So, this is now life at USC: We have to pay attention to Big Ten football recruiting. It’s just a fact of life: The players being recruited for the Class of 2023 in the Big Ten Conference will play USC for a majority of their careers. They get a freshman season in which they won’t play the Trojans in the regular season, but in 2024, it’s go time.
What is going on in Big Ten football recruiting? Our friends at Buckeyes Wire have some recruiting rankings at the start of the early signing period. One by one, we’ll deal with the stories attached to these rankings.
Here’s one story of note: The Big Ten East Division is absolutely crushing the Big Ten West Division.
In the 14-member Big Ten, the four top teams are all from the East. In marked contrast, the Big Ten West has five of the seven worst recruiting teams for the current cycle.
Michigan State joins Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan in the top four.
The only two East Division teams in the bottom seven (the lower half) of the Big Ten: Indiana and Rutgers. Maryland finished sixth, ahead of Iowa.
The East is a beast, and the West failed the test.
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