Early Signing Day is set to kick off Wednesday with the Early Signing Period taking place ahead of Christmas. While prospects are not forced to sign in the early period, many are expected to put pen to paper before the end of Friday.

In the B1G, the recruiting rankings take on a different light as the conference prepares to welcome a quartet of Pac-12 teams to the fold. With Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA beginning B1G play in 2024, they are officially folded into the league’s recruiting picture for the Early Signing Period and into the future.

There is also another round of new coaches in the B1G, and first-year recruiting classes for head coaches are traditionally a mixed bag as they find their footing. No matter where your team stands in the head-coaching picture, the conference is not short on storylines heading into the signing period.

Note: Every star rating is listed via 247 Sports Composite. Commitment numbers listed are as of Monday, Dec. 18.

Dylan Raiola gives Nebraska major juice for 2024

Matt Rhule arrived in Lincoln with a splash last season, signing the 25th recruiting class in the country for his first year at Nebraska. That class included Malachi Coleman, the top player from Nebraska, and a handful of talented players from Florida and Texas, among others.

However, if 2023 was a splash for Rhule, Dylan Raiola provided a full-blown cannonball for the program Monday evening. A 5-star prospect and the No. 6 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class, Raiola has extensive family ties to the Huskers but spent time in his recruitment committed to Ohio State and Georgia.

In the end, Raiola flipped his commitment to Nebraska in a move that had been building for over a week. He took an official visit to the Huskers over the weekend but was already trending toward Lincoln before that visit.

With Raiola in the fold, Nebraska has its eyes on a top-20 recruiting class for the cycle. Now, it will be interesting to see if he can draw some elite skill players to the Huskers during his time in Lincoln.

Oregon headlines arrival of new kids on the (B1G) block

With next season featuring the arrival of Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington, this is the first Early Signing Period to examine how the newcomers stack up in regard to the rest of the B1G. So far, the top spot from the arriving quartet of Pac-12 teams belongs to Oregon.

On a national level, Dan Lanning’s Ducks hold the No. 8 recruiting class, and that group trails only Ohio State within the B1G. By comparison, USC holds the No. 17 class in the country and the No. 5 class in the B1G while Washington (No. 12 in the B1G) and UCLA (No. 17 in the B1G) lag behind.

As things currently stand, Oregon holds 23 total commits with 18 pledges coming from players with a 4-star rating. That number of 4-star recruits currently trumps everyone in the B1G, though the Buckeyes do have 5 commitments from 5-star recruits.

Lanning’s group certainly has a class of quality with an average rating of 91.54 across the 23 players currently committed. Outside of Ohio State’s 93.07, no other B1G program has an average rating of 91+. (Penn State’s 90.71 is the next closest.)

Oregon’s recruiting class will still need to perform on campus, but the Ducks have the recruiting pipeline in place to position the program as one of the best in the new-look B1G.

How will new head coaches fare in the early period?

The first recruiting class for new head coaches is always a mixed bag, and this year is no different. In the B1G, the first-year head coaches for the 2024 recruiting class included David Braun (Northwestern), Jonathan Smith (Michigan State) and Curt Cignetti (Indiana).

To this point, Cignetti has arguably made the most progress with 17 total commitments lined up. He also has a QB for IU’s recruiting class, flipping Alberto Mendoza to the Hoosiers. Mendoza is a 3-star QB from Miami’s Columbus High School, and he originally committed to Cignetti’s James Madison program.

As for Smith, he has plenty of work to do in East Lansing but also has a QB commit lined up for the Spartans. That player is Alessio Milivojevic, a 3-star QB from Illinois who Smith flipped from Ball State.

Possibly the biggest win for Smith in the recruiting cycle will be landing Nick Marsh, the 4-star WR who is also the No. 2 player from Michigan for the cycle. Marsh previously decommitted from the Spartans in the spring but eventually re-committed in the summer. He is still firm on the Spartans and brings impact potential to the outside of the offense.

As for Braun, Northwestern currently has just 12 commits for the cycle. None of those players have a 4-star rating, but Braun will look to continue the mold Northwestern has long maintained as a top-tier developmental program in the country.

Ohio State still dominates B1G recruiting under Ryan Day

Ohio State is out of the College Football Playoff once again, but the rich are about to get richer for Ryan Day. Ahead of Early Signing Day, the Buckeyes hold 5 5-star commitments, currently the most for any program in the 2024 recruiting class.

Texas (4), Georgia (3) and Alabama (3) are the programs directly behind the Buckeyes in that regard. Overall, Ohio State’s recruiting class leads the B1G and ranks No. 2 nationally.

The QB position is always a spot to watch for any program’s recruiting and that’s especially true for Day’s squad this offseason. Kyle McCord is off to Syracuse, and Ohio State has yet to be linked to any potential impact performer in the transfer portal.

That means the 2024 starting QB job will come down to Devin Brown and 5-star freshman Air Noland barring some late movement in the portal. For Noland, he’s a lefty out of Georgia who is rated the No. 4 QB in the cycle and the 36th overall player in the country.

Handing Noland the reins out of the gate as a true freshman certainly has risks, but he’ll bring elite talent to the QB room. And it’s also noteworthy that Noland arrives in Columbus alongside some generational talent at wide receiver.

If there are any questions about Ohio State’s recruiting class, they likely revolve around 5-star WR Jeremiah Smith, the No. 1 player in the country for the cycle. He has been committed to Ohio State for a year and has not backed off that pledge, but Smith has entertained interest from the key Florida programs down the stretch.

It’s hard to say the loss of any one player would be devastating for Ohio State, but there’s no getting around the magnitude of getting Smith to Columbus with an Early Signing Period signature. He has the tools to step into the offense immediately, especially if Marvin Harrison Jr. does indeed make the jump to the NFL Draft this offseason.