ANDREW BONE: Tide and Gators locked in a battle for recruits

Scout.com ranked the University of Alabama with the No. 1 recruiting class in 2008 and No. 2 in 2009. Florida was rated with the No. 1 class in 2007 and No. 2 class in 2006.

The Gators have continued to add stellar talent, but have not finished in the Top 10 recruiting rankings the past two years. The main reason is due to smaller classes signed, but Alabama and Florida are both rated in the Top 10 for the class of 2010.

Alabama is currently sitting with the No. 4 class (No. 1 in the SEC) and Florida with the No. 7 class (No. 4 in the SEC). Alabama and Florida have seldom faced many head-to-head recruiting battles. It's not often you see a Saban vs. Meyer recruiting war.

Naturally, several players receive scholarship offers from both universities, but when it comes to finalists it has been rare in the last few years that a player has picked Florida over Alabama or Alabama over Florida.

Alabama extended scholarship offers to seven of Florida's current commitments. Mack Brown, Scout.com five-star running back from King High School in Lithonia, Ga., visited Tuscaloosa, but the battle was between Georgia and Florida.

Solomon Patton, Scout.com four-star wide receiver from Murphy High School in Mobile, was recruited by Alabama. He choose the Gators over the Tide.

Jonathan Dowling, Scout.com four-star safety from Southwest High School in Bradenton, Fla., visited Alabama in the spring. The life-long Gator fan said Alabama was his No. 2 school behind Florida.

Florida was known to extend at least six scholarship offers to Alabama commitments, including the state's best prospects in Demarcus Milliner, Jarrick Williams and Corey Grant. Grant and punter Jay Williams were the only two commitments to travel to Gainesville. Florida was the first school to offer Williams, but he quickly committed to Alabama after he was offered by the Tide. Grant chose Alabama over Auburn and Florida.

Several prospects remain on the recruiting board who are considering Alabama and Florida. Chris Dunkley, Scout.com five-star wide receiver from Pahokee High School, Fla., took an official visit to Alabama the weekend of the LSU game. Florida has been considered the favorite for a while.

Johnavon Fulton, Scout.com four-star cornerback from Manning High School in South Carolina, will announce his college decision Dec. 17. He has taken all of his official visits and it appears the decision is between Alabama, Florida and South Carolina.

Jordan Hicks, Scout.com five-star outside linebacker from Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio, was scheduled for an official visit to Alabama but canceled the trip. It's uncertain if he will reschedule, but the favorites appear as Florida and Ohio State.

Alabama did not battle Florida for prospects on the Tide's roster from the Sunshine State. An impressive list of players not recruited by the Gators includes Javier Arenas, Mike Johnson, Terrence Cody, Roy Upchurch, P.J. Fitzgerald, Marquis Johnson, Chris Rogers and Ed Stinson.

Only two players from the state of Alabama are listed on the Florida team roster, safety Dee Finley and defensive end William Green. Green was the only one who was recruited extensively by Alabama.

One big recruiting battle which was won by the Tide happened in the class of 2009 when coach Nick Saban received the signature of running back Trent Richardson.

Richardson committed to Alabama in the summer of 2008, but he took official visits to Florida and LSU. A very strong push was made by the Gators, but he stuck with his original commitment to the Tide.

A great of other big pick-ups for Alabama in the class of 2009 who considered Florida were cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, wide receiver Kendall Kelly, defensive tackle Brandon Moore and linebacker Nico Johnson.

The Tide's No. 1 recruiting class in 2008 had eight players who received scholarship offers from Florida. The ones who gave consideration to the Gators were wide receiver Julio Jones, offensive tackle Tyler Love and cornerback B.J. Scott.

Scott had named Florida as his favorite two weeks before giving his commitment to Alabama. Jones' decision came down to Alabama and Oklahoma. Love took a couple of unofficial visits to Gainesville, but committed to Alabama before the season started and never took an official visit to Florida.

Visit TideSports.com and Scout.com for Andrew Bone's recruiting coverage. Reach Andrew Bone at abone@scout.com