This didn't sneak up on anyone following Alabama's 2018 recruiting cycle.
Alabama's recruiting class ranked in the 40s back in August. It has slowly crept up the board since, but not quite at the now-customary pace. A year after signing the highest-rated class in program history, the Crimson Tide's stranglehold on the No. 1 recruiting class is almost assured to end.
It would clip a seven-year run atop the 247Sports composite of such rankings. Alabama is currently No. 7 in the 247 rankings, No. 4 according to ESPN and No. 9 on Rivals.