National Signing Day has come and gone and the Wisconsin Badgers have put together a fairly decent class compared to the rest of the Big Ten. In the spirit of looking at recruiting classes compared to the rest of the conference, Badgers Wire is taking a look at Wisconsin’s class on a national level and a conference level. We’ll be including their national rankings and their conference rankings. Third on our list come the Badgers’ biggest and oldest rivals, the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Gophers finished 2020 with the nation’s 37th-best class and the No. 9 class in the Big Ten Conference.
The Golden Gophers have authored a renaissance under new head coach P.J. Fleck. It has clearly led to on-field improvement and the first season with at least 11 wins for the Gophers since the year of our lord 1904. That’s right. The No. 1 song in the nation the last time the Gophers had an 11-win season before this past year was Cal Stewart’s “Uncle Josh and the Insurance Company.” It’s not exactly the rip-roaring tunes we’re used to hearing today. In fact, it doesn’t even really qualify for music so much as spoken word, which was popular in the era. Fortunately for the Gophers, the players they’ve recruited in 2020 are substantially better than anyone they had on the field in 1904.
The crown jewel of this class was wide receiver Daniel Jackson (.8982), a 5-foot-11, 185-pound burner out of the state of Kansas. Jackson is the state’s second best player and the 51st best receiver in the nation. The Badgers (.8782) have a higher per recruit average than the Gophers (.8580). The Badgers’ best player in 24/7’s composite rankings is offensive tackle Trey Wedig (.9643). The 6-foot-8, 320-pound behemoth is ranked (.0661) higher than Jackson for the Gophers. It improves for the Gophers next year in terms of their overall ranking (No. 14) and conference ranking (No. 5). The Gophers cut into the per-player average .0202 up to .0154, but the Badgers have the sixth-best recruiting class for 2021.
The position both classes compare is at running back. The Badgers signed Jalen Berger (.9378 24/7 composite), a 6-foot, 205-pound player out of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, New Jersey. He’s the No. 15 player at his position in the nation and the third-best player coming out of New Jersey. The Gophers signed Ky Thomas. At 5-foot-11, and 205-pounds, Thomas (.8863) is the nation’s 28th-best running back and the third-best player in the state of Kansas. Running back is a position Wisconsin needs little help getting going and Fleck’s Gophers have averaged at least an average of 171 yards per game rushing since he took over.