Recruiting Capsules for the Top 5 Pac-12 and Big Ten Classes

Last week, we took a snap picture at each SEC school's recruiting class. Today, we're going to combine two conferences and look at the top five recruiting classes in the Pac-12 and the Big Ten.

What's pretty neat about this read is, think about how each Pac-12 and Big Ten class could possibly match up with one another in the Rose Bowl in three to four, or five, seasons from now.

Just another angle that makes recruiting that much more interesting to follow. Here we go!

Stanford

Stanford is lagging behind a bit and needs to start rounding up more commitments, but their three-man class is still high in quality.

First and foremost, Stanford has its next great QB in place in Ryan Burns. Burns is a 6'5", 220-pounder with good arm strength, accuracy and reminds me a bit of Matt Ryan.

LB Isaac Savaiinaea is a 6'3", 230-pounder from Hawaii who is the best LB from the Pacific Islands since Manti Te'o. OLB Doug Randolph is from Virginia and goes 6'3", 215-pounds with natural pass-rushing skills.

Michigan State

The Spartans currently hold seven pledges, and two are 4-star prospects, per Scout.com. 

Mark Dantonio's class is led by LB Jon Reschke and QB Damion Terry. Reschke is a 6'2", 225-pound LB with good toughness, solid athleticism, instincts and has some thump at the point of attack.

Terry is a Pennsylvania native that goes 6'4", 210 pounds. He has good arm strength and athleticism and presents a high ceiling for the Spartans to work with.

Washington

Steve Sarkisian has seven commitments, and with Sark being a renowned QB coach, of course his headliner would be a signal caller.

Even after signing Jeff Lindquist and Cyler Miles last year, Sarkisian recently netted a commitment from 4-star QB Troy Williams. Williams could be the next Keith Price in Seattle.

Also, look out for 6'3", 295-pound OL prospect Dane Crane.

Nebraska

Compared to last year at this time, Big Red is on a great pace. Bo Pelini has nine pledges, and three are 4-star prospects, per Scout.com. 

Defense is the key theme to this class, as six of the nine commitments are defensive recruits.

The headliners right now are 6'5", 250-pound DT Christian Lacouture, 6'6", 230-pound DE A.J. Natter and 6'1", 195-pound S Marcus McWilson.

Oregon

While the Ducks don't boast a ton of prospects in this class right now, the three commitments they do have locked up are all high-quality recruits.

It starts with stud RB Thomas Tyner, a 6'0", 207-pounder who could indeed be the fastest player in the country this cycle.

Tack on speedy Texas RB Dontre Wilson and his 5'10", 180-pound quick frame, and Chip Kelly has more toys to play with in Eugene.

And 6'5", 285-pound OT Evan Voeller is a future starter in his own right.

Penn State

It looks like Bill O'Brien is going to be just fine at this recruiting thing in Happy Valley, folks. He already has 10 commitments and his class looks very good for a first-year head coach.

It starts with the top TE prospect in the country in Adam Breneman, a 6'5", 225-pounder with WR skills. QB Christian Hackenburg is O'Brien's QB of the future and could start soon in his career.

DT Greg Webb and DE Garrett Sickels will form a formidable DL tandem for the Nittany Lion defense in a few seasons. 

UCLA

The Bruins have a coaching staff that is built to be a great recruiting group, and it's paying off already.

Jim Mora and his crew have eight pledges so far and per Scout.com, three are 4-star prospects. The class is led by Texas native Deon Hollins, a 6'2", 215-pound OLB/DE with excellent ability to pressure the passer.

OLB Cameron Judge comes from a winning program in Oaks Christian, and 4-star OL Erik Bunte is already a mammoth 6'7", 310-pounder with starter potential. 

Ohio State

Ohio State has an excellent recruiting class going right now, as Urban Meyer, Luke Fickell and Stan Drayton are leading the recruiting charge in Columbus.

Currently, 11 prospects have told OSU they will be Buckeyes and per Scout.com, nine of them are at least rated as 4-star players.

CBs Eli Woodard and Cam Burrows lead a class that also features elite talents like DL Joey Bosa, ATH Jalin Marshall, QB J.T. Barrett, OL Evan Lisle and TE Marcus Baugh.

USC

USC knows they can't miss on recruits with their scholarship sanctions, so evaluating has become even more imperative in the Trojans' recruiting process.

It doesn't look like they're going to miss on the recruits in this class, as Lane Kiffin has nine commitments and all nine are 4-star recruits or higher.

In fact, per Scout.com, five are 5-star prospects—QB Max Browne, RB Ty Isaac, RB Justin Davis, DL Kenny Bigelow and S Su'a Cravens. 

This is shaping up to be a memorable recruiting run for USC.

Michigan

Michigan has the top class on my board and pretty much every other board, too. The Wolverines have been dominant on the recruiting trail and have 21 commitments already.

According to Scout.com, 17 of the 21 pledges are rated at 4-stars or higher. QB Shane Morris is the headliner and a running joke that I have is Morris may be the first prospect to ever sign with a school and win "Recruiter of the Year" at the same time.

Other elite talents in this class include: DB Dymonte Thomas, OL Patrick Kugler, LB Mike McCray, OL Kyle Bosh, OL David Dawson and RB DeVeon Smith, among many more.

Edwin Weathersby has worked in scouting/player personnel departments for three professional football teams, including the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena League. He spent a year evaluating prep prospects and writing specific recruiting and scouting content articles for Student Sports Football (now ESPN Rise-HS). A syndicated scout and writer, he's also contributed to WeAreSC.com, GatorBait.net and Diamonds in the Rough Inc., a College Football and NFL Draft magazine.