Penn State’s 2027 recruiting class boosts score following Will Wood commitment

The Penn State football program’s latest addition, a Friday afternoon commitment from three-star quarterback Will Wood, brought with it movement in the 2027 Football Team Recruiting Rankings. Though the Nittany Lions actually dropped one spot to No. 14 after running back Chu Odoh’s Thursday pledge, their overall team score improved.

Checking in with an overall team score of 90.152 on Thursday, Wood’s verbal commitment boosted the Nittany Lions to a 90.273. Penn State’s Class of 2027 now stands at 18 commitments with an average rating of 87.65.

The Nittany Lions stand sixth in the Big Ten, with Southern Cal atop the conference rankings at No. 4, followed by Ohio State at No. 8, Oregon at No. 9, UCLA at No. 11 and Michigan at No. 13. Other Big Ten teams currently in the Top 25 include Nebraska (No. 17), Washington (No. 18) and Wisconsin (No. 24).

What are the Rivals Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings?

A rankings system instituted to continuously reflect the shifting barometer of national class size, the Rivals Industry Football Team Recruiting Rankings currently use eight commitments in the formula.

Along with combining individual player and team rankings from the major recruiting sites, the system compiles each school’s highest-rated commitments to create a rolling average among Power Five programs.

Also unique to the system, the team rankings eliminate bonus points for having more commitments than other programs, reducing the built-in advantages of significantly larger class sizes. The model doesn’t disproportionately weight a program’s handful of top commitments and more appropriately represents the overall talent and depth of a class.

Matt Campbell outlines Penn State recruiting priority

Meeting with Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman of On3 this week, Penn State head coach Matt Campbell explained the recruiting changes that have taken place since taking over the Nittany Lions program this offseason.

Embracing a team-first approach, Campbell and his staff have prioritized fit while following the mold of the sport’s most recent success stories.

“I think college football just got taught a great lesson a year ago. I think when you watch what Coach Cignetti did, and that Indiana team, team was the emphasis of their success,” said Campbell. “And I think when you look at even the last couple national championship teams – obviously they’ve come from this conference – so there’s easily identified replication of team and success that, yes, those teams had great players, but ultimately they were great teams. They were resilient. They were tough. When adversity struck, they had the ability to be unified through it.”

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