An early look at the Big Ten football team recruiting rankings for the class of 2026

[ASFN Admin]

The summer months are fast approaching, which means the class of 2026 recruiting cycle is set to heat up.

The Big Ten was all over the top tier of the final class of 2025 national team recruiting rankings. Ohio State, the national champion, finished with the sport's No. 3-ranked class, Oregon sat at No. 5, Michigan at No. 6, USC at No. 14 and Penn State at No. 15. After the conference won bragging rights over the SEC with a terrific postseason and College Football Playoff record, those standings may even improve in 2026 and beyond.

While it is extremely early in the cycle, four Big Ten teams currently sit in the top 10 of the national rankings. One of them is a major surprise in that high position.

With the acknowledgment that these rankings will quickly change, here is an early glimpse at the Big Ten class of 2026 team recruiting rankings, plus where each class falls on the national scale:

Big Ten football early class of 2026 team recruiting rankings​

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1. USC Trojans (16 commits, 10 blue-chip (one five-star), No. 1 national ranking)
2. Oregon Ducks (Eight commits, five blue-chip (two five-stars), No. 6 national ranking)
3. Penn State Nittany Lions (Nine commits, six blue-chip, No. 8 national ranking)
4. Illinois Fighting Illini (10 commits, two blue-chip, No. 10 national ranking)
5. Ohio State Buckeyes (Seven commits, six blue-chip (one five-star), No. 12 national ranking)
6. Iowa Hawkeyes (Seven commits, three blue-chip, No. 20 national ranking)
7. Minnesota Golden Gophers (Six commits, two blue-chip, No. 25 national ranking)
8. Washington Huskies (Seven commits, one blue-chip, No. 29 national ranking)
9. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Six commits, two blue-chip, No. 34 national ranking)
10. UCLA Bruins (Four commits, two blue-chip, No. 36 national ranking)
11. Michigan State Spartans (Four commits, one blue-chip, No. 40 national ranking)
12. Maryland Terrapins (Three commits, one blue-chip (one five-star), No. 43 national ranking)
13. Michigan Wolverines (Three commits, two blue-chip, No. 45 national ranking)
14. Nebraska Cornhuskers (Three commits, one blue-chip, No. 47 national ranking)
15. Wisconsin Badgers (Two commits, zero blue-chip, No. 62 national ranking)
16. Indiana Hoosiers (One commit, zero blue-chip, No. 70 national ranking)
17. Northwestern Wildcats (One commit, zero blue-chip, No. 79 national ranking)
18. Purdue Boilermakers (One commit, zero blue-chip, No. 81 national ranking)

While it's early, a clear initial takeaway is USC's performance. The team went just 7-6 in its first year in the Big Ten, including losses to Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. Head coach Lincoln Riley sitting with 10 early blue-chip commits, including a five-star, and the nation's No. 1 class puts any existing questions on hold.

Additionally, Illinois is capitalizing on a 10-win season and positive outlook under Bret Bielema. The team's No. 10 ranking won't last, but none should be surprised if the program puts together a strong overall cycle.

Otherwise, there isn't much to take away from programs like Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin sitting far down the rankings, as each is still in the early stages of putting their classes together. These updates will become far more important two-plus months from now.

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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Big Ten football class of 2026 team recruiting class rankings update

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