Baylor Bears

Top Big 12 Football Takeaways from 2024 National Signing Day

By Bryan Clinton

Posted on February 7, 2024

Oct 7, 2023; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders walks the sidelines as his team takes on the ASU Sun Devils at Mountain America Stadium.

While it might not feel like it, today is February 7, 2024, which means that it’s National Signing Day for college football programs around the country.

The early signing period back in December took the cake when it comes to drama, storylines, and well, signings, as that’s become the time when most teams lock up their classes of the future.

Still, there were a few noteworthy things to take from NSD 2024, and here’s what you need to know when it comes to the Big 12.

Big 12 Finishes Outside of Top 20

For the first time in 247Sports history, the Big 12 will not have a single team in the league finish inside the top 20 of the 2024 recruiting rankings. In fact, only one team in the league is finishing inside the Top 30, as Texas Tech checks in with the No. 24 class, nationally. To make matters worse, all five former Big 12 teams will finish higher than the rest of the new-look league: Texas (No. 6), Oklahoma (No. 8), Nebraska (No. 18), Missouri (No. 19) and Texas A&M (No. 22).

Despite the lack of recruiting prowess, the Big 12 is full of teams that continue to prove that recruiting rankings don’t directly equal success. Programs like Utah, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State have always found profound success without historic recruiting classes, and that doesn’t figure to change anytime soon. There are plenty of schools in the Big 12 that are deeply invested in football, and their track records speak for themselves. Plus, high school recruiting is the least important as it has every been, thanks to the transfer portal. Speaking of the portal…

Big 12 Teams Utilizing the Transfer Portal

Where the league is lacking in recruiting depth, it certainly makes for it in the transfer portal. Despite Colorado ranking 117th in the 2024 recruiting class with just seven commits, the Buffs have a whopping 24 players in their 2024 transfer portal class, placing them fifth nationally. As Deion Sanders prioritizes the portal over high school recruiting, he’s hoping an immediate turnaround is in the cards, and we will see if that produces fruit in a few months.

The Buffaloes aren’t the only Big 12 team making gains via the portal. Despite having just one team in the Top 30 in high school recruiting, the Big 12 has five such teams in the portal rankings: Colorado (No. 5), TCU (No. 13), Arizona State (No. 21), Houston (No. 24), and UCF (No. 28). Interestingly four of those five are newcomers to the league, either by way of the 2023 or 2024 seasons.

National Boring Day: The New Norm

There simply isn’t the same amount of intrigue in National Signing Day in 2024 that there might have been two or three years ago. In fact, many people refer to Early Signing Day in December as National Signing Day, as that is when the vast majority of teams lock up their commitments and turn them to signees before the New Year. Thanks to the transfer portal, football calendar, and the ever-changing NIL landscape, the National Signing Day events that we grew used to in February are a thing of the past, and that’s not likely to change.

Final 2024 Big 12 Recruiting Rankings

Here’s a look at how each of the Big 12 teams’ 2024 high school recruiting classes ended up, courtesy of 247Sports.

2024 Composite Recruiting Rankings

1. Texas Tech (21 Commits); 24th nationally

2. TCU (21 Commits); 34th nationally

3. UCF (18 Commits); 35th nationally

4. Kansas (17 Commits); 43rd nationally

5. BYU (26 Commits); 44th nationally

6. West Virginia (22 Commits); 47th nationally

7. Arizona State (19 Commits); 49th nationally

8. Cincinnati (21 Commits); 50th nationally

9. Iowa State (22 Commits); 53rd nationally

10. Oklahoma State (18 Commits); 56th nationally

11. Kansas State (15 Commits); 57th nationally

12. Utah (15 Commits); 60th nationally

13. Houston (16 Commits); 61st nationally

14. Baylor (14 Commits); 67th nationally

15. Arizona (14 Commits); 81st nationally

16. Colorado (7 Commits); 117th nationally

Final 2024 Big 12 Transfer Portal Rankings

Here’s a look at how each of the Big 12 teams’ 2024 transfer portal classes ended up, courtesy of 247Sports.

2024 Transfer Portal Rankings

1. Colorado (24 Commits); No. 5 Nationally

2. TCU (19 Commits); No. 13 Nationally

3. Arizona State (23 Commits); No. 21 Nationally

4. Houston (18 Commits); 24th Nationally

5. UCF (15 Commits); 28th Nationally

6. Texas Tech (12 Commits); 31st Nationally

7. Cincinnati (17 Commits); 32nd Nationally

8. Utah (9 Commits); 34th Nationally

9. Baylor (9 Commits); 41st Nationally

10. Arizona (9 Commits); 48th Nationally

11. West Virginia (7 Commits); 52nd Nationally

12. Oklahoma State (6 Commits); 55th Nationally

13. Kansas (6 Commits); 58th Nationally

14. Kansas State (4 Commits); 64th Nationally

15. BYU (4 Commits); 66th Nationally

16. Iowa State (4 Commits); 77th Nationally

Final 2024 Big 12 Overall Rankings

Here’s a look at how each of the Big 12 teams’ 2024 overall classes ended up, combining both the high school recruiting and transfer portal classes, courtesy of 247Sports.