The early signing period is getting closer. This year it has been moved up – from the third Wednesday in December to the first – so there are only six weeks between now and when your favorite college program will officially add the bulk of its 2025 recruiting class.

Let’s evaluate where things stand in the Big Ten.

Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.

1. Alabama has made a strong push, but Ohio State continues to hold the top spot in the national recruiting rankings.

Things have been a little slow lately for the Buckeyes, who have picked up just two commitments in the last two months. One of those came from four-star receiver Phillip Bell of Mission Viejo (Calif.) High School. Ohio State defeated USC to earn the commitment of Bell, who is ranked No. 198 in the class.

The Buckeyes class consists of 10 top-100 players and has solid balance, except on the offensive line. Ohio State has commitments from only two top O-linemen, and one of them (Jayvon McFadden, No. 407) is at the low end of four-star status.

The Buckeyes need more from offensive line coach Justin Frye and the entire staff at this critical position.

2. Oregon has the No. 2 class in the Big Ten and is ranked ninth nationally. Its most significant recruiting victory occurred recently when it drafted top-100 offensive lineman Douglas Utu, who plays for national power Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, from Tennessee.

Utu is the No. 4 offensive tackle in the 2025 cycle and the No. 78 overall player. His teammate, Alai Kalaniuvalu, is also a four-star player committed to the Ducks.

Oregon recruits at a much higher level than any other program on the West Coast. The Ducks have the highest average player rating in the country at 94.59, but have at least seven fewer commits than the schools right behind them in that category (Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State).

However, Dan Lanning tends to close strong, so the fact that Oregon only has 16 commitments suggests the Ducks will be on the run once the early signing period approaches.

3. USC has made six commitments in the past two months, moving the Trojans back into the top 10 of the national rankings. Headlining that group is four-star receiver Jerome Myles from Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah. Myles, who committed in September, has been one of the big risers in the class, jumping from the 300s in the spring to No. 33 in the current rankings.

Fight on ✌🏻✌🏻 @LincolnRiley @CoachSimmonsSC @USC_Athletics @BlairAngulo @BrandonHuffman @AABonNBC @KjarEric pic.twitter.com/hke9yyWQRO

— Jerome myles (@jerome_myles6) September 18, 2024

USC desperately needs help on the scrimmage front. So while Myles is a great addition, the most impactful recruiting win may be four-star offensive lineman Aaron Dunn from Utah. Dunn, ranked No. 186 nationally, plays at Spanish Fork (Utah) High School.

USC has a top-10 class, but it’s not necessarily elite where it needs to be: in the trenches. Adding Dunn, the Trojans’ second big offensive lineman in this class, helps.

Only four of USC’s 23 commitments are from Southern California. That’s fine, but if a program is having a tough season on the field like the Trojans are right now, it opens the door for schools closer to home to take a shot at those out-of-state opportunities.

4. Michigan earned its biggest win of the 2025 cycle on Monday when it secured a commitment from offensive lineman Andrew Babalola, a five-star player who plays at Blue Valley Northwest in Overland Park, Kan. Babalola is ranked No. 21 overall and was one of the last remaining free five stars.

The Wolverines’ class ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 14th nationally. Sherrone Moore has maintained the program’s recruiting compared to what it was under Jim Harbaugh. Now he has to coach better on the field and come up with a solution at quarterback.

5. It’s been an ugly season for Purdue, which is 1-6 overall and 0-4 in conference play. The Boilermakers rank 116th in scoring offense and 130th in scoring defense. It’s just bad.

Coach Ryan Walters signed the No. 27 class in the 2024 cycle, so there would certainly be some regression with this class for a program that has signed only three other top-40 classes in the past decade.

But the ugly losses have taken a toll on recruiting. There have been four releases since the start of the season, most notably of four-star corner Dawayne Galloway, the highest-rated player in his class.

The Boilermakers class is ranked 85th nationally and last in the Big Ten. Not much is going right for Walters right now.

6. Indiana was the surprise of the Big Ten with its 7-0 record and top-15 ranking. So far, this has not led to any breakthroughs in recruitment. In fact, the Hoosiers’ top-rated prospect, four-star safety Byron Baldwin, opted out of his commitments earlier this month. Colorado is trying to make a push, but Baldwin visited Bloomington last weekend for Indiana’s dominant win against Nebraska.

The Hoosiers, who don’t have a quarterback among their 20 commitments, are still trying to put pressure on USC commit Julian “Juju” Lewis, a five-star prospect from Georgia.

It has been difficult to get top talent to Indiana, but if the Hoosiers continue to impress, it will be interesting to see what boost this will lead to for Curt Cignetti’s program during the 2026 cycle.

7. Penn State and Nebraska have added at least two top talents to their classes in the past two months.

The Nittany Lions, ranked 15th nationally, added four-star offensive lineman Malachi Goodman, a top-150 national prospect from New Jersey, and four-star receiver Matthew Outten, a Virginia native who transferred from Virginia Tech.

Nebraska became the top-ranked player in-state under four-star linebacker Christian Jones of Omaha Westside, who is ranked No. 176 overall. The Huskers also added four-star defensive lineman JuJu Marks, who transferred from his home state Kansas Jayhawks.

8. Several programs — Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern and Rutgers — have not signed commitments since late July or earlier.

The Scarlet Knights made quite an impression in June and at one point had a top-15 ranking, a ranking boosted by the large number of commitments (30). Rutgers has lost three commits since mid-August, including two in the last two weeks, and has fallen to 26th nationally.

It’s also been a relatively quiet few months for Illinois, Maryland, UCLA, Washington and Wisconsin. Each program has added one commitment, but none is a promising prospect.

Meanwhile, Iowa landed four-star receiver Terrence Smith, an Illinois native, in early September. The Hawkeyes can always add more talent at the skill spots, especially those who can help the passing game. Iowa also lost a commitment to four-star forward Cameron Herron, an Indiana native who transferred to Notre Dame a week and a half ago.

(Photo of Ryan Day and Ohio State: Jason Mowry/Getty Images)