Action since last rankings:
8-18-08 Michigan gains commitment from Anthony Fera.
8-20-08 Michigan loses commitment from Kevin Newsome.
8-21-08 Northwestern gains commitment from Tim Riley.
Since there wasn’t a ton going on this week, I’ll give a little commentary on how good each of the classes is, and the size of gaps between them.

New Rankings:

#1 Ohio State – 24 commits
LB	*****	Dorian Bell
DT	****	Johnny Simon
DE	****	Melvin Fellows
CB	****	CJ Barnett
WR	****	James Jackson
MLB	****	Storm Klein
MLB	****	Jordan Whiting
RB	****	Jordan Hall
OG	****	Corey Linsley
OT	****	Jack Mewhort
S	****	Jamie Wood
WR	****	Justin Green
RB	****	Carlos Hyde
CB	****	Corey Brown
S	****	Bradley McDougald
WR	****	Chris Fields
CB	****	Dominic Clarke
WR	***	Duron Carter
DE	***	Jonathan Newsome
TE	***	Reid Fragel
DT	***	Adam Bellamy
FB	***	Adam Homan
LB	***	Zach Boren
OL	***	Sam Longo

Solid class by the Bucks, but they aren’t likely to challenge for the mythical recruiting national champion in February.

#2 Michigan – 15 commits
DT	*****	William Campbell
CB	****	Justin Turner
QB	****	Shavodrick Beaver
WR	****	Bryce McNeal
RB	****	Fitzgerald Toussaint
WR	****	Jeremy Gallon
OL	****	Michael Schofield
DT	****	DeQuinta Jones
S	***	Isaiah Bell
WR	***	DeWayne Peace
RB	***	Teric Jones
LB	***	Jordan Barnes
S	***	Mike Jones
K	***	Anthony Fera

There is a pretty big dropoff between Michigan and OSU, especially after one of the top commits in the class is there no longer. However, Michigan has filled needs with the types of players that are god in its specific system, if not highly ranked.

#3 Notre Dame – 14 commits
RB	*****	Cierre Wood
OL	****	Chris Watt
RB	****	Theo Riddick
DT	****	Tyler Stockton
OL	****	Alex Bullard
CB	****	Marlon Pollard
LB	****	Dan Fox
OL	****	Zach Martin
S	***	EJ Banks
TE	***	Tyler Eifert
MLB	***	Carlo Calabrese
K	**	Nicholas Tausch
TE	**	Jake Golic
P	*	Ben Turk

The gap between Michigan and Notre Dame isn’t quite as large as that between Ohio State and Michigan, but it is a fairly sizable one. The Irish have gotten a couple of big-time commits, however.

#4 Michigan State – 15 commits
RB	****	Edwin Baker
RB	****	Larry Caper
SLB	****	Chris Norman
OL	****	David Barrent
WR	****	Donald Spencer
DT	****	Blake Treadwell
QB	****	Andrew Maxwell
WR	***	Patrick White
WR	***	Dana Dixon
LB	***	Tyquan Hammock
OL	***	Micajah Reynolds
OL	***	Nate Klatt
DE	***	Dan France
WR	**	Bennie Fowler
TE	**	Derek Hoebing

MSU is virtually tied with Notre Dame, though their class has less upside. They aren’t likely to challenge for any more 5-star recruits either, so unless Michigan and Notre Dame lose a lot of players form their classes, this is the peak position for the Spartans.

#5 Penn State – 16 commits
OT	****	Eric Shrive
CB	****	Darrell Givens
DE	****	Sean Stanley
OT	***	Mark Arcidiacono
S	** *	Stephen Obeng-Agyapong
S	***	Malcolm Willis
S	***	Derrick Thomas
C	***	Ty Howle
CB	***	Stephon Morris
WR	***	Brandon Felder
OT	***	Adam Gress
OL	***	Nate Cadogan
RB	**	Curtis Dukes
QB	**	Curtis Drake
OG	**	Frank Figueroa
WR	**	Christian Kuntz

Penn State is nearly in a tie with Michigan State, but I rank them lower because they have tons of 3-stars and few exciting prospects.

#6 Illinois – 12 commits
DT	****	Lendell Buckner
OT	****	Leon Hill
QB	****	Nathan Scheelhaase
WR	****	Kraig Appleton
RB	****	Bud Golden
WR	****	Terry Hawthorne
OL	***	Andrew Carter
FB	***	Greg Fuller
WR	**	Steve Hull
S	**	Tommie Hopkins
CB	**	Joelil Thrash
OL	**	Jake Feldmeyer

Illinois has a very strong base for their class, and Ron Zook can be expected to continue to recruit well.

#7 Wisconsin – 12 commits
DT	****	Jared Kohout
DE	****	Shelby Harris
OG	***	Ryan Groy
QB	***	Jon Budmayr
OT	***	Zac Matthias
RB	***	Montee Ball
TE	***	Brian Wozniak
MLB	***	Chris Borland
OL	***	Travis Frederick
WR	**	Jeff Duckworth
OL	**	Casey Dehn
S	**	Jason Peprah

There is a pretty sizable gap between Illinois and Wisconsin. They are filling needs, and I always give offensive linemen committed to the Badgers an extra mental half-star.

< /tr>

#8 Minnesota – 9 commits
RB	****	Hasan Lipscomb
RB	****	Eric Stephens
QB	***	Moses Alipate
C	***	Ed Olsen
OT	***	Josh Campion
WR	***	Victor Keise
OL	***	Brooks Michel
DE	**	Nick Rengel
K	**	Dan Orseske

There is a cavernous, gaping hole between Wisconsin and Minnesota, even though just a look at the number of commits and stars wouldn’t seem to indicate that. Is Brewster’s recruiting mojo wearing off?

#9 Indiana – 16 commits
LB	***	Jeremy Gainer
QB	***	Edward Wright-Baker
DT	***	Adam Replogle
WR	***	Jamonne Chester
WR	***	Duwyce Wilson
OL	***	Charles Chapman
QB	***	Dustin Kiel
OL	***	Colin Rodkey
CB	**	Lawrence Barnett
DE	**	Josh Keyt
S	**	Nick Zachery
S	**	Kenny Watkins
S	**	Demetrius Carr
S	**	Ted Bolser
OL	**	Pat McShane
K	**	Mitch Ewald

Indiana is implementing a new strategy of trying to fill their class early (which may be an overall trend in recruiting nationally). It’s working well for them so far, as they appear to be fielding their best class in years.

#10 Iowa – 4 commits
WR	****	Keenan Davis
WR	***	Jordan Cotton
FB	***	Brad Rogers
OL	**	Drew Clark

Cavernous, gaping hole between IU and UI. Iowa lost their best commit to MSU, but made up for it by landing the state’s top player. Ferentz is probably toast, though.

#11 Northwestern – 7 commits
QB	***	Evan Watkins
RB	***	Mike Trumpy
DE	***	Anthony Battle
WR	**	Drew Moulton
OL	**	Brian Smith
OL	**	Taylor Paxton
OL	*	Tim Riley

Northwestern has been built on sleepers, and they will continue to do so. However, just because a player isn’t
highly rated doesn’t make him a sleeper. Some guys just aren’t any good.

#12 Purdue – 5 commits
QB	**	Rob Henry
S	**	Ishmael Aristide
WR	**	Gary Bush
DE	**	Shayon Green
DT	* (JC)	Kris Cooke

Purdue has easily the worst class in the Big Ten so far.

Posted under Recruiting
Tags: Football, Recruiting

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