Big Ten Rankings - 12/20/2002

Purdue's Joe Tiller lands a couple of four-star prospects. Penn State makes a big move. Does Michigan still have the #1 class in the Big Ten?

Big Ten Rankings – 12/20/02

(These rankings are from Midwest Film & Recruiting Evaluation.

1. Michigan (Last week:1)

New Jersey offensive lineman Jeff Zuttah is the latest pledge for the Wolverines. All-American Mike Jones has decided to eliminate Michigan from his top five. Can Lloyd Carr land Ohio All-American Prescott Burgess?

2. Penn State (Last week:4)

Its not how many scholarships you have, its what you do with the ones you have. The Nittany Lions have made every single scholarship count. Virginia’s Terrell Golden and home grown Pennsylvanian, Joel Holler are the latest commitments for Joe Paterno. Austin Scott and Jason Evans could be the best pair of committed running back prospects in the nation.

3. Ohio State (Last week:2)

Offensive lineman Kenyon Buford and defensive back Ashton Youboty are the latest pledges for Jim Tressel. Both Louis Irizarry and David Patterson have visited other schools but they’ll both sign with Ohio State. Prescott Burgess, Donte Whitner, Dareus Hiley and Brandon Maupin could vault the Buckeyes to the #1 spot in the rankings. Can Tressel hold off the competition for these blue-chippers?

4. Wisconsin (Last week:3)

The Badgers lose Chris Patrick but several prospects committed to Wisconsin this past weekend. Jamal Cooper (Missouri), Albert Young (New Jersey), Marcus Coleman (Minnesota), Luke Knauf (Wisconsin) and Brandon Kelly (Ohio) have pledged Wisconsin. The icing on the cake would be All-American and Wisconsin native Joe Thomas.

5. Illinois (Last week:5)

The Fighting Illini remain in the fifth position for the second week in a row. Another big weekend for Ron Turner as Ohio’s Chris Norwell, Chicago’s Kambrium Buckner and New Jersey’s James Stevenson all committed after their weekend visits. Decatur (Ill.) MacArthur defensive tackle Moe Dampeer, is a five-star recruit that could give this class a big boost in the rankings come February.

6. Purdue (Last week:7)

Purdue is just percentage points behind Illinois right now after a very successful week in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers received commitments from a couple of four-star Michigan prospects, Doug Van Dyke and Garrett Bushong. It looks like another Michigan prospect is headed to Purdue as well, look for Chris Patrick to sign with Purdue on signing day.

7. Iowa (Last week:6)

The loss of Correy Reddick to Kansas State hurt the Hawkeyes but they could still make a late run as they are still in the mix on several big-time prospects. Bryan Mattison and Kenneth Iwebema are the latest commitments for Iowa and both are solid prospects, just not as solid as Purdue commitments Doug Van Dyke and Garrett Bushong.

8. Minnesota (last week:9)

The Gophers move up a spot this week on the strength of verbal commitments from Florida quarterback Pete Martinsen and Juco wide receiver Paris Hamilton. The Gophers aren’t done yet. Glen Mason and his staff are in Florida and Texas looking hard for speed, speed and more speed.

9. Northwestern (last week:8)

The Wildcats didn’t do anything wrong, Minnesota just happened to have a better week.. Northwestern received verbal commitments this past week from Oklahoma athlete Aaron Burdex, California wide receiver Reggie McPherson as well as a couple of Texans in Trevor Rees and David Ngene.

10. Indiana (last week:11)

The Hoosiers move up a spot this week as several prospects made commitments to the Hoosiers. Illinois running back Kenni Burns and Indiana tight end Brian Faires are two solid ball players that will be solid performers for Indiana.

11. Michigan State (last week:10)

No commitments this past week but a new coach has been named and it should be interesting to see where this class ends up. Don’t look for Michigan State to stay on the bottom for long.