The college football early signing period extends through December 23, but most of the high school prospects signed on the first day of the timeline on Wednesday of this week. And while the Big Ten may not have had top-end elite classes across the board, there are a lot of really, really good classes across the league inside the top 40 — with quality players that will help the league out in the not-too-distant future.
But that doesn’t mean there weren’t some five and high-end four-star recruits signed by some of the teams in the Big Ten. Ohio State once again led the way with the top-ranked class in the conference, but Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State also showed very well nationally.
Some programs start with more talent, while others are known as finding guys to develop (ahem … Iowa and Wisconsin). It’s no secret that to be really successful and consistent, you have to do both, so it starts with evaluating and getting guys to sign that have high ceilings to work with.
So which Big Ten teams signed the top talent out of high school this year? We look at the top 20 recruits that signed with teams in the heartland for the 2023 class during the early signing period. Who program do you think led the way according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings?