B1G Recruiting Rankings: Northwestern Loads Up For 2017, Chris Ash Has Work To Do At Rutgers And Purdue Is Still Purdue

Eleven Warriors' first recruiting rankings for the 2017 class are hot off the press. Urban Meyer and Ohio State finished in the top spot for 2016 — will the Buckeyes be the best in the Big Ten recruiting business for a seventh straight year? With numbers limited for the 2017 class, the run could come to an end. However, Ohio State's quality of player will be the best in the Big Ten and possibly the country.

The coaches in the conference have been busy building relationships and getting verbal commitments for the prosperity of their programs. At this time last year the Big Ten had 60 commitments. This year the conference has 86 verbals. That is an increase of just more than 30 percent. With a new year comes new hope. Will bottom teams make a move on the recruiting trail to improve for the future? Will the elite programs continue their success?

New for this season is the 11W Power Rankings. The power rankings use an algorithm to combine the composite rating and total recruiting points to find a team's recruiting rating. The new rating system finds the proper balance between each team's quality and quantity of recruits. 

The 2017 recruiting rankings race begins now.

No. 14 Purdue // 1 Commitment // 82.21 Power Ranking

Darrell Hazell was named Purdue's head coach in December 2012. The Boilermakers ranked last in the Big Ten in recruiting the last two seasons. Purdue ranked 13th out of 14 teams in both 2013 and 2014 as well. 

This cycle is going to be better, right? No. Hazell's poor performance on the field and in recruiting would have had him fired at any school that cares about winning football games. Fortunately for Hazell, West Lafayette is currently a safe haven for bad football. With that said, if things don't turn around this year I would be surprised to see Hazell finish the year as Purdue's head coach. 

Dual threat quarterback Griffin Alstott from Northside Christian in Florida is the only player to commit to Purdue for 2017. This is a positive for the Boilermakers as last year they did not have a commit in April. For those wondering if Griffin Alstott is the son of Purdue great Mike Alstott, the answer is yes. It makes you wonder if Mike Alstott truly loves his son.

No. 13 Rutgers // 3 Commitments // 83.94 Power Ranking

Rutgers has a familiar face to Ohio State fans running its program. Chris Ash is getting ready for his first year as a head coach. Ash was hired in early December and had a couple of months to close out the Scarlet Knights' 2016 recruiting class. Rutgers had several players decommit and tumbled down the Big Ten rankings. 

Ash now has a full year to recruit the types of players he wants for his team. He currently has three players in the fold for 2017. It appears Ash is trying to put a fence around New Jersey as all three hail from the Garden State. Four star WR Bo Melton is his highest rated player committed to date. The other two players are CB Naijee Jones and WR Bryce Watts. 

No. 12 Illinois // 2 Commitments // 84.76 Power Ranking

The Illini are currently one spot higher than where they finished last year. First year coach Lovie Smith has never been the head man of a college team. However, he does bring NFL credibility to Champaign after coaching nine years in Chicago and two in Tampa Bay.

Before being a head coach in the NFL, Smith served an assistant coach at six colleges from 1983-95. Ohio State was the last university Smith coached for before he made the move to the NFL. It will be interesting to see if Smith's reputation helps on the recruiting trail, especially in the Chicago area. 

Ryan O'Malley became the first player to commit to Illinois with Lovie Smith as head coach. O'Malley, a 6'4" 251 pound DT from Libertyville, Illinois, verballed to the Illini on Feb. 25. The other player committed to Illinois is RB Mike Epstein who committed on Aug, 6, 2015.

No. 11 Minnesota // 2 Commitments // 88.33 Power Ranking

Last year at this time Jerry Kill was the head coach for the Golden Gophers. Due to medical difficulties, Kill had to resign during the 2015 season. In stepped assistant coach Tracy Claeys who eventually earned the title of permanent head coach. With Claeys at the helm, the Gophers went 1-4 and finished eighth in the Big Ten in the recruiting rankings. 

Recruiting in 2017 has been slow for Minnesota. Claeys picked up his first player, OT Blaise Andries, on April 9. Sunday night, the offensive line got another boost with OG Eric Abojei. Andries and Abojei are good pick ups, but Minnesota needs more quality players in this class to make some noise in the weaker B1G West. TCF Bank Stadium is a great place to play football, but braving the cold Minnesota weather in late October and November might be a hindrance for recruiting. It takes a special kid who has NFL quality talent to want to play in weather that induces frozen snot on your face mask.

No. 10 Indiana // 4 Commitments // 90.06 Power Ranking

The Hoosiers currently have four recruits with an average composite rating of .866. Athlete Lynn Bowden (.935) is the top-rated player, and if Kevin Wilson can get more quality recruits on the defensive side of the ball, Indiana could pose a threat to the mid-level teams in the B1G East.

Wilson has never had difficulty getting quality skill players to play in Bloomington for his fast-paced offense. Will this be the year Indiana solidifies the defense? As you can see by the name in the top prospects box that area is being addressed. To date the Hoosiers have commits from the aforementioned Bowden, athlete Bryant Fitzgerald, OT Tyler Knight and SDE Britt Berry.

No. 9 Michigan State // 5 Commitments // 91.67 Power Ranking

The highest Mark Dantonio has ever ranked in recruiting during his 10 years with the Spartans is third. Those high water mark finishes happened the past two seasons. With success on the field, another top 4 ranking in B1G recruiting should be expected. However, the Spartans start to 2017 has been a little slow. It's a little surprising that MSU only has five commits and all of them are ranked below .900. Dantonio has high-quality recruits on his board and will go head-to-head with Urban Meyer in the living rooms of these talented players. As Buckeye fans have learned, never underestimate Dantonio. 

OG Kevin Jarvis is the highest rated player in the 2017 class. However, WR Hunter Rison has the biggest name recognition. Rison is the son of former Spartan and NFL player Andre "Bad Moon" Rison. the other three commits are WR Cody White, QB Rocky Lombardi and TE Jack Camper. 

Third is the highest recruiting ranking Mark Dantonio has earned during his time at MSU. 

No. 8 Wisconsin // 8 Commitments // 92.66 Power Ranking

Paul Chryst is Wisconsin's second coach since the departure of Bret Bert Bielema in December 2012. Chryst and the Badgers' defense led the nation in scoring defense and was second in the nation in total defense. At the start of the '17 recruiting cycle, Chryst has focused on the offensive side of the ball. Of Wisconsin's eight commits, six are offensive players. OG Kayden Lyles of Arizona was the first player to join the 2017 class. Lyles is a talented four star and a solid player to anchor an offensive line and recruiting class around.

The Badgers have placed sixth in the Big Ten recruiting rankings the past two seasons. Even with a weak B1G West Chryst must improve upon his .854 composite average to compete for a Big Ten title. With a strong defense and Wisconsin's traditional power running game, Madison could be jumping around sooner rather than later.  

No. 7 Nebraska // 6 Commitments // 92.86 Power Ranking

Nebraska is a sleeping giant that has been in a slumber for several years. When Penn State joined the Big Ten in the early 1990s the Nittany Lions made an immediate impact on the conference. Nebraska has not done the same. Mike Riley went 6-7 in 2015, his first year in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers are national program that plays in a division that is very winnable.

March and April have been good for Nebraska and recruiting. Riley and company added six players with a big splash coming from California. The Cornhuskers were able to get commitments from a pair four star players who attend California's Calabasas High School. QB Tristan Gebbia and WR Keyshawn Johnson plan to continue their football careers together at Nebraska. Many believe Riley's relationship with Keyshawn Johnson Jr.'s father, Keyshawn Johnson, was the catalyst in getting the two players to Lincoln. At this point Riley has five offensive players and one defensive player in the 2017 class.

Nebraska is in a great position to own the B1G West. The big question is will the sleeping giant continue to slumber? This class will help clarify that question.

No. 6 Maryland // 6 Commitments // 93.07 Power Ranking

DJ Durkin was able to get his feet wet in recruiting as a head coach when he Maryland hired him in January. Durkin had just under a month to solidify his first class. The losses of four star QB Dwayne Haskins and four star LB Keandre Jones late in the game did not help Durkin's efforts for the 2016 class, however. The Terps were stung by the loss of two of their best commits, but the staff was able to gain 12 new commits during the last weeks of the 2016 recruiting cycle.

That brings us to 2017. Durkin now has a full year to get his players. His initial strategy is to lock up Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia. Of Maryalnd's six recruits, five hail from those locations. However, Durkin's highest rated commit is four star DT Cam Spence of Florida. Spence committed on April 8 and will help Maryland's defensive front. It will be interesting to see if Durkin improves on 2016's seventh place recruiting finish. So far it appears the Youngstown, Ohio, native is on track.  

No. 5 Penn State // 6 Commitments // 94.02 Power Ranking

James Franklin has done a much better job recruiting than he has at winning football games. The Nittany Lions are 14-12 with Franklin as head coach. However, Penn State has finished third, second and fouth in Big Ten Recruiting since he arrived. Franklin has continued Penn State's tradition of getting players from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and Virginia. In fact all six players in the 2017 class are from those states.

On April 16 Penn State picked up two players to help the under-performing offensive line. OG CJ Thorpe and OT Robert Martin hope to find playing time on an offensive line that has gained a reputation of allowing sacks. Other key players in the class are QB Sean Clifford from Cincinnati (St. Xavier) and an OLB from Virginia, Dylan Rivers.  

No. 4 Northwestern // 10 commitments // 94.05 Power Ranking

Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern are off to a fast start on the recruiting trail. The Wildcats have 10 commits and are hitting the state of Texas hard. Half of the class is from the Lone Star State and four of the five Texans play defense. Fitzgerald focused on defense to this point with seven players on that side of the ball. At this point, Northwestern's 2017 class does not have a quarterback, running back or wide receiver.  

The Wildcats have an early lead in recruiting, but expect for this stock to drop as the recruiting season continues. Fitzgerald has never finished better than eighth in recruiting and typically lands between 10th and 13th. If I owned this stock I would have had my sell order in yesterday. 

No. 3 Iowa // 9 Commitments // 96.13 Power Ranking

To see Iowa this high up the rankings is surprising as they finished 10th last years and 12th in 2015, 2014 and 2013. The longest tenured active coach in the Big Ten roams the sidelines in Iowa. Kirk Ferentz, the lifetime owner of the Big Ten's Coach of the Year award, used his team's success in 2016 to land a stud defensive end. AJ Epenesa of Illinois has a .990 composite rating and is by far the best player in Iowa's 2017 class. The other seven members of the class are the typical three star talent the Hawkeyes are known to sign from the midwest. 

Like Northwestern, expect Iowa's stay near the top not to last. However, the addition of four star RB Eno Benjamin on Monday will help the Hawkeyes stick around.

No. 2 Michigan // 11 Commitments // 98.01 Power Ranking

Jim Harbaugh and his unique ways has the Wolverines in position for many of the nation's best players. Michigan currently has 11 commits that spans a wide range of talent. The highest rated player is pro-style quarterback Dylan McCaffrey. The 6-foot-5 gun-slinger from Valor Christian in Colorado has a .988 composite rating. The lowest rated player is Benjamin St-Juste (.816) from the Montreal area. The cornerback was the first to commit to Michigan's 2017 class back in June of 2015. It will be a surprise if St-Juste is still with the class when signing day arrives.

The 2017 cycle is a huge for Harbaugh. Finishing second in the Big Ten last year and fifth his first year are great building blocks to start his head coaching career. However, there is still a sizable gap between the talent in Ann Arbor and Columbus. If the Wolverines are able to continue their recruiting success scores of 42-13 might be a thing of the past.   

No. 1 Ohio State // 13 Commitments // 106.40 Power Ranking

Ohio State ranked first in the B1G with a .918 composite average for the 2016 recruiting class. Columbus has always been a destination for top talent. However, Urban Meyer has raised the bar since his arrival. Since 2012 the Buckeyes have finished first in the Big Ten in recruiting every year. The 2017 class would be a lock if it wasn't for limited numbers. The low numbers might keep Ohio State from winning the power rankings, but Urban Meyer's sixth recruiting class will again be at the top in composite average. This class is definitely about quality over quantity. 

As it stands, the 2017 class is at 13 members. Will all 13 players currently committed to Ohio State sign in February? Probably not. The road ahead appears to be a very twisty one for recruiting in Columbus. If you're a fan get in the passenger seat, buckle up, and trust that Meyer will get you to your destination. It should be a wild and fun ride. 

OT Josh Meyers, from Miamisburg, Ohio, is Ohio State's top rated recruit in 2017. 

2017 Big Ten commits listed by team.