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Ohio State jumps to top of ESPN recruiting rankings following new commitments
Published:
There’s a new No. 1, according to ESPN.
After the three 4-star commitments Ohio State got on Monday, the Buckeyes moved from No. 5 to No. 1 in ESPN’s latest 2016 recruiting ranks.
The Buckeyes’ jump moved them past No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Ole Miss, No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Michigan, all of whom dropped a spot in the updated rankings. This was the justification for the new top ranking.
Of Ohio State's 21 commits, 11 are ranked within the top 10 of their respective positions. Five within the top 5 of their position
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) January 20, 2016
The week started off with a bang for Ohio State after four-star receiver Binjimen Victor announced his commitment to the Buckeyes. On Monday afternoon, four-star Maryland commits Dwayne Haskins and Keandre Jones both announced they were flipping to the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes’ top receiver, quarterback and outside linebacker targets all committed on the same day.
That prompted Urban Meyer to fire off a rare acknowledgement of the big recruiting news.
Wow! Big Day
— Urban Meyer (@CoachUrbanMeyer) January 18, 2016
Ohio State did move past both LSU and Michigan for the top spot in the 247sports 2016 class rankings, too. With National Signing Day two weeks away, the Buckeyes and Wolverines have consensus top-five recruiting classes.
Here’s a look at the B1G teams in the top 40 of ESPN’s latest rankings:
1.Ohio State
5. Michigan
11. Penn State
19. Michigan State
32. Nebraska
34. Wisconsin
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.