Miami, Mario Cristobal are expected to miss out on 5-star Canes fans have been eyeing

Even when things are rolling, they are not always going to go your way. For as strong as Miami has been on the recruiting trail these last several weeks, it does not look like they will be landing a certain blue-chip prospect. All signs point to five-star athlete Honor Fa'alave-Johnson committing elsewhere on Saturday. He is picking between six schools, including the Miami Hurricanes. Where will he end up?

Rivals has Fa'alave-Johnson leaning heavily towards USC, with Oregon coming in at a distant second.

Fa'alave-Johnson will be picking between LSU, Miami, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas, and USC. Rivals is giving USC an 83.9-percent chance of landing the San Diego native. Oregon has the second-best chance at only 13.9 percent. None of the other four contenders are even listed, including Miami. With Fa'alave-Johnson being a West Coast guy, are we really even that surprised he would stay in-state?

In the end, the fact Miami is even a finalist at this point for Fa'alave-Johnson is great for the Canes.

Miami Hurricanes not expected to land 5-star Honor Fa'alave-Johnson

Follow along with this... Fa'alave-Johnson is a star safety at Cathedral Catholic over in San Diego. Not only would Miami have to overcome him being three time zones away from home with USC just up the road, but the Catholic pipeline as well involving Notre Dame. Oregon may be hours away from San Diego, but Fa'alave-Johnson's family would have a much easier time being able to watch him play ball.

It is why those three schools in particular had a decided edge in landing him over the likes of LSU, Miami, and Texas. Yes, he only wants to go to power brokers in the sport, but regional and religious ties aid the other three programs of note in Notre Dame, Oregon, and USC so much more so. Frankly, because USC has its collective stuff together, a player like him should be heading off to Los Angeles.

Overall, this is not the end of the world, but rather a sign of the times. USC is on the uptick, much like Miami has been under Cristobal's watch in recent years. The Trojans are a serious contender to make the College Football Playoff for the first time this season. If the Big Ten gets four teams into the field, USC would have to be among them, right? Just to be in the conversation for Fa'alave-Johnson is big.

Let's just say that lesser programs would not have even tried to court Fa'alave-Johnson quite like this.