NCAAF teams
Tom VanHaaren, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Big Ten recruiting: By the numbers

We are in week 13 of the regular season and only a few months away from signing day. That means that programs have most of their recruiting done and are trying to fill in the last spots of the class.

This is a good time to take a look at the Big Ten recruiting efforts, where some teams are having success and some need help. The numbers below help show the makeup and statistics behind the recruiting classes within the conference.

Commits from different states:

Northwestern: 11

Wisconsin: 11

Minnesota: 10

Ohio State: 9

Purdue: 9

These five teams had the most variety in terms of how many states they have grabbed commitments from. Maryland and Nebraska have commitments from eight different states. Iowa, Michigan State, Rutgers and Penn State all have seven states represented, while Michigan and Indiana were at the bottom with five each.

Commits from the Southeast:

Nebraska: 6

Purdue: 5

Ohio State: 4

Wisconsin: 4

Rutgers: 3

This list is important because there is a ton of talent in the Southeast. It is difficult for Big Ten teams to recruit that region, and it’s somewhat surprising to see Nebraska having the most success within the conference. Every Big Ten school except for Michigan, Northwestern and Penn State has a commitment from a Southeastern prospect.

Commits from Texas:

Wisconsin: 4

Illinois: 3

Iowa: 3

Maryland: 2

Michigan State: 2

Much like the Southeast, Texas is an important state to have success in. There are 43 ESPN 300 prospects in the state of Texas, and the Lone Star State is home to the most ESPN Junior 300 prospects in the 2016 class as well. Indiana, Rutgers, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan have no commitments from Texas in 2015. Purdue has two, while Minnesota and Nebraska both have one Texas commitment.

Commits from California:

Wisconsin: 4

Illinois: 2

Northwestern: 2

California is another talent-rich state, but the conference isn’t having much success just yet. Prospects out of California tend to wait a little longer than most recruits, but only Wisconsin, Illinois and Northwestern have landed any commitments from the state. There are 74 prospects from California who hold Big Ten offers, and only eight have committed to a team within the conference.

In-state commits ranked in the top five of the state:

Iowa: 4

Ohio State: 3

Penn State: 3

Michigan: 3

Keeping the top in-state prospects at home is always important, especially for Big Ten teams. Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan have done a good job landing at least three of the top-five ranked players from their home state. Indiana, Maryland, Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers have landed zero top-five in-state commitments for this class. Illinois has only landed one in ESPN 300 lineman Gabe Megginson, which is an important statistic because that top-five from Illinois consists of a five-star four four-star prospects. Those are recruits that could help Illinois in a major way.

Percentage of ESPN 300 commitments:

Michigan: 62% (5 of 8)

Penn State: 44% (8 of 18)

Ohio State: 38% (8 of 21)

Michigan State: 23% (3 of 13)

Nebraska: 14% (2 of 14)

Outside of the list above, Illinois is the only other Big Ten team to land an ESPN 300 prospect so far. Compare that to the other conferences, where the ACC has 11 teams with ESPN 300 commits, Big 12 has six, the Pac 12 has 10 and all 14 SEC teams have ESPN 300 commitments. In fact, Alabama and Georgia combine have more ESPN 300 commitments (30) than the entire Big Ten conference (27).

^ Back to Top ^