How New Big 12 Schools Faring in 2024 Recruiting Compared to the Rest of the League

With camps happening all over the country over the past few weeks, football recruiting is about to turn up a notch.

The Big 12 is set to bring in four new squads for the upcoming season, so I thought it would be interesting to look at how those schools are recruiting compared to their longstanding Big 12 counterparts.

Perhaps waiting until UCF, Cincinnati, BYU and Houston officially join the league July 1, 247Sports still has those schools separate from the Big 12 in the recruiting rankings, but I compiled all this using the 247Sports Composite rankings. We’ll start with an easily digestible chart before going into a little more depth team-by-team.

It’s still early in the 2024 cycle, so there shouldn’t be any sweeping conclusions from this. It’s rather just a way to check that the four incoming schools are on pace with the rest of the league. This can also change minute-by-minute with players committing to programs every day.

So, with all those clauses aside, let’s get into it.

National Rank	School	No. of Commits	Average Commit Rating	5 Stars	4 Stars	3 Stars	2023 National Rank
26	Texas Tech	10	88.58	0	3	7	35
32	Cincinnati	11	87.12	0	1	8	55
38	Iowa State	9	85.49	0	0	9	60
40	Kansas	9	86.87	0	1	7	63
43	Oklahoma	6	90.92	0	4	2	6
44	UCF	7	87.64	0	1	6	38
45	Oklahoma State	7	87.13	0	0	7	44
46	West Virginia	8	86.59	0	1	6	47
51	Kansas State	6	87.25	0	0	6	39
53	Baylor	7	85.78	0	0	6	36
64	TCU	5	88.14	0	1	3	24
70	BYU	5	84.72	0	0	4	51
71	Texas	3	88.40	0	1	2	3
96	Houston	1	84.52	0	0	1	48

1. Texas Tech

National Rank: 26th
No. of Commits: 10
Top Commit: Cheta Ofili, Edge, No. 192 overall

In the midst of his rebuild, Joey McGuire has recruited well in his time at Tech, and that was to be expected with his ties to Texas high school football. After bringing in five high school four-star prospects in the 2023 class, McGuire already has three four-star prospects committed for 2024. All 10 of Tech’s commits are from the talent-rich Lone Star State.

2. Cincinnati

National Rank: 32nd
No. of Commits: 11
Top Commit: Qua Birdsong, Linebacker, No. 312 overall

New Bearcat coach Scott Satterfield is off to a strong start on the recruiting trail with 11 commits. The state of Ohio hasn’t been thought of much in terms of Big 12 recruiting, so it will be interesting to see if Cincinnati can open that market to the rest of the Big 12. But Satterfield isn’t recruiting only Ohio. In fact, five of his 11 commits hail from Georgia, including his top three commits. Cincy has three Ohioans committed, but the Bearcats are casting a wide net with commits from Florida, Maryland and South Carolina.

3. Iowa State

National Rank: 38th
No. of Commits: 9
Top Commit: Connor Moberly, Quarterback, No. 814 overall

Iowa State, for the time being, is an example of strength in numbers. The Cyclones rank third among Big 12 schools in the rankings, but their average commit ranting of 85.49 ranks 12th of 14 teams. Being somewhat in the same geographical region of Cincinnati, it’ll be interesting to see whether those two programs get in a lot of recruiting battles over the coming years (like how the Oklahoma and Texas schools fight over Texas recruits). Much of Iowa State’s 2024 class thus far is relatively close to Ames, with two commits from Iowa, one from Missouri, two from Wisconsin, one from Illinois and one from Ohio.

4. Kansas

National Rank: 40th
No. of Commits: 9
Top Commit: Austin Alexander, Cornerback, No. 412 overall

This is not a drill: In June the Jayhawks are a Top 5 recruiting school in the Big 12, and they already have a four-star commit. Taking KU to a bowl game last season, Lance Leipold already seems like a great hire, but this would suggest that the Jayhawks are already trying to take the next step up the ladder. The state of Kansas doesn’t produce the most Division-I talent, so Leipold and Co. have gone everywhere to find players. KU has two commits from Oklahoma (Beggs’ Red Martel and Norman North’s Harrison Utley), and the Jayhawks also have a commit from Illinois, Texas, Missouri, Iowa, Georgia and two from Arizona.

