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Big 12 Recruiting: National Signing Day 2016 winners and losers

By Nicholas Ian Allen

Feb 3, 2016; Aldine, TX, USA; Jeffrey McCulloch announces that he will be attending the University of Texas to play football at Benjamin Davis High School. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 3, 2016; Aldine, TX, USA; Jeffrey McCulloch announces that he will be attending the University of Texas to play football at Benjamin Davis High School. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong celebrates winning the game against the Oklahoma Sooners during the Red River rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Texas won 24-17. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong celebrates winning the game against the Oklahoma Sooners during the Red River rivalry at Cotton Bowl Stadium. Texas won 24-17. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /

National Signing Day 2016 is in the books and the Big 12 produced four of the top 25 classes in the country. Who were the winners and losers in the league?

The Southeastern Conference may have dominated the national leaderboard on National Signing Day 2016, but the Texas Longhorns were one of the most talked about programs in the country Wednesday.

After shuffling through the 2016 recruiting cycle with a list of commitments that ranked in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 and well outside the top 25 in the nation, Texas made a huge statement by adding 20 signees, including previously uncommitted star safety Brandon Jones and linebacker and Jeffrey McCulloch, and also flipped top-100 recruit Erick Fowler from LSU.

The late charge sent the Longhorns all the way to No. 1 in the league and nearly launched Texas into the top ten of 247Sports’ Composite class rankings. In the process, the Longhorns passed Baylor and TCU – both of whom nabbed their best-ever recruiting classes – and archival Oklahoma.

Texas is obviously one of the biggest winners in the Big 12 on National Signing Day, but what about the rest of the league? Who landed their top targets, and who missed a golden opportunity to build a program? We take a closer look at five winners and losers.

*Note: The recruiting rankings mentioned in the following pages refer to the 247Sports Composite unless otherwise noted. 

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