The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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16 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Times have changed, with more alterations to come, in college football. There are more older players due to the COVID year and NIL keeping them around, athletes are transfer- ring from school to school, and less time is spent on recruiting the high school ranks. Still, getting the best and brightest from the prep level remains incredibly important. Championship-level programs haven't aban- doned that tried-and-true method just yet, and aren't going to do so anytime soon. This offseason, 16 of the 18 teams in the Big Ten had added double-digit transfers as of early June, according to On3, led by Purdue (52), UCLA (30), Indiana (23), Michigan State (21) and Minnesota (21). Even the Wolverines brought in 17 — their most in the portal era. Still, recruiting rankings matter. Look at the projected 2025 Big Ten standings according to Lindy's. In order, the top three teams are Penn State, Ohio State and Oregon. The Nit- tany Lions (8), Buckeyes (9) and Ducks (11) rank 18th, 17th and 15th in the league in transfer additions this offseason, perhaps an indication that recruiting well in high school and player retention are as critical to success as they've ever been. Ohio State won the national champion- ship last season with only eight transfers who joined the program during the prior offseason, one less than this year, showing the majority of the roster was brought in from high school. Penn State, meanwhile, was a College Football Playoff semifinalist with only six transfer newcomers. As we've seen at Michigan in recent years, too, doing those two things well allows top- tier programs to dedicate the rest of their resources toward spot recruiting high-level talent in the portal. Indiana was the opposite, though, earn- ing a portal-fueled CFP berth with 31 trans- fers. However, the Hoosiers benefited from a manageable schedule and fell flat in the first round, losing to eventual national runner- up Notre Dame (nine transfers in 2024, 11.4 average recruiting class national rank from 2020-24). It's still fair to question whether or not programs can go toe- to-toe with the national powers without elite high school recruiting. Michigan has been one of the Big Ten's recruiting powers over many de- cades, including this one. From 2021-25, the Wol- verines have averaged a class that ranks 12.8 in the nation, the third-best in the Big Ten behind Ohio State (3.8) and Oregon (6.2). U-M's best class over the last five years is the incoming freshman haul that's headlined by quar- ter back Br yce Under- wood — the No. 1 overall recruit in the land out of Belleville (Mich.) High. This marked the second time the Wolverines have reeled in the nation's top talent in the On3 Industry Ranking era (since 2004), with defensive lineman Rashan Gary in 2016 be- ing the only other occurrence. That Michigan's best class of the last five is its most recent is a good indication the Maize and Blue will continue to compete while the sport's landscape changes. Ohio State's recruiting success also spans decades and is unlikely to slow down. The last time the Buckeyes didn't finish top five in the nation was 2019, and that was a tran- sition year when Urban Meyer resigned and Ryan Day took over as head coach. Prior to that, the last time was a seventh-place stand- ing in 2015. Oregon is an ascending power on the trail, with back-to-back top-four finishes. Those are the Ducks' highest-ranked classes of the On3 Industry Ranking era. They're adapting with the times, too. Penn State is close behind Michigan as a top-15 entity (13.4), and USC is a blue blood that has lost its way on the field over the last decade-plus but continues to regularly stack top-20 recruiting finishes (19.4). There's a drop-off after USC when it comes to Big Ten competition. Nebraska (27), Wis- consin (28.6) and Iowa (30.2) are all toward the end of the top half of the Big Ten on the trail. — Clayton Sayfie BIG TEN RECRUITING — FIVE-YEAR SNAPSHOT Avg. Class Rank Best Class Class Rank Team (2021-25) (2021-25) (2025) Ohio State 3.8 2 (2021) 5 Oregon 6.2 3 (2024) 4 Michigan 12.8 6 (2025) 6 Penn State 13.4 7 (2022) 13 USC 19.4 9 (2023, '21) 15 Nebraska 27 21 (2025) 21 Wisconsin 28.6 16 (2021) 27 Iowa 30.2 20 (2021) 33 Maryland 37.2 25 (2021) 32 Michigan State 37.8 23 (2023) 48 Rutgers 41.6 30 (2025) 30 Minnesota 42.2 31 (2021) 51 UCLA 42.4 30 (2021) 46 Washington 43.6 25 (2025) 25 Indiana 49.8 29 (2022) 53 Illinois 51.8 40 (2023) 44 Northwestern 56.4 46 (2021) 65 Purdue 58.8 30 (2024) 92 Big Ten Recruiting Rankings Breakdown Led by a pair of five-star prospects — quarterback Bryce Underwood (left) and offensive tackle Andrew Babalola (right) — Michigan's 2025 recruiting class was its highest-ranked (No. 6) of the last five cycles. PHOTOS BY LON HORWEDEL