5. Oklahoma

National Rank: 43rd
No. of Commits: 6
Top Commit: Zion Kearney, Wide Receiver, No. 77 overall

I wouldn’t celebrate too long that the Sooners are in the middle of this pack, as their 90.92 average commit rating actually tops the conference. OU already has four four-star prospects committed: a receiver, a safety, a corner and a quarterback. OU has the ability to recruit nationally, but most of their work thus far in 2024 has been closer to home with three of their commits coming from Texas and another coming from Louisiana.

6. UCF

National Rank: 44nd
No. of Commits: 7
Top Commit: Stacy Gage, Running Back, No. 262 overall

It’s been a big past week for Gus Malzahn and Co. as four-star running back Stacy Gage committed to UCF on Saturday. Some Big 12 schools have dipped into Florida, but the Knights’ addition to the league will be interesting. UCF won’t have to leave the state much to find quality talent. Of their seven commits, six are from Florida. The other is from Tennessee.

7. Oklahoma State

National Rank: 45nd
No. of Commits: 7
Top Commit: Landyn Cleveland, Safety, No. 580 overall

The Cowboys are doing what they always do in recruiting: steadily building a solid class of solid program fits. The combination of new defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo and safeties coach Dan Hammerschmidt have done well this cycle with three safeties already committed. In terms of area covered, it’s another Mike Gundy special — recruiting within a certain radius of Stillwater. OSU has five commits from Texas and two from Oklahoma.

8. West Virginia

National Rank: 46th
No. of Commits: 8
Top Commit: Obinna Onwuka, Edge, No. 387 overall

Cincinnati’s addition could also be interesting as it pertains to the Mountaineers. Being within a five-hour drive of each other, West Virginia and Cincy will likely bump elbows a time or two on the recruiting trail. West Virginia has done well in recruiting some trench players early, with three defensive linemen, an offensive lineman and a tight end committed. As the Mountaineers try to hold down the Big 12’s spot in the northeast, they have two commits from New Jersey, one from Pennsylvania, two from Maryland, one from West Virginia, one from Ohio and one from North Carolina.

9. Kansas State

National Rank: 51st
No. of Commits: 6
Top Commit: Gus Hawkins, Offensive Line, No. 584 overall

A similar class to Oklahoma State’s, Kansas State doesn’t have a four-star commit yet, but the Wildcats’ group seems solid. Even with the addition of BYU to the league, Manhattan is still the closest drive to Denver, and the Wildcats seem to be taking advantage of that with two Coloradoans committed. K-State also has two commits from Kansas, one from Iowa and one from Pennsylvania.

10. Baylor

National Rank: 53rd
No. of Commits: 7
Top Commit: Jadon Porter, Athlete, No. 476 overall

Mike Gundy has spoke in the past about how Baylor’s location (between DFW, Houston and San Antonio) makes it an excellent spot to recruit to, and the Bears’ staff seems to agree with six of the seven recruits hailing from the Lone Star State. The only outsider thus far is California quarterback Nate Bennett. The Bears are marginally behind at this point, though, as their 85.78 average commit rating is 11th of the 14 conference teams. But again, it’s too early in the cycle to make any sweeping statements.

11. TCU

National Rank: 64th
No. of Commits: 5
Top Commit: Travis Jackson, Edge, No. 434 overall

Fresh off a national title game appearance the Horned Frogs rank 11th in the Big 12 in recruiting? Again, too early. TCU’s 88.14 average commit rating ranks fourth in the league. Three of TCU’s commits rank in the Top 500 nationally. All of the Horned Frogs commits hail from the Lone Star State.

12. BYU

National Rank: 70th
No. of Commits: 6
Top Commit: Siosefa Brown, Edge

The addition of BYU to the league brings about westward expansion. All five of the Cougars commits are from west of the the old Big 12 with three coming from Utah, two from Arizona and one from California. BYU has commits four listed as three-star recruits, but none are in the national composite rankings.

13. Texas

National Rank: 71st
No. of Commits: 3
Top Commit: Hunter Moddon, Athlete, No. 92 overall

Point and laugh while you can because it’s another numbers game. The Longhorns have only three commits (and one is a punter). UT’s 88.40 average commit rating is third in the conference (and again, one of the Longhorns’ commits is a punter).

14. Houston

National Rank: 96th
No. of Commits: 1
Top Commit: Zion Taylor, Edge

Alright, it is early doors for the 2024 class, but it might be OK to be a little worried about Houston. Perhaps it’ll be a heavy portal year for Dana Holgorsen and Co. The Cougars finished the 2023 class ranked 48th nationally — ahead of Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas and BYU and not far behind Oklahoma State and West Virginia. So maybe this slow start is just that, a slow start.