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WALLY HALL: Value of Texas to football recruiting evident

Linebacker Martavius French on Tuesday committed to the University of Arkansas, the program's third four-star commitment out of 14 for the Class of 2020.

The commitment led to a search of how that ranks the Razorbacks nationally. Because they have only 14 commitments, they are ranked No. 30 on average.

Clemson is No. 1 with 18 commitments, but the defending national champs have six five-star recruits and eight four stars, so they are sitting pretty in Alabama's usual position.

The Crimson Tide are No. 2 with 22 commitments, including two five stars and a whopping 16 four-star players.

Other SEC teams are No. 4 LSU with 21 commitments; No. 6 Georgia with 14; No. 9 Florida with 18; No. 10 Texas A&M with 16; No. 14 Auburn with 14; No. 17 Ole Miss with 21; No. 19 Mississippi State with 22; No. 20 South Carolina with 14; No. 23 Kentucky with 14; No. 27 Tennessee with 12; No. 39 Missouri with 13; and No. 49 Vanderbilt with 13.

All of this is subject to change, especially for the schools that have less than 15 commitments.

Alabama's rank could change, too. Nick Saban is known to cut a three-star recruit to make room for a four-star player.

A couple of interesting notes: Of the Aggies' 16 commitments, 10 are from Texas. Arkansas has eight from the Lone Star State and are after more. The Razorbacks have never had great success without some players from Texas.

How big is football in Texas? Nine of the 14 SEC schools have at least one commitment from a player from that state.

Texas Tech is following the lead of Chad Morris, who signed only players from Texas while coaching at SMU. The Red Raiders have 12 commitments, all from Texas.

Of Oklahoma's 15 commitments, 10 are from Texas.

The University of Texas has 11 commitments, 10 from its home state.

Morris may need more time than people want to give him to turn the program around, but he knows what he's doing. He also has good contacts in the state that produces the most college football players.

French, from Memphis, brought the Hogs total to three from Tennessee, two from Arkansas and one from Louisiana to go along with their Texans.

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Fueled by the fact that last year Southern Cal suffered its first losing since 2000, the big rumor in college football is that Urban Meyer will be hired to replace Clay Helton after this season.

USC was 5-7 last season, but in the previous three seasons Helton was a combined 26-10. When he took over the Trojans, the football program was a dumpster fire after the firing of Steve Sarkisian midway through the 2015 season.

Helton has only 11 starters back and games on the road against Washington, Notre Dame, Arizona State, Colorado and California.

Helton has his work cut out for him, but Meyer has never left a program in better shape than he found it.

Of course, the Pac-12 hasn't been a lot to write home about, which is why a lot of hopes for the league are riding with how Utah does this year.

The Utes are supposed to be a surprise, but they have 14 starters back from a 9-5 season.

Still, USC is part of the foundation of that conference, and a lot of attention will be focused on Helton this season.

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Just days before Mariano Rivera was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was honored by Delta Airlines, which is the official airline of the New York Yankees.

Delta dedicated Gate B42, his jersey number with the Yankees, to him.

Rivera played 19 years in the major leagues, all with the Yankees, and holds the career record for saves with 652.

Sports on 07/25/2019

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