How Caleb Cunningham’s flip affected Alabama’s 2025 recruiting rankings

Alabama football lost a five-star member of its 2025 recruiting class on Wednesday when wide receiver Caleb Cunningham decommitted to Ole Miss. The UA class is still in solid shape, but the loss has dented its place in the rankings among major ranking services.

According to the 247Sports composite rankings, five-star quarterback Keelon Russell is currently the top-ranked recruit in his class. The group’s other five stars include OT Ty Haywood, CB Dijon Lee and OL Michael Carroll.

As the dust settles from the turnaround, here’s how Cunningham’s departure affected Alabama’s place in the recruiting rankings for the 2025 class.

247Sport

Alabama was the No. 1 ranked class in the country as of Wednesday morning. After losing Cunningham, the Crimson Tide fell to second place.

Ohio State overtook the Tide to take the top spot in the class. UA is followed by Georgia, with LSU and Auburn filling out the top five.

Seven of the top 10 classes according to the 247 combine are SEC teams, with Oregon and Southern Cal also representing the Big Ten.

On3

Similar to the 247 rankings, Alabama was the No. 1 team in the 2025 class rankings before Cunningham turned around. And just like that ranking, the Crimson Tide fell to No. 2 afterward.

Similarly, Ohio State overtook UA. Georgia again took third place, followed by LSU and Texas. Auburn is in sixth place.

Rivals

The Crimson Tide was not ranked No. 1 by the Rivals prior to the Cunningham move. The service had Alabama in second place behind Ohio State.

Following Cunningham’s departure from the class, Alabama experienced an even steeper decline than the rest of the major services. The rivals dropped UA to fourth place, behind Georgia and LSU.

Auburn is one position behind Alabama in the Rivals rankings and rounds out the top five.