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T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 1 8 >> W ell, make it eight years in a row. Having signed the No. 2 recruiting class in the country as rated by Rivals.com, Ohio State has now landed the Big Ten's top class every year since 2011. All of Urban Meyer's seven classes have =nished in Rivals' top 10, and all but one have =nished in the top =ve, helping explain why the Buckeyes have been perennial title contenders since the inception of the College Football Playo> in 2014. Ohio State's Class of 2018 consists of 26 players and includes three =ve-star recruits: cornerback Tyreke Johnson of Jacksonville, Fla.; line- backer Teradja Mitchell of Virginia Beach, Va.; and o>ensive tackle Nick Petit-Frere of Tampa, Fla. Johnson and Petit- Frere are rated No. 1 na- tionally at their respective positions. The Buckeyes also re- cruited 18 four-star players. Their top four- star recruits are defen- sive lineman Tyler Friday of Ramsey, N.J.; running back Jaelen Gill of Westerville, Ohio; defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson of Blinn Junior College in Texas; receiver Blue Smith of Huber Heights, Ohio; defen- sive end Tyreke Smith of Cleveland; running back Brian Snead of Seffner, Fla.; and de- fensive tackle Taron Vincent of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Jackson is considered the No. 1 juco prospect in the country. Most recruiting analysts rate Ohio State's defensive line class as the na- tion's best. In addition to Friday, Jack- son, Vincent and Tyreke Smith, the Buckeyes landed four-star defensive tackle Tommy Togiai of Pocatello, Idaho, and three-star end Alex Williams of Pickerington, Ohio. It's one of the best groups of defensive tackles and ends that I've ever seen in one recruiting class. Other impressive four-star recruits in Ohio State's class are receiver Kamryn Babb of St. Louis, Mo.; linebacker K'Vaughn Pope of Dinwid- die, Va.; tight end Jeremy Ruckert of Lindenhurst, N.Y.; o>ensive lineman Matthew Jones of Brook- lyn, N.Y.; and defensive back Josh Proctor of Owasso, Okla. But the Buckeyes weren't the only Big Ten school to land a top-=ve class this year. Penn State recruited its most highly rated class since Rivals began issuing its rankings in 2002, =n- ishing =?h in the country. James Franklin and his as- sistant coaches signed 23 players, including a pair of =ve-star prospects: line- backer/defensive end Micah Parsons, the sixth- best overall player in the country according to Ri- vals, and receiver Justin Shorter, who ranks 18th overall. The Nittany Lions' top-rated four-star players are running back Ricky Slade, o>ensive tackle Rasheed Walker, defen- sive end Jayson Oweh, defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher and tight ends Zack Kuntz and Pat Freiermuth. Penn State also did some great posi- tional recruiting, addressing several areas of need. Many believe the Nittany Lions recruited the best group of tight ends, wide receivers and linebackers in the Big Ten and the second-best group of defensive and o>ensive linemen be- hind Ohio State. Franklin signed the fourth- and sixth- rated tight ends in the country in Kuntz and Freiermuth. Shorter was rated by Rivals as the No. 3 wide receiver nation- ally, and his arrival alongside Dotson and Daniel George gives Penn State the No. 1 group of wideouts in the Big Ten. Elsewhere, Parsons is joined by Jesse Luketa, Nick Tarburton and Charlie Katshir to give Penn State the Big Ten's best group of linebackers. Mustipher, Oweh, Aeneas Hawkins and Judge Culpepper provide the Nittany Lions with the No. 2 group of defensive line- men in the conference. And with Walker, Rivals' No. 3 o>ensive tackle nationally, joining Asiedu, Juice Scruggs and Bryce E>ner, Penn State has the No. 2 o>ensive line class in the Big Ten behind Ohio State. In another positive development for the Nittany Lions, Franklin and his as- sistants were able to expand the team's recruiting horizons, landing players from 10 states, including two players apiece from Florida and Texas. The two Florida signees are Culpepper and four-star cornerback Jordan Miner of Wesley Chapel, while the two Texas players are defensive backs Trent Gor- don of Spring and Isaiah Humphries of Rowlett. Ohio State and Penn State were the only Big Ten schools to =nish in Rivals' top 20, but one other conference school enjoyed a banner year. That school was Nebraska, which got a big boost from the hiring of Scott Frost as head coach in December. Between the early signing period (Dec. 20-22) and the traditional signing day (Feb. 7) the Cornhuskers landed 11 players. That late surge en- abled them to =nish with the No. 21 re- Ohio State continues to set pace in conference A N A L Y S I S B Y P H I L G R O S Z RIVALS BIG TEN* 1. Ohio State (2) 2. Penn State (5) 3. Nebraska (21) 4. Michigan (25) 5. Michigan State (27) 6. Maryland (29) 7. Iowa (T-39) 7. Wisconsin (T-39) 9. Minnesota (42) 10. Indiana (44) 11. Purdue (49) 12. Illinois (50) 13. Rutgers (57) 14. Northwestern (59) * National rankings in parenthesis

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