Michigan State football finishes 4th in Rivals 2023 Big Ten team rankings
With fall camp having officially started across the country ahead of the 2023 college football season, Rivals has released its Comprehensive Team Rankings for the cycle and Michigan State is near the top of the Big Ten Conference.
The Spartans finished the 2023 recruiting cycle with the fourth-best combined class in the conference and the 29th-best in the country. Overall, MSU finished with an average 3.12 ranking and 2,336 points.
With the age of the transfer portal, the comprehensive team rankings incorporates how a program navigates both high school and transfer recruiting. Rivals has created an individual ranking for each of high school recruiting and transfer portal recruiting, but combines those two separate categories for an overall picture of the recruiting landscape at each school as well.
Michigan State finished behind Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan in the Big Ten. The Wolverines (22) finished just seven spots ahead of the Spartans in the national landscape, though, and the Nittany Lions (19) at 10 spots ahead. The Buckeyes were No. 6 nationally.
Behind MSU was Nebraska (31), Wisconsin (34), Iowa (36), Minnesota (45), Illinois (52), Maryland (53), Indiana (54), Northwestern (55), Purdue (61), and Rutgers (69).
Of the soon to be additions to the Big Ten, USC (3) finished ahead of all current league members, including MSU, while Oregon (8) finished ahead of all but the Buckeyes. UCLA (26) and Washington (27) also finished ahead of Michigan State.
Alabama took the top spot in the rankings, while Georgia finished second. You can find the full 2023 rankings here.
Michigan State finished the 2023 cycle with the No. 37-ranked recruiting class nationally. MSU inked seven four-star recruits and another nine three-stars in the class with 16 ranked commits signed (and 17 total between high school and junior college). That was good for seventh in the conference standings as well.
MSU fared better in the transfer rankings with the No. 24 class nationally and No. 3 in the Big Ten. Michigan State inked two four-stars and 10 three-stars through the portal.
The recruiting class was buoyed by several top prospects. Among those who signed included Rivals250 prospects Jordan Hall (linebacker), Bai Jobe (defensive end), Andrew DePaepe (defensive end), and Jalen Thompson (defensive end)
Meanwhile, the transfer class for MSU was led by defensive linemen Tunmise Adeleye and Ken Talley, both top-100 rankings in the portal. Adeleye finished No. 19 overall. As for Talley, he technically transferred at the start of the 2022 season, but had to redshirt. He finished No. 55 in the portal rankings.
Read:
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Michigan State will kick off the 2023 campaign in just three weeks when Central Michigan visits Spartan Stadium on Friday, Sept. 1. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time and the game will be broadcast on FS1.