Entering Tuesday the Wisconsin Badgers’ class of 2021 was lining up to be–or maybe already was–the greatest recruiting class in program history.
With big names including four-star offensive tackles J.P. Benzschawel and Riley Mahlman, four-star defensive end T.J. Bollers, four-star safety Hunter Wohler, four-star tight end Jack Pugh and four-star quarterback Deacon Hill already part of the class, Paul Chryst and his staff were seeking a commitment from one final big name player, a guy many NFL analysts have called a future top-5 pick in the NFL Draft.
He is five-star offensive tackle Nolan Rucci, the No. 14 player in the class of 2021.
Well, on Tuesday the Badgers received a commitment from Rucci and cemented the 2021 class as the best the program has ever seen.
Next story to write… ✍🏼 pic.twitter.com/yTrDLYteNb
— Nolan Rucci (@nolanrucci) September 8, 2020
So we can project that the group will be looked upon fondly when it’s all said done, but where do they lie now in the national and conference recruiting rankings?
The answer: the No. 16 class in the country and No. 3 in the Big Ten behind only Ohio State and Michigan.
Listen to some of the schools with classes currently ranked higher than Wisconsin’s: Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Oregon, Clemson, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, USC, Michigan, Notre Dame and Oklahoma.
Those are some of the blue blood programs in college football, teams who are often left at the end of the season battling for a national championship.
Paul Chryst and the Wisconsin Badgers are now entering the conversation with those schools thanks to this class and the recruiting momentum they’ve gained in recent years.
Is a national championship on the horizon? Who knows. But this class and the ones to follow will at least give the program a better shot at winning their first Big Ten championship since 2012.
They obviously need to come in and show it on the field. But if we’ve seen anything during the Paul Chryst and Jim Leonhard era it’s that the player development is tremendous, the coaching is tremendous and the success will come no matter who is on the field.
Going forward, now, those guys on the field will be one of the best groups in the country. The sky is the limit for this program going forward and landing Rucci on Tuesday was only the beginning.