Big Ten recruiting thoughts: Ohio State leads the way, Michigan contributes big

The early signing phase is getting closer and closer. It's been moved up this year – from the third Wednesday in December to the first – leaving just six weeks until your favorite college program officially adds the bulk of its 2025 recruiting class.

Let’s evaluate where things stand in the Big Ten.

Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.

1. Alabama has made a strong push, but Ohio State continues to hold the top spot in the national recruiting rankings.

Things have been a little slow lately for the Buckeyes, who have only made two commitments in the last two months. One of those came from four-star receiver Phillip Bell from Mission Viejo (Calif.) High School. Ohio State defeated USC and secured the commitment of Bell, ranked No. 198 overall in his class.

The Buckeyes' class features 10 top-100 players and has solid balance across the board, except on offense. Ohio State only has commitments from two top-tier O-linemen, and one of them (Jayvon McFadden, No. 407) is on the low end of four-star status.

The Buckeyes need more from offensive line coach Justin Frye and the entire team at this critical position.

2. Oregon is No. 2 in the Big Ten and ninth nationally. His most significant recruiting victory came recently when he replaced top-100 offensive lineman Douglas Utu from Tennessee, who plays for national power Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas.

Utu is the No. 4 offensive tackle in the 2025 cycle and the No. 78 overall player. His teammate Alai Kalaniuvalu is also a four-star prospect committed to the Ducks.

Oregon recruits at a much higher level than any other program on the West Coast. The Ducks have the highest average player rating in the country at 94.59, but have at least seven fewer appearances than the schools ranked directly behind them in that category (Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State).

However, Dan Lanning tends to close strong, so the fact that Oregon only has 16 commitments suggests the Ducks will make a run as the early signing period approaches.

3. USC has made six commitments in the last two months, moving the Trojans back into the top 10 in the national rankings. The headliner of this group is four-star receiver Jerome Myles from Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah. Myles, who committed in September, has been one of the big risers in the class, jumping from the 300s in the spring to No. 33 in the current rankings.

Keep fighting ✌🏻✌🏻 @LincolnRiley @CoachSimmonsSC @USC_Athletics @BlairAngulo @BrandonHuffman @AABonNBC @KjarEric pic.twitter.com/hke9yyWQRO

– Jerome Myles (@jerome_myles6) September 18, 2024

USC desperately needs help heading into scrimmage. While Myles is a great recruit, the more impactful recruiting win might be replacing four-star offensive lineman Aaron Dunn from Utah. Dunn, ranked No. 186 nationally, plays at Spanish Fork (Utah) High School.

USC has a top-10 class, but it's not necessarily elite where it needs to be – in the trenches. Adding Dunn, the Trojans' second blue-chip offensive player in this class, helps.

Only four of USC's 23 commitments are from Southern California. That's fine, but when a program has a difficult season on the field, like the Trojans are right now, it opens the door for schools closer to home to go after those out-of-state prospects.

4. Michigan scored its biggest win of the 2025 cycle on Monday when it landed the commitment of offensive lineman Andrew Babalola, a five-star prospect who plays at Blue Valley Northwest in Overland Park, Kansas. Babalola is ranked 21st overall and was one of the last remaining indeterminate five stars.

The Wolverines' class ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 14th nationally. Sherrone Moore has retained the program's recruitment compared to Jim Harbaugh. Now he needs to improve his on-field coaching and find a solution at quarterback.

5. It's been an ugly season for Purdue, which is 1-6 overall and 0-4 in conference play. The Boilermakers rank 116th in offensive rating and 130th in defense. It's just bad.

Coach Ryan Walters signed the No. 27 class in the 2024 cycle, so there was bound to be some regression with this class considering the program has only signed three other top-40 classes in the last 10 years.

But the ugly losses have hurt recruiting. There have been four departures since the start of the season, most notably four-star corner Dawayne Galloway, the highest-rated player in the class.

The boilermaker class is ranked 85th nationally and last in the Big Ten. Not much is going well for Walters right now.

6. Indiana was the surprise of the Big Ten with its 7-0 record and top-15 ranking. So far, there has been no breakthrough in recruitment. In fact, the Hoosiers' top-rated prospect, four-star safety Byron Baldwin, decommitted earlier this month. Colorado is trying to apply pressure, but Baldwin visited Bloomington last weekend to celebrate Indiana's dominant win over Nebraska.

The Hoosiers, who don't have a quarterback among their 20 commitments, are still trying to put pressure on USC commit Julian “Juju” Lewis, a five-star prospect from Georgia.

It's been difficult to bring top talent to Indiana, but if the Hoosiers continue to impress, it will be interesting to see what boost it will provide for Curt Cignetti's program in the 2026 cycle.

7. Penn State and Nebraska have added at least two blue-chip prospects to their classes in the last two months.

The Nittany Lions, ranked No. 15 nationally, have four-star offensive lineman Malachi Goodman, a top-150 prospect from New Jersey, and four-star receiver Matthew Outten, a Virginia native who is from who transferred to Virginia Tech, was added to the team.

Nebraska acquired the state's top-ranked player in four-star linebacker Christian Jones from Omaha Westside, ranked No. 176 overall. The Huskers also added four-star defensive lineman JuJu Marks, who transferred from his home state Kansas Jayhawks.

8. Several programs — Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Rutgers — have not received a commitment since late July or earlier.

The Scarlet Knights made a big splash in June and were in the top 15 at one point, a ranking that was reinforced by their high number of commitments (30). Rutgers has lost three games since mid-August, including two in the last two weeks, and has fallen to 26th nationally.

It was also a relatively quiet few months for Illinois, Maryland, UCLA, Washington and Wisconsin. Each program has added a commitment, but none is a blue-chip prospect.

Meanwhile, Iowa signed four-star receiver Terrence Smith from Illinois in early September. The Hawkeyes can still add more talent at the skill spots, particularly those who can support the passing game. Iowa also lost a commitment from four-star offensive tackle Cameron Herron, an Indiana native who transferred to Notre Dame a week and a half ago.

(Ryan Day and Ohio State Photo: Jason Mowry/Getty Images)