Recruiting is the lifeblood of all college sports teams, but not more so than in football. Television networks allot blocks of time dedicated to Signing Day.
In short: Recruiting is a very big deal.
The level of success in recruiting can determine a team’s success on the field. But it’s not an exact science. Coaching and team chemistry have their places too. For teams competing for national championships, however, they usually rank near the top on a consistent basis. Those in the top 25 or so can have their moments, but they’re not playing for a title year after year.
Athlon Sports used recruiting rankings from 247Sports and attempted to show which teams in the Big Ten have the most talent on the roster. Of course, recruiting ratings don’t always perfectly result in talent on the field, as coaching and development has a huge part to play, but it does give us a good baseline for where the talent lies.
The usuals such as Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State are near the top and they included the new four schools from the Pac-12.
Oregon should fit in nicely and cause some problems in the new conference, but the other three, even USC, has some work to do on the recruiting trail if they want to compete for Big Ten titles.
Here’s a look at the most talented rosters in the Big Ten in 2024, ranked by Athlon Sports.