The BIG 12 is making big moves in recruiting and one of their teams has seized National Signing Day. We will explore the top recruiting classes of the BIG 12, and I give my ranking of their 2016 recruiting classes.
#1 The Texas Longhorns completely turned the tides in the 2016 BIG 12 recruiting class. They have ten ESPN 300 recruits, eleven 4 Stars and ten 3 Star recruits. On NSD the Longhorns’s day got better when they got 4 Star LB Erick Fowler to flip on his commitment to LSU. A key to success for any team in the state of Texas is to bring in-state talent to your campus. 16 out of their 21 recruits are from the state of Texas. One of those Texans is Brandon Jones. Jones is a 6 foot, 193 pound 4 Star safety from Nacogdoches High School. He is also the number two safety in the nation according to ESPN.
#2 The Baylor Bears have been a powerhouse in the BIG 12 for quite some time now and it reflects in their recruiting. They have the second most ESPN 300 recruits in the conference with 8. They have twelve 4 Stars and ten 3 Star recruits. In Waco, their offense is always willing to get more receivers. The Bears have signed four top 50 receivers, and headlining the group of receivers is speedster, Devin Duvernay. They also got commitments from the top HS guard and the top JUCO guard. Both hopefully can help keep the Baylor QBs of the injury report.
#3 The reigning BIG 12 Champions, Oklahoma, comes in at third on my list. The Sooners have six ESPN 300 commits, ten 4 Stars and nine 3 Stars. The Sooners used this class to retool an offensive line that was exposed the last time we saw them on the field. Five of their recruits are on the OL. Erik Swenson is one of the offensive linemen. His name should be familiar because he is the OT that Michigan gave up on and the Sooners put him up. He is a 4 Star OT and Sooner fans hope he can create time for Baker Mayfield to make some magic next year. The Sooners also got their possible QB for when Mayfield leaves the program. They picked up former Texas A&M QB Kyler Murray.
#4 The TCU Horned Frogs come in at number 4. They have five ESPN 300 commits, seven 4 Stars and fifteen 3 Stars. In this class, it seems as if they focused more on the defensive side of the football. They signed ten defensive players and is highlighted by the number 1 JUCO OLB, Tyree Horton. Another marquee pickup was 4 Star DT Ross Blacklock. Blacklock is a 6’3” 300 pound space eater that will definitely sure up their interior D-Line. Also in their class is LSU transfer WR John Diarse.
#5 And rounding out my top five is West Virginia. WVU is definitely is getting the most out of these 2016 class based on the number of recruits. 29 players have committed the play at WVU. The Mountaineers looked for leadership in the back half of the defensive and they found Kyzir White, the number safety in the JUCO circuit. He is coming from Lackawanna College the same college of former Mountaineer Kevin White. And they also got TE Trevon Wesco from Lackawanna. From their high school recruits, they got 4 Star ILB Brendan Ferns to also commit to WVU.
#6 Texas Tech- 3 4-Stars 22 3-Stars 25 Total
#7 Oklahoma State 2 4-Stars 15 3-Stars 19 Total
#8 Iowa State 1 4-Stars 18 3-Stars 26 Total
#9 Kansas State 1 4-Star 13 3-Stars 17 Total
#10 Kansas 12 3-Stars 20 Total
*As of 2 PM EST on 2/3/16*