Blue White Illustrated

A t the beginning of December, it ap- peared the Big Ten had an excellent chance of placing four schools – Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State – in Rivals.com's 5nal top 15. The Buckeyes had the nation's No. 1 class at the time, while the Wolverines, Spartans and Nittany Lions all were ranked among the top 12 in the country. Over the next two months, however, those hopes faded. In the end, only Ohio State and Michigan 5nished near the top of the rankings, placing third and fourth, respectively. Michigan State dropped to 20th, while Penn State came in 22nd. As of Dec. 1, Michigan State had 16 verbal commitments. The Spar- tans got o6 to a very strong start, but when signing day arrived on Feb. 3, they had added only three more names to their list: three- star o6ensive lineman Luke Campbell of Lewis Center, Ohio; three-star cornerback Austin Andrews of Columbus, Ohio; and four-star wide receiver Donnie Corley of Detroit. Meanwhile, in late January, four-star defensive end Auston Robertson of Fort Wayne, Ind., decommitted. As of early February, Robertson hadn't signed with another Football Bowl Subdivision program, and it appears likely that he will have to at- tend prep school before beginning his college career. Penn State had what most people would describe as a chaotic recruiting experience in December, January and February. During that 10-week span, six players exited its Class of 2016: four- star defensive tackle Karamo Dioubate of Philadelphia, three-star defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour of Wayne, N.J.; three-star athlete Aaron Mathews of Clairton, Pa.; four-star cornerback Lavert Hill of Detroit; top-rated place- kicker Quinn Nordin of Rockford, Mich.; and three-star safety Andrew Pryts of Hermitage, Pa. The decommitments that hurt Penn State the most were that of Dioubate and Pryts, because the de- fensive tackle and safety positions were two of Penn State's biggest needs. In addition, Penn State 5nished sec- ond for four-star linebacker Brendan Ferns of St. Clairsville, Ohio; three-star safety/linebacker Khaleke Hudson of McKeesport, Pa.; and four-star wide re- ceiver Dredrick Snelson of Pembroke Pines, Fla. Given those disappoint- ments, it isn't hard to under- stand why the Nittany Lions tumbled in the 5nal rank- ings. But while the team's ranking suf- fered, James Franklin and his sta6 did a great job of scrambling to 5nish o6 their class during the 5nal two weeks of Janu- ary. Ohio State and Michigan, meanwhile, received recruiting windfalls on signing day. Urban Meyer's class at Ohio State was not only the Big Ten's best, but the third-best overall class in the country behind top-ranked Alabama and Florida State. The Buckeyes signed 24 players, in- cluding two 5ve-star recruits: defensive end Nick Bosa of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and linebacker Keandre Jones of Olney, Md. The Buckeyes also signed 15 four- star players, the highest-rated of whom were defensive end Jonathan Cooper of Ohio State, Michigan lead conference B I G T E N O U T L O O K | MICHIGAN MAN Gary boosted the Wolverines' stellar class by announc- ing on signing day that he was headed to Ann Arbor. The nation's top-ranked recruit, he chose Michi- gan over Clemson. Photo courtesy of Rivals.com com T H E B I G P I C T U R E

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