The Pac-12 not only saw a nice resurgence on the football field this past year, ranking as one of the best conferences in the nation with a tie for the most teams in the top 25 rankings at the end of the year, but they also saw a nice year in the recruiting world as well.
With the 2023 cycle now behind us, we can sit back and assess how each school did, and how each conference did. While every coach has his own knack for developing talent, and one team may do more with less than another, one of the easiest ways to judge talent is by looking at recruiting stars and rankings.
Of course, the SEC dominates in the recruiting world, continually stacking to national rankings with double-digit 5-star prospects staying in the south. However, behind them, the Pac-12 made a nice push in 2023, rivaling the Big-12 (7) for the next highest number of 5-star players (5).
So who made up those 5-stars in the Pac-12, and what other players went down as the highest-rated recruits in the conference during this cycle? Here's a look at the top 20 guys who signed out west in the 2023 cycle.
School by School Breakdown
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Most Players in Top 20
USC Trojans (7)
Oregon Ducks (7)
Colorado Buffaloes (2)
UCLA Bruins (1)
Oregon State Beavers (1)
Arizona State Sun Devils (1)
Utah Utes (1)
Most Players in Top 10
USC Trojans (4)
Oregon Ducks (3)
Schools with Zero Top 20 Players
Washington Huskies
Washington State Cardinals
California Golden Bears
Stanford Cardinals
Arizona Wildcats
1 - WR Zachariah Branch (USC Trojans)
Steven Erler-USA TODAY NETWORK
247Sports Rating: 5-star (0.9980)
National Ranking: 4
Position Ranking: 1
2 - QB Dante Moore (UCLA Bruins)
247Sports Rating: 5-star (0.9977)
National Ranking: 5
Position Ranking: 3
3 - QB Malachi Nelson (USC Trojans)
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Rating: 5-star (0.9951)
National Ranking: 12
Position Ranking: 5
4 - CB Cormani McClain (Colorado Buffaloes)
247Sports Rating: 5-star (0.9921)
National Ranking: 13
Position Ranking: 1
5 - WR Jurrion Dickey (Oregon Ducks)
247Sports Rating: 5-star (0.9890)
National Ranking: 21
Position Ranking: 2
6 - WR Makai Lemon (USC Trojans)
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9799)
National Ranking: 43
Position Ranking: 7
7 - EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei (Oregon Ducks)
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9798)
National Ranking: 44
Position Ranking: 7
8 - QB Jaden Rashada (Arizona State Sun Devils)
[Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun]
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9623)
National Ranking: 82
Position Ranking: 7
9 - EDGE Braylan Shelby (USC Trojans)
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9609)
National Ranking: 85
Position Ranking: 15
10 - CB Rodrick Pleasant (Oregon Ducks)
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9575)
National Ranking: 91
Position Ranking: 9
11 - OT Spencer Fano (Utah Utes)
Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9564)
National Ranking: 95
Position Ranking: 9
12 - LB Tackett Curtis (USC Trojans)
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9482)
National Ranking: 108
Position Ranking: 9
13 - TE Kenyon Sadiq (Oregon Ducks)
Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9468)
National Ranking: 115
Position Ranking: 4
14 - CB Daylen Austin (Oregon Ducks)
Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9463)
National Ranking: 116
Position Ranking: 12
15 - TE Walker Lyons (USC Trojans)
(Photograph via Zachary Neel)
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9446)
National Ranking: 123
Position Ranking: 5
16 - QB Austin Novosad (Oregon Ducks)
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9436)
National Ranking: 131
Position Ranking: 12
17 - RB Dante Dowdell (Oregon Ducks)
Photo Courtesy of Lawrence Hopkins
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9426)
National Ranking: 134
Position Ranking: 6
18 - QB Aiden Chiles (Oregon State Beavers)
James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9365)
National Ranking: 151
Position Ranking: 12
19 - RB Dylan Edwards (Colorado Buffaloes)
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9312)
National Ranking: 173
Position Ranking: 11
20 - RB Quinten Joyner (USC Trojans)
247Sports Rating: 4-star (0.9273)
National Ranking: 185
Position Ranking: 13
Story originally appeared on Ducks Wire
