Big Ten Recruiting Class Rankings 6-20

Submitted by Tim on

I totally fell asleep on last week's rankings, failing to add the newest conference member, Nebraska. They're included in this edition, and will be for all rankings in the foreseeable future. Though Notre Dame (still) isn't in the Big Ten, I'll continue including them since they're a yearly Michigan opponent, and keeping tabs on their talent is still of interest for Michigan fans.

Action since last rankings:

6-14-10 Northwestern gains commitments from Shane Mertz and Mark Szott. Purdue gains commitment from Brandon Cottom.

6-16-10 Illinois gains commitment from Chris O'Connor. Indiana gains commitment from Nick Stoner.

6-17-10 Indiana gains commitments from Kenny Mullen, Mark Murphy, and CJ Robbins. Ohio State gains commitment from Devin Smith. Purdue gains commitments from Randy Gregory and Michael Rouse. Nebraska gains commitment from Daniel Davie.

6-18-10 Northwestern gains commitment from Max Chapman. Notre Dame gains commitment from Clay Burton.

6-19-10 Indiana gains commitment from Raymon Taylor. Nebraska gains commitment from Bubba Starling.

Big Ten+ Recruiting Class Rankings
Rank School # Commits Rivals Avg Scout Avg ESPN Avg
1 Ohio State 15 3.47 3.67 79.20
2 Nebraska 11 3.27 3.27 69.45
3 Notre Dame 10 2.80 3.50 75.40
4 Michigan 5 3.40 3.20 78.20
5 Michigan State 5 3.40 3.20 71.40
6 Indiana 16 2.69 2.38 71.81
7 Iowa 3 3.33 2.67 77.67
8 Purdue 5 2.20 3.00 70.00
9 Northwestern 5 2.60 2.40 71.00
10 Wisconsin 4 2.25 2.25 61.50
11 Minnesota 4 2.00 2.25 68.75
12 Illinois 4 2.00 2.50 60.50
13 Penn State 1 1.00 2.00 76.00

Rivals and Scout are on the 5-star scale, ESPN is on their numerical rankings. In next week's update, I may convert Rivals to their "RR" rating. Please bear with me (and let me know) if you see any errors in the charts, as adding Nebraska may have screwed with some stuff that I didn't notice.

#1 Ohio State - 15 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Steve Miller DE 4 5 84
Braxton Miller QB 4 5 84
Michael Bennett DT 4 4 80
Brian Bobek OL 4 4 79
Chase Farris DE 4 4 79
Kenny Hayes DE 4 4 78
Jeremy Cash S 4 3 80
Evan Spencer WR 3 4 81
DerJuan Gambrell CB 3 4 77
Jeff Heuerman TE 3 3 80
Joel Hale DT 3 3 79
Chris Carter OL 3 3 78
Tommy Brown OL 3 3 78
Devin Smith WR 3 3 76
Antonio Underwood OL 3 3 75

Devin Smith picks up a Buckeye offer and commits almost immediately. No surprise there.

#2 Nebraska - 11 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Bubba Starling QB 4 4 81
Jamal Turner QB 4 4 81
Ryne Reeves OL 4 4 79
Ryan Klachko OL 4 4 78
Tyler Moore OL 4 4 78
Tevin Mitchell CB 4 3 NR
Kevin Williams DT 3 3 79
Dylan Admire OL 3 3 77
Daniel Davie S 3 2 NR
Aaryn Bouzos CB 2 2 76
Daimion Stafford S NR 3 NR

The Huskers grab top QB Bubba Starling. They debut at #2 in the rankings.

#3 Notre Dame - 10 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Ben Koyack TE 4 5 81
Matt Hegarty OL 4 4 83
Jordan Prestwood OL 3 4 80
Jarrett Grace LB 3 4 78
Tony Springmann OL 3 4 78
Conor Hanratty OL 3 4 76
Brad Carrico OL 3 3 77
Matthias Farley CB 3 3 77
Clay Burton DE NR 3 79
Kyle Brindza K NR NR NR

Irish pick up Clay Burton for their first commitment in quite some time. They have a couple top guys, but their class is underwhelming so far, per the rankings.

#4 Michigan - 5 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Brennen Beyer DE 4 4 79
Delonte Hollowell CB 4 3 79
Chris Rock DE 3 3 78
Shawn Conway WR 3 3 78
Greg Brown CB 3 3 77

No commits for Michigan coming out of their Elite Camp, but a new offer or two could net them a new pledge soon. Michigan and Michigan State are right on Notre Dame's tail, despite the Irish having many more commits.

