It was a college football signing day unlike any other – done almost entirely virtual.
There were no official visits or in-person evaluations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was all Zoom and phone calls. It could lead to more misses, but also possibly some actual steals as well.

Below are three winners and losers from the day:

Alabama has the No. 1 class, which if it holds up would give them the top class in nine of the last 11 years, according to 247Sports.com. Ohio State is No. 2, landing the top-rated running back (TreVeyon Henderson) and receiver (Emeka Egbuka) in the country, and the No. 3 pro-style quarterback in Kyle McCord. In fact, the same teams in the top five last year – Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Clemson and Georgia – are again in the top five. The rich keep getting richer in college football.

Wisconsin usually wins with less, by developing three-star talent and turning them into quality college football players. There is less molding that will need to be done now. For the time being, the Badgers have the 16th-ranked class in the country, which would be their first ever top-20 class. They also secured a rare five-star prospect in offensive tackle Nolan Rucci of Pennsylvania.

The controversial hire at Jackson State is already paying off on the recruiting trail. The Hall of Fame cornerback was able to flip Georgia commit De’Jahn Warren, a four-star recruit from junior college. Warren will join Sanders’ son Shilo, a South Carolina transfer, and another son, Shedeur, a four-star quarterback.

This isn’t going to help Mike Norvell turn the Seminoles around. His class is ranked 31st by 247 and didn’t have a five-star recruit. It follows a troubling pattern in Tallahassee of underwhelming recruiting that has echoed the program’s on-field struggles. Last year, the class was ranked 22nd. The year before, it was 18. The year before, it was 11th.

Coach Mike Leach probably thinks early signing day was “joyless,” too. The shooting-from-the-hip coach recently called this season joyless due to all the “commotion and clutter” created by the virus, and signing day didn’t go much better for him. He lost two four-star recruits, wide receiver Malik Nabers and cornerback MJ Daniels, who flipped to LSU and Ole Miss, respectively. His class is ranked 10th in the SEC.

Gus Malzahn’s replacement will have a lot of work to do. The Tigers’ class took a major hit with the coaching change. It has just 13 prospects and is ranked 12th in the SEC after losing four-star defensive end George Wilson to Florida State and missing out on a host of others on Wednesday.