Getty Image / Brian Rothmuller
Yesterday’s signing day in college football came with a flurry of big news that changed the outlook of many programs’ recruiting classes for 2023.
A few big prospects flipped. One changed his mind about where he’d play more than once in the last 24 hours.
Now ESPN has revealed their rankings of the top recruiting classes around the country for the Class of 2023 with many of the usual suspects finding themselves near the top of the list for another year.
Oregon jumped into the top five and Alabama kept the top spot after national signing day ✍️
The latest @ESPNPlus 2023 recruiting class rankings ➡️ https://t.co/Gl9hI8vjwY pic.twitter.com/Gx7IJFZBpc
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 22, 2022
`
One team you won’t find on that list is the Cal Golden Bears. ESPN only ranks 75 schools in their recruiting rankings and Cal’s class wasn’t good enough to crack the top 75. Cal is 1 of only 2 Power 5 schools to not make the top 75. Where you will find them is at the bottom of the PAC-12 in their rankings by conference.
According to 247 Sports, Cal’s best recruit is ranked 386th in the nation. He is one of only 3 players in the class that was ranked in the top 1000. Their recruiting class is ranked 82nd in the country according to 247 Sports.
It looks like things won’t be getting much better for Cal after a rough 2022. This season, the Golden Bears finished 4-8 with 3 of those wins coming in their first 4 games. They lost 7 of their last 8 games with one of those losses being Colorado’s only win of the season. Their 2-7 conference record put them in a tie for 9th in the conference.
With Arizona State, Colorado, and Stanford all making big coaching changes this offseason and putting together better recruiting classes than the Golden Bears, Cal might find themselves pretty lonely at the bottom of the PAC-12 next season.