#5 Michigan State - 5 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Lawrence Thomas LB 5 5 80
Onaje Miller RB/Ath 3 4 NR
Taiwan Jones Ath/LB 3 3 78
AJ Sims CB 3 2 78
Connor Cook QB 3 2 76

The Spartans are right on Michigan's tail, and the next commitment could push them over the top - if the Wolverines don't beat them to the punch.

#6 Indiana - 16 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Raymon Taylor CB 4 3 77
Zack Shaw LB 4 2 76
Max Pirman LB 3 3 78
Jake Reed TE 3 3 77
Ralston Evans OL 3 3 74
Nick Stoner S 3 3 74
Kirk Harris OL 3 2 77
Tre Roberson QB 3 2 76
Kyle Kennedy LB 3 2 76
CJ Robbins DE 3 2 75
Mark Murphy S 3 2 NR
Kenny Mullen CB 2 3 74
Mike Replogle LB 2 2 74
Donte Phillips DE 2 2 NR
Shafer Johnson DT NR 2 77
Nick VanHoose DB NR 2 74

Huge week for Indiana, as they add to their already-large class. I will eat my hat if Raymon Taylor's ranking stays that lofty through signing day.

#7 Iowa - 3 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Austin Blythe OL 4 3 79
JaCorey Shepherd WR 3 3 76
Marcus Grant WR 3 2 78

The Hawkeyes are staying quiet for now, but a strong camp season could see more commits.

#8 Purdue - 5 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Russell Bellomy QB 3 3 78
Robert Kugler TE 3 3 78
Brandon Cottom LB 3 3 76
Michael Rouse DT NR 3 73
Randy Gregory DE NR 3 NR

Purdue adds a couple pieces. If those guys were ranked by all services, the Boilers would probably be ranked ahead of Iowa.

#9 Northwestern - 5 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Sean Cotton S 3 3 79
Jarrell Williams CB 3 3 76
Shane Mertz OL 3 3 NR
Mark Szott TE 3 2 77
Max Chapman DE NR NR 78

A couple pickups for Northwestern help them pass Wisconsin. They will benefit when their last couple guys get full rankings.

#10 Wisconsin - 4 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Jake Keefer LB 4 3 78
Sam Arneson TE 3 2 78
Austin Maly TE NR 2 NR
Eric Steffes TE NR 2 NR

Nothing new for the Badgers.

#10 Minnesota - 4 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Max Shortell OL 3 3 74
Tommy Olson OL 3 2 79
Jephete Matilus LB NR 2 77
Sam Rohr TE NR 2 74

ESPN has finally recognized James Farrow's decommitment. The Gophers have nothing new.

#11 Illinois - 4 Commits
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Zeph Grimes S 3 3 77
Chris O'Connor DE 2 3 75
Hunter Wells OL 2 3 NR
Marquise Mosley WR NR NR NR

Chris O'Connor pledges to Ron Zook.

#12 Penn State - 1 Commit
Name Position Rivals Scout ESPN
Kyle Carter TE NR 2 76

YAAAAAAAAAAAWN.

Comments

CalifExile

June 20th, 2010 at 5:18 PM ^

It seems that Michigan should be ahead of ND and Nebraska based on the average of Scout and Rivals and our ESPN rank is above both.

By the way, thanks for your work.

Magnus

June 20th, 2010 at 5:22 PM ^

I agree on Raymon Taylor.  I was surprised at his ranking on Rivals.  He's a good athlete, but as a football player, he's got a lot of work to do.

Irish

June 21st, 2010 at 2:37 PM ^

I said and thought the same thing last year and was pretty annoyed in the end.  I don't know if they've lost their better evaluators or what but, they don't go to the camps like they used to and just come off as being more and more lazy.

Rico616

June 20th, 2010 at 6:53 PM ^

According to ESPN, Michigan has the 2nd best avg grade per recruit in the conference and the other sites their up just behind OSU, ND, and Neb. I'd expect that to go up with Zettel's commit. The most important thing though, recruiting great players that fit the system.

NomadicBlue

June 21st, 2010 at 7:49 AM ^

Slow down!  There will be plenty of 2-star recruits to gobble up over the course of the recruiting season.  Seriously though, gotta hand it to IU for getting so many commitments this early. 

Tim, what's up with Pens State?  How big is their class suppose to be?  I know it is early, but it just looks odd to still have them at the bottom of the list.