A look at IU and BT recruiting for 2026

[mushroomgod_1]

I gotta be honest.....I'm somewhat disappointed in this '26 IU class.

Rated #35 right now by 247. Solid. Wisconsin and Iowa-like. About as good as Tom Allen ever did. But right now Hicks, and possibly Simpson are the only guys I'm really excited about. Timmons would be another, but it's not looking great there after the FSU visit. QB McWhorter and WR Guilford, from FW, look like our highest rated remaining prospects. We'll probably finish about where we are now in the rankings.

Here's what 247 has right now for BT recruiting (first # is national ranking, then # of recruits and average *s per recruit):

--#1 USC 27/3.7
--#3 OSU 13/4.08
--#5 PSU 17/3.41
--#9 ILL 16/3.31
--#12 Rutgers 17/3.29
--#20 MINN 20/2.5
--#21 WASH 11/3.36
--#23 ORE 7/4.0
--#30 MICH 7/3.86
--#32 Iowa 9/3.33
--#35 IND 10/3.0
--#37 UCLA 8/3.5
--#38 WIS 10/3.1
--#44 NW 11/2.46
--#45 PUR 8//3.13
--#52 MD 6//2.83
--#56 MSU 6/3.33
--#62 NEB 4/3.25

Based on expectations, fans of USC, OSU, PSU, ILL, and Rutgers should be pleased. I would also argue Washington, Iowa, UCLA, and Purdue are doing ok.

I think Oregon, Michigan, IU, and NW are meh....

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maryland, MSU, and Nebraska fans aren't happy.

Nationally, the SEC is doing better than the BT, with a wide gap to the ACC and a wider gap to the Big 12.

Programs with the most top 250 Rivals recruits: ND 11; USC 9; OSU, Clemson & LSU 7; GA, Miami, Oregon & A&M 6; TX and Auburn 5. Although ND has the most top 250 recruits, I don't think any were top 75. USC has 27 recruits, far more than any other school. A little less than 50% of the top prospects have committed.

 

[sparkeyreturns]

CAn someone explain to me how the Illini are recruiting like they are? Even Rutgers is wild but they do have a great coach.

 

[Tammany Hall]

I see us on 24/7 as #27 overall and #8 in the B1G.

 

[kmathum]

I gotta be honest.....I'm somewhat disappointed in this '26 IU class.

Rated #35 right now by 247. Solid. Wisconsin and Iowa-like. About as good as Tom Allen ever did. But right now Hicks, and possibly Simpson are the only guys I'm really excited about. Timmons would be another, but it's not looking great there after the FSU visit. QB McWhorter and WR Guilford, from FW, look like our highest rated remaining prospects. We'll probably finish about where we are now in the rankings.

Here's what 247 has right now for BT recruiting (first # is national ranking, then # of recruits and average *s per recruit):

--#1 USC 27/3.7
--#3 OSU 13/4.08
--#5 PSU 17/3.41
--#9 ILL 16/3.31
--#12 Rutgers 17/3.29
--#20 MINN 20/2.5
--#21 WASH 11/3.36
--#23 ORE 7/4.0
--#30 MICH 7/3.86
--#32 Iowa 9/3.33
--#35 IND 10/3.0
--#37 UCLA 8/3.5
--#38 WIS 10/3.1
--#44 NW 11/2.46
--#45 PUR 8//3.13
--#52 MD 6//2.83
--#56 MSU 6/3.33
--#62 NEB 4/3.25

Based on expectations, fans of USC, OSU, PSU, ILL, and Rutgers should be pleased. I would also argue Washington, Iowa, UCLA, and Purdue are doing ok.

I think Oregon, Michigan, IU, and NW are meh....

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maryland, MSU, and Nebraska fans aren't happy.

Nationally, the SEC is doing better than the BT, with a wide gap to the ACC and a wider gap to the Big 12.

Programs with the most top 250 Rivals recruits: ND 11; USC 9; OSU, Clemson & LSU 7; GA, Miami, Oregon & A&M 6; TX and Auburn 5. Although ND has the most top 250 recruits, I don't think any were top 75. USC has 27 recruits, far more than any other school. A little less than 50% of the top prospects have committed.

I'm not the least bit worried about the rankings. I think this class looks pretty damn good.

 

[td75]

Cignetti will recruit well and I think it will get even better with a 9+ win season this year.

Perhaps even more important, Cignetti is a superior coach to most of the Big Ten head coaches. I could easily make a very formidable argument that Curt Cignetti is the best coach in the BT.

