Ohio State, Oregon dominating 2025 football recruiting cycle in Big Ten (so far)

In the Big Ten, the 2025 recruiting cycle has been all about the Buckeyes and Ducks, who combine to account for seven of the conferences eight five-star commitments

Duncanville (Texas) wideout Dakorien Moore, an Oregon commit, carries the ball during the 2023 UIL 6A D1 state title against North Shore. / Photo by Tommy Hays

The football season is right around the corner, as fall camps are underway across the country.

That coincides with a month-long recruiting dead period, providing analysts an opportunity to catch their collective breath and take a look at the results so far.

While December's early signing period is still months away, 22 of the nation's top 30 prospects have already announced their college commitments, so many of the nation's biggest movers are off the board.

In the Big Ten, the 2025 recruiting cycle has been all about the Ohio State Buckeyes and Oregon Ducks, who combine to account for seven of the conferences eight five-star commitments, and nine of the conference's top-10 pledges to date.

Currently, Ohio State's class sits at No. 1 nationally, while Oregon comes in at No. 7.

However, with just 15 commitments in its class, the Ducks have the nation's No. 1 "rating per commitment" on 247Sports (94.38) and have wiggle room to climb significantly.

The next closest teams? Penn State at No. 14 with 23 commitments and Michigan at No. 15 with 15 pledges.

Here's a look at the top 10 commitments in the Big Ten conference so far:

Just missed the top 10: 4-star WR Quincy Porter, Bergen Catholic (New Jersey) — Ohio State; 4-star DL Nathaniel Marshall, Fenwick (Illinois) — Michigan Wolverines; 4-star LB Tarvos Alford, Vero Beach (Florida) — Ohio State Buckeyes; 4-star OL Carter Lowe, Whitmer (Ohio) — Ohio State Buckeyes; 4-star S Ivan Taylor, West Orange (Florida) — Michigan Wolverines

10. 4-star CB Dorian Brew, Conroe (Texas) — Oregon Ducks

Dorian Brew is listed as the nation's No. 36 overall prospect - just missing out on five-star status.

The 6-foot, 200-pound defensive back provided one of the more surprising commitments of the 2025 cycle when he chose Oregon over Ohio State - with most recruiting services projecting the Buckeyes as the overwhelming favorite until hours before his commitment.

Brew, the nation's No. 5 cornerback, is a key part of Oregon's historic defensive back haul in the class (more on that later).

9. 4-star S Faheem Delane, Our Lady of Good Counsel (Maryland) — Ohio State Buckeyes

Like Brew, Faheem Delane is a coveted defensive back who just missed five-star status.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound athlete, rated the nation's No. 2 safety, sits at No. 35 in the national ranking, one spot ahead of Brew.

He committed to Ohio State in June, choosing the Buckeyes over LSU, Oregon and others.

8. 5-star LB Riley Pettijohn, McKinney (Texas) — Ohio State Buckeyes

The final eight commitments on this list are five-star prospects, which is a good sign overall for the Big Ten, as the ACC (1) and Big 12 (1) combine for just two.

Riley Pettijohn committed to Ohio State early last month, choosing the Buckeyes over Texas, Texas A&M, USC and others.

He is rated the nation's No. 3 linebacker and comes in at No. 29 overall.

7. 5-star S Trey McNutt, Shaker Heights (Ohio) — Oregon Ducks

The most recent addition to the list, Trey McNutt chose Oregon over Texas A&M to conclude an intense recruiting battle last week.

McNutt, the nation's No. 1 safety, is Oregon's first-ever five-star safety commitment and is the highest-rated defensive back pledge in program history.

The 6-foot, 180-pound athlete is rated the nation's No. 19 overall prospect.

6.. 5-star WR Dallas Wilson, Tampa Bay Tech (Florida) — Oregon Ducks

Dallas Wilson first committed to Oregon in January 2023.

Since then, his stock has only continued to soar, as have the rumors that he could eventually flip.

Rated the nation's No. 17 overall prospect and No. 3 receiver, Wilson has insisted that he's "solid" with Oregon several times - even making a video expressing how much he loves being a Duck.

Still, the rumors are likely to persist for the cross-country commitment until he signs on the dotted line.

Wilson is one of two five-star pass-catchers for Oregon, giving Dan Lanning's squad its best receiver duo in program history.

5. 5-star QB Julian Lewis, Carrollton (Georgia) — USC Trojans

Once rated the nation's top prospect in the class of 2026, Julian Lewis reclassified into 2025 and saw his rating dip slightly (No. 15 overall, No. 3 quarterback).

That's to be expected given that he's now being rated against players a year older.

But the talent is obvious.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound signal-caller has been committed to USC since last August, but has continued to take visits and build relationships with multiple programs, most notably the Colorado Buffaloes.

For its part, USC is rumored to be looking in on other quarterbacks as well.

Could Lewis eventually flip, or will he remain committed to Lincoln Riley's program?

It's certainly something to monitor closely, and will be one of the major talking points of the recruiting world in the fall.

4. 5-star QB Tavien St. Clair, Bellefontaine (Ohio) — Ohio State Buckeyes

In the composite rankings, Tavien St. Clair is listed as the nation's No. 9 overall prospect, but he's No. 2 overall by just 247Sports.

In truth, that is just splitting hairs.

No matter how you slice it, Ohio State landed arguably the nation's best quarterback in the 2025 recruiting cycle.

St. Clair, an in-state recruit, also held offers from Alabama, Florida, LSU, Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee and others.

3. 5-star CB Na’eem Offord, Parker (Alabama) — Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State is hoping to hang onto an historic cornerback duo in the class of 2025 - with Offord being the first of the two.

Rated the nation's No. 7 overall prospect and No. 2 cornerback, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound athlete is still being heavily pursued by Auburn, Oregon and others.

But as it stands he makes up part of arguably the best 1-2 punch at corner in modern recruiting history.

2. 5-star CB Devin Sanchez, North Shore (Texas) — Ohio State Buckeyes

Devin Sanchez, the nation's No. 1 cornerback, is rated the No. 5 prospect overall in the class of 2025.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound athlete has all the tools to develop into a future NFL first-round draft pick, as he's developing into a prototypical modern outside corner.

Sanchez, Offord and St. Clair are, on paper, unquestionably the best trio of commits for any program in the country.

While Alabama boasts more five-star talent than Ohio State, the Crimson Tide don't have a top-10 pledge.

Ohio State has three.

It's a stunning trio that Ryan Day's program would love to keep to together, and make the cornerstone of the Buckeyes squad going forward.

1. 5-star WR Dakorien Moore, Duncanville (Texas) — Oregon Ducks

Depending on final rankings, Dakorien Moore may go down as the highest-rated pledge in program history for Oregon.

The nation's No. 1 wide receiver and No. 3 overall prospect accumulated more than 30 scholarship offers during his recruitment.

On the Fourth of July, Moore chose Oregon over LSU, Ohio State and Texas.

Oregon, which boats the nation's highest "rating per commit" currently, has the nation's No. 7 class, but plenty of wiggle room - and interest - to climb into the top three before Signing Day.

Still, no one is likely to topple Moore as the class headliner.

He's special - and a potential game-changer for Oregon in the state of Texas.