If you want to be a force in college football, you've got to dominate on the field and in the living room. How are the Big Ten's teams faring in this cycle?
B1G MOVEMENT
The roller coaster that is Big Ten recruiting continued again this cycle. For every two commits gained, the league's teams saw another player leave. The teams that received verbal commitments since our last update are: Minnesota (6), Purdue (4), Indiana (2), Illinois (1), Michigan (1), Michigan State (1) and Northwestern (1).
On the flip side three teams had players who saw a change of heart: Rutgers, impacted by coaching transitions that have helped other schools poach their talent, lost a whopping five players since the last update Michigan (2), Illinois (1), Nebraska (1) and Ohio State (1) all saw changes as well.
Jim Harbaugh's class dropped some lesser-ranked players and Tristen Wallace doesn't want to play quarterback in college, so even the cream of the conference are dealing with transitions.
MOVING ON UP
The position of the teams in the composite rating rankings stayed the same, but eight teams improved their comp rating average. Michigan State and Rutgers both gained the most points this week. The Spartans went from .886 up to .890 and Rutgers climbed from .836 to .840. The addition of defensive tackle Naquon Jones helped the Spartans and the loss of five players boosted the Scarlet Knights.
Nebraska (3 points), Northwestern (2 points) and Rutgers (2 points) were the other big movers. Teams that bumped up one point were: Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State and Rutgers.
FREE FALLING
Four teams had their average composite average drop. For the third straight update Purdue had the biggest fall. Two weeks ago the Boilermakers lost 15 points. This time Purdue gained four recruits, but lost 60 composite average points. That is a loss of 92 points in the last six weeks, which, as you'd imagine, is not good.
Illinois lost points for the second straight update. Although the Illini gained a new commitment, they lost 2 points in the ratings. Other losers were Minnesota (-4) and Illinois (-2).
OHIO STATE ON TOP
Even with the loss of Tristen Wallace, Ohio State increased its lead to 20 points over Penn State. When Ohio State gets its next wave of commits look for the Buckeyes to continue to lead in the composite average rankings.
| RANK | (PREVIOUS RANK) | TEAM | AVG. COMP. RATING | CHANGE | COMMITS | NEW COMMITS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (1) | OHIO STATE | .922* | +.001 | 17 | -1 |
| 2 | (2) | PENN STATE | .902* | 18 | ||
| 3 | (3) | MICHIGAN STATE | .890* | +.004 | 18 | +1 |
| 4 | (4) | MICHIGAN | .884 | +.001 | 21 | -2 |
| 5 | (5) | NEBRASKA | .872* | +.003 | 15 | -1 |
| 6 | (6) | WISCONSIN | .855* | 21 | ||
| 7 | (6) | MINNESOTA | .849 | -.004 | 20 | +6 |
| 8 | (8) | MARYLAND | .842 | +.001 | 17 | |
| 9 | (9) | NORTHWESTERN | .839 | +.002 | 20 | +1 |
| 10 | (10) | RUTGERS | .838* | +.002 | 13 | -5 |
| 11 | (11) | IOWA | .835 | +.001 | 24 | |
| 12 | (12) | INDIANA | .828 | 12 | +2 | |
| 13 | (13) | ILLINOIS | .819* | -.003 | 18 | |
| 14 | (14) | PURDUE | .745 | -.060 | 12 | +4 |
| B1G AVERAGE | .852 | -.005 | 18 |
| TEAM | PLAYER | POSITION | STATE | COMP. RATING |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MICHIGAN STATE | NAQUAN JONES | DT | ILLINOIS | .916 |
| MINNESOTA | SETH GREEN | QB | TEXAS | .887 |