 

[Sonap]

Coach doesn’t look at stars and neither should we.

 

[IndyResident16]

I gotta be honest.....I'm somewhat disappointed in this '26 IU class.

Rated #35 right now by 247. Solid. Wisconsin and Iowa-like. About as good as Tom Allen ever did. But right now Hicks, and possibly Simpson are the only guys I'm really excited about. Timmons would be another, but it's not looking great there after the FSU visit. QB McWhorter and WR Guilford, from FW, look like our highest rated remaining prospects. We'll probably finish about where we are now in the rankings.

Here's what 247 has right now for BT recruiting (first # is national ranking, then # of recruits and average *s per recruit):

--#1 USC 27/3.7
--#3 OSU 13/4.08
--#5 PSU 17/3.41
--#9 ILL 16/3.31
--#12 Rutgers 17/3.29
--#20 MINN 20/2.5
--#21 WASH 11/3.36
--#23 ORE 7/4.0
--#30 MICH 7/3.86
--#32 Iowa 9/3.33
--#35 IND 10/3.0
--#37 UCLA 8/3.5
--#38 WIS 10/3.1
--#44 NW 11/2.46
--#45 PUR 8//3.13
--#52 MD 6//2.83
--#56 MSU 6/3.33
--#62 NEB 4/3.25

Based on expectations, fans of USC, OSU, PSU, ILL, and Rutgers should be pleased. I would also argue Washington, Iowa, UCLA, and Purdue are doing ok.

I think Oregon, Michigan, IU, and NW are meh....

Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maryland, MSU, and Nebraska fans aren't happy.

Nationally, the SEC is doing better than the BT, with a wide gap to the ACC and a wider gap to the Big 12.

Programs with the most top 250 Rivals recruits: ND 11; USC 9; OSU, Clemson & LSU 7; GA, Miami, Oregon & A&M 6; TX and Auburn 5. Although ND has the most top 250 recruits, I don't think any were top 75. USC has 27 recruits, far more than any other school. A little less than 50% of the top prospects have committed.

Hill is going to be a stud on the interior line. Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin were all over him and ND recruited him as well.

McWhorter committed to Miss St a few weeks ago unless something has recently changed.

 

[IndyResident16]

Also, when it comes to stars and rankings, it should be noted that our two best true freshman last year (Hardy and Landino) were two of our lowest rated recruits.

 

[Kelly_32]

I trust Cig.

 

[IUNCAAChamps2012]

Also, when it comes to stars and rankings, it should be noted that our two best true freshman last year (Hardy and Landino) were two of our lowest rated recruits.

It also should be noted that our all American returning players were 2star JMU recruits. Stars are important but there’s a lot more that goes into a successful college career. We’ve seen enough 4 star washouts over the past 10 years to convince me that we’re gonna be ok

 

[Big Red Crimson Buffalo]

We had WRs last year who weren’t even rated previously in the Rivals system who were torching 4-star corners. Freshman classes are shaky at best anymore. So many will leave.
Look at all of the veteran players at schools who started last year and just opted to leave for a different schools. It’s going to be a revolving door at nearly every school.

 

[Tammany Hall]

The best programs keep most of their freshman. Key to success is developing players over multiple years in a program. Revolving doors aren’t a given and are not good.

 

[IUgradman]

Let’s wait and see what the final class looks like.

 

[Grateful Redbeard]

We are low because we only have 10 commits. 2 are rated 5.5, 3 are rated 5.6, and 5 are rated 5.7 on here, but they are all 3*s. When the class doubles in size we will probably be around 30th overall. I'm good with that based purely on Cig's exemplary record of finding gems on the HS recruiting trail. He also kills in the portal, so holes will be filled through development and transfers. 3/4* guys aren't looking for immediate playing time or big paydays, so this fits perfectly with the culture Cig has had at his previous stops. After another great season I expect the HS recruiting to pickup more steam and accelerate going forward.

 

[PackTheRock]

247 composite (avg of all the services) has IU flirting with a top 25 class with 3 4 stars. And that’s only with 10 commits. I mean, that’s pretty solid.

 

[Fighter of the Nightman]

CAn someone explain to me how the Illini are recruiting like they are? Even Rutgers is wild but they do have a great coach.

Lol, can you explain why you’re so surprised? Illinois has had recent success, has hype entering this season, has a coach with at least as good of a pedigree as Rutgers’ (lol…?) and Illinois has plenty of NIL money.