Bowe Bentley moves up in Rivals updated 2026 recruiting rankings

USA Today

2 days ago

New Oklahoma Sooners offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ben Arbuckle liked what he saw early on in the 2026 recruiting class, specifically Celina (Texas) High School quarterback Bowe Bentley. Since then, OU's new offensive play-caller has been able to sit back and watch as the rest of the country caught up in their evaluation of Bentley.
Arbuckle offered the four-star prospect early on in his time with the Sooners, after a junior season in which Bentley led Celina to a perfect season and a state championship. Plenty of other programs like Georgia and LSU came around on Bentley and showed plenty of interest. Still, the lifelong Sooner fan committed to Oklahoma last month, picking OU over LSU.
Now, it looks like some of the recruiting services are giving Bentley more love as well. Rivals released their updated Rivals300 rankings on Monday, with Bentley coming in as the No. 4 QB currently in the recruiting class of 2026.
Bentley now slots in behind only three signal-callers in the 2026 class in Rivals' rankings. Five-star prospects Dia Bell (committed to Texas) and Jared Curtis (committed to Georgia) top the list, with fellow four-star Faizon Brandon (committed to Tennessee) ranked one spot above Bentley. If all holds, Rivals' top four 2026 QBs would all be headed to the SEC.
Bentley is Rivals' No. 41 player nationally, and the No. 2 player in the state of Texas. He's ranked higher than the player he took the spot of in OU's 2026 recruiting class, as Florida State commit Jaden O'Neal was ranked as the No. 27 QB by Rivals.
Bentley is hoping to help end a long line of blue-chip quarterback recruits for the Sooners that finished their careers elsewhere. While Oklahoma has had plenty of success with transfer QBs over the last decade, their best high school signees have typically transferred out of the program before their careers were over, despite OU landing plenty of five-stars on the recruiting trail. Blake Bell was Oklahoma's last five-star quarterback recruit to finish his career in Norman, but he finished college football playing tight end.
Bentley may not be a five-star yet, but he's hoping to change Oklahoma's fortunes in QB recruiting, as he's in line to be the face of the program at some point down the road.
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