With all the talk of conference alignment and realignment, one thing remains certain: Florida remains the biggest prize in all recruiting.
And no one is recruiting Florida harder this year than the Big Ten.
Of the top 40 players in the nation in the class of 2023, Rivals ranks 10 players from Florida in that group. Four of the top five in this current recruiting class are from the state.
And of the 19 players ranked as five stars by Rivals, seven of them are from Florida. The talent is ridiculous in Florida this recruiting cycle.
The program having the most success in Florida isn’t actually from the state. In fact, it is the Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have six verbals from Florida from a class that includes 16 total commits. This includes 247Sports’ five-stars Brandon Inniss (Ft. Lauderdale) and Carnell Tate (Bradenton, FL).
Ohio State has as many commitments from Florida as from Ohio State.
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The Buckeyes certainly pace the competition to recruit Florida both in terms of quality and quantity. Florida, that is the SEC program, has seven verbals following the weekend decommitment of Tommy Kinsler. And while that is more than Ohio State, the Gators aren’t keeping pace with the Big Ten program in terms of quality of recruits.
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Including Ohio State, there are four Big Ten teams recruiting Florida the hardest:
- No. 1 Ohio State
- No. 7 Michigan State
- No. 9 Rutgers
- No. 10 Maryland
For Rutgers, the return to Florida is important. The Scarlet Knights in their first rebuild under head coach Greg Schiano built their foundation on Florida recruiting and maximizing the talent in the state. Schiano used his ties from Miami to get Rutgers competitive as he worked to build-up the program’s talent level.
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Rutgers has five commitments from Florida currently, having landed three-star cornerback Bo Mascoe last week.
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