Ohio State holds a commanding lead in the 2021 national rankings. The second-place team, Tennessee trails by 437 points while the third-place Florida Gators are 590 points behind. With a long way left to go until this cycle concludes teams like Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, and LSU are poised to make serious runs at the top spot. However, if the Ohio State staff is able to land 40% of their remaining top-five targets plus sign all their current commits they should easily take the 2021 title.
While the Buckeyes still have to maintain their national ranking, the Big Ten is just a race for second place. That being what it is, the conference is still well represented with six teams in the top-30 including the surprising Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 19. Rutgers probably won’t finish in the top-twenty-five but they could maintain top-thirty status. Meanwhile, Michigan is sixth, Iowa sits at number 12, Wisconsin at 13, Minnesota sits at 20, Penn State at 23, and Maryland at 30.
Here is the long drawn out version of how Rivals awards recruiting points. Here's the simplified version: The team with the most highly ranked players win. With that knowledge in mind, let's take a look at how the Big Ten is doing on the national scale.
1. Ohio State
Big Ten Rank: 1st
Class Breakdown: 18 total commits — three five-stars, 12 four-stars, two three-stars and one two-star
Top Commit: Pickerington (Ohio) North five-star defensive end Jack Sawyer
Top Uncommitted Target: J.T. Tuimoloau
6. Michigan
Big Ten Rank: 2nd
Class Breakdown: 19 total commits — nine four-stars, nine three-stars and one two-star
Top Commit: La Grange Park (Ill.) Nazareth Academy four-star quarterback J.J. McCarthy
Top Uncommitted Target: Donavan Edwards
12. Iowa
Big Ten Rank: 3rd
Class Breakdown: 17 total commits — three four-stars, 13 three-stars and one two-star
Top Commit: Winnetka (Ill.) New Trier four-star offensive lineman David Davidkov.
Top uncommitted target: Thomas Fidone
13. Wisconsin
Big Ten Rank: 4th
Class Breakdown: 15 total commits — five four-stars and 10 three-stars
Top Commit: Tiffin (Iowa) Clear Creek Amana four-star strongside defensive end T.J. Bollers.
Top Uncommitted Target: Nolan Rucci
17. Rutgers
Big Ten Rank: 5th
Class Breakdown: 21 total commits — 15 three-stars and six two-stars
Top Commits: Four pledges are rated as 5.7 three-stars, though none of them are ranked nationally — Alijah Clark, a six-foot-two, 180-pound safety from Camden High in Camden, NJ is the highest-rated player at his position.
Top Uncommitted Target: Tywone Malone
19. Minnesota
Big Ten Rank: 6th
Class Breakdown: 15 total commits — two four-stars and 13 three-stars
Top Commit: Omaha (Neb.) Westside four-star cornerback Avante Dickerson.
Top Uncommitted Target: Kevin Gilliam
23. Penn State
Big Ten Rank: 7th
Class Breakdown: 12 total commits — six four-stars and six three-stars
Top Commit: Olney (Md.) Our Lady of Good Counsel four-star offensive tackle Landon Tengwall.
Top-ranked Uncommitted target: Nolan Rucci
30. Maryland
Big Ten Rank: 8th
Class Breakdown: 15 total commits — three four-stars, 10 three-stars and two two-stars
Top Commit: Gaithersburg (Md.) Quince Orchard four-star linebacker Demeioun Robinson.
Top Uncommitted Target: Greg Penn
32. Nebraska
Big Ten Rank: 9th
Class Breakdown: 12 total commits — two four-stars and 10 three-stars
Top Commit: Elkhorn (Neb.) South four-star offensive tackle Teddy Prochazka.
Top Uncommitted Target: Thomas Fidone
35. Northwestern
Big Ten Rank: 10th
Class Breakdown: 13 total commits — three four-stars, eight three-stars and two two-stars
Top Commit: Lake Forest (Ill.) High four-star linebacker Mac Uihlein.
Top Uncommitted Target: Ceyair Wright
50. Michigan State
Big Ten Rank: 11th
Class Breakdown: 11 total commits — one four-star and 10 three-stars
Top Commit: Venice (Fla.) High four-star cornerback Charles Brantley.
Top Uncommitted Target: Rayshaun Benny
55. Indiana
Big Ten Rank: 12th
Class Breakdown: Nine total commits — two four-stars and seven three-stars
Top Commit: Indianapolis (Ind.) Lawrence North four-star quarterback Donaven McCulley.
Top Uncommitted Target: Rayshaun Benny
60. Illinois
Big Ten Rank: 13th
Class Breakdown: 11 commits — eight three-stars and three two-stars
Top Commit: St. Louis (Mo.) De Smet three-star offensive lineman Brody Wisecarver.
Top Uncommitted Target: Dominic Lovett
61. Purdue
Big Ten Rank: 14th
Class Breakdown: Nine total commits — nine three-stars
Top Commits: Dublin (Ohio) Coffman three-star athlete Byron Threats.
Top Uncommitted Target: Yanni Karlaftis