| MINNESOTA | GARRISON WRIGHT | OG | KANSAS | .850 |
| MINNESOTA | MERRICK JACKSON | DT | IOWA | .836 |
| MINNESOTA | CONEY DURR | CB | LOUISIANA | .836 |
| MINNESOTA | ANTOINE WINFIELD JR. | S | TEXAS | .822 |
| MINNESOTA | TAI'YON DEVERS | WDE | GEORGIA | .810 |
| MICHIGAN | NATE JOHNSON | WR | TENNESSEE | .866 |
| NORTHWESTERN | JEREMY LARKIN | RB | OHIO | .864 |
| INDIANA | COY CRONK | OT | INDIANA | .850 |
| INDIANA | RICHARD LAGOW | QB | TEXAS | .843 |
| PURDUE | KAMAL HARDY | CB | NEW YORK | .839 |
| PURDUE | ANTHONY WATTS | DT | TEXAS | .811 |
| PURDUE | ALEX CRIDDLE | DT | OKLAHOMA | .791 |
| PURDUE | J.D. DELLINGER | K | NORTH CAROLINA | .780 |
| ILLINOIS | STANLEY GREEN | CB | ILLINOIS | .786 |
ON THE RISE
Minnesota and Purdue made the biggest gains in total points. The Gophers had the largest gain with 5,050 points. Minnesota jumped nine places from 12th to 3rd over the last 14 days. Having six players commit in a two week span helps the cause, certainly. One of those names new to the Gophers' list–Antoine Winfield, Jr.– is certainly familiar to Buckeye fans.
Buckeye legacy Antoine Winfield, Jr. has joined the Minnesota Golden Gophers 2016 recruiting class.
Purdue is still the bottom dweller, but the 2,450 points gained puts them within striking distance of Illinois. It will be a race down to the wire for the title of the B1G's lowest points earned.
Indiana, Michigan State and Northwestern were the other B1G teams to have positive gains in total points.
BIGGEST LOSERS
For the third consecutive rankings update a B1G team lost more than 2,500 points. Rutgers gets the honor this time. Chris Ash should be a great coach for the Scarlet Knights, but the pride of Piscataway is experiencing an exodus. Five commits decided to withdraw from the program and Rutgers took a 4,128 point hit. This is the largest loss this season surpassing Minnesota's loss of 3,413 points last cycle.
This amount of players leaving brings up two questions. Are the players leaving on their own accord? Or, are the players being asked to leave? It will be interesting to see how quickly new commits are added.
Ohio State (-906), Michigan (-865) and Nebraska (-827) were the other schools to lose points.
IOWA EXTENDS LEAD IN TOTAL POINTS STANDINGS
The Hawkeyes didn't win the B1G title on the field, but they currently have the most points in recruiting. With Michigan dropping 865 points, Iowa's lead increased, but it'd be a surprise to see that be the case come February.
| RANK | (PREV. RANK) | TEAM | TOTAL POINTS | CHANGE (+ / -) | COMMITS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (1) | IOWA | 20,042 | +15 | 24 |
| 2 | (2) | MICHIGAN | 18,568 | -865 | 21 |
| 3 | (12) | MINNESOTA | 16,986 | +5,050 | 20 |
| 4 | (4) | NORTHWESTERN | 16,773 | +869 | 20 |
| 5 | (3) | WISCONSIN | 16,242* | +4 | 21 |
| 6 | (9) | MICHIGAN STATE | 15,130* | +951 | 18 |
| 7 | (5) | OHIO STATE | 14,758* | -906 | 17 |
| 8 | (6) | PENN STATE | 14,434* | -5 | 18 |
| 9 | (7) | MARYLAND | 14,311 | +10 | 17 |
| 10 | (10) | ILLINOIS | 13,918 | -62 | 18 |
| 11 | (11) | NEBRASKA | 12,210* | -827 | 15 |
| 12 | (8) | RUTGERS | 10,060* | -4,128 | 13 |
| 13 | (13) | INDIANA | 9,937 | +1,656 | 12 |
| 14 | (14) | PURDUE | 8,891* | +2,450 | 12 |
| B1G AVERAGE | 14,447 | +301 | 17.6 |
* Kickers, Long Snappers and Punters not included.
Previous B1G Recruiting Rankings
Source-247sports.com
