2018.
Getting to the 3,000 total point mark per the Rivals formula gets a school in the possibility of a No. 1 class. Notre Dame is just unlikely to hit that point, and even the ideal outcome laid out above is a long shot parlay.
Alabama has the No. 4 class in the country and 16 total commitments. Georgia is another regular in the top five, and they have 18 pledges and the No. 5 class. Programs such as Ohio State (No. 7), LSU (No. 8) and Oklahoma (No. 9) all have 15 commits or fewer, and with strong closes, they will battle for a top-five spot.
A top-five class is much more probable but will still be tough. Notre Dame has done that once in the Brian Kelly era, when it signed the No. 3 class in 2013. It had 2,893 total points in the class and had the likes of Torii Hunter Jr., Will Fuller, Isaac Rochell, Jaylon Smith and Mike McGlinchey in it.
Stay locked in to BlueandGold.com for coverage of Notre Dame’s 2022 recruiting class just two months away from National Signing Day.
For more details on the Rivals rankings formula, click here.
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