It’s the lifeblood of a college football program. In a sport where faces change every couple of seasons, each team is always looking to land the next big recruiting class to keep refreshing the talent pool.
Three Big Ten teams finished with top-10 recruiting classes in the 247Sports composite team rankings for 2022. That group was led by Ohio State with the nation’s No. 4 class and followed by Penn State at No. 6 and Michigan at No. 9.
Michigan State was the only other Big Ten program to register a top-25 recruiting class in 2022 according to the 247Sports composite team rankings, finishing No. 24 nationally.
Two other Big Ten teams finished with top-30 recruiting classes, including the Iowa Hawkeyes. Indiana finished No. 26 nationally, while Iowa checked in with the No. 30 class overall in the team rankings.
The rest of the Big Ten classes in 2022 finished like this: Maryland at No. 31, Rutgers at No. 33, Purdue at No. 38, Nebraska at No. 41, Wisconsin at No. 44, Illinois at No. 46, Northwestern at No. 48 and Minnesota at No. 49.
How is each program’s 2023 recruiting class shaping up? Who leads among Big Ten schools and which players are each program’s top recruit? The following rankings are organized according to the 247Sports composite team rankings, but each team’s breakdown also includes their Rivals and On3 team rankings. Let’s take a look below.