By Todderick Hunt | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The Big Ten is historically one of the top football conferences in the country, boasting multiple top 25 recruiting classes on an annual basis. But each school has something different to offer. Check out each Big Ten school's greatest recruiting tool for the 2018 recruiting cycle.

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Photo courtesy of campuspressbox.com

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Rutgers: Proximity to New York City

Former head coach Greg Schiano was the first to truly play up Rutgers' close proximity to Manhattan, utilizing the bright lights of Times Square and the business opportunities/internships The Big Apple presents. During official visits, recruits would be taken to the ESPN Zone, and once that closed, Dave & Buster's. Current head coach Chris Ash recently took recruits to Madison Square Garden to watch the mens' basketball program compete, utilizing N.Y. in his own way. And Rutgers' facilities upgrades could also go along way in having Rutgers be viewed as a legitimate Big Ten-caliber program.

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Big Ten returning starters

Who has the most players coming back?

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Ohio State: Urban Meyer

There are a handful of head coaches throughout college football who are even bigger than their programs, due to their track records for success, and Meyer is one of them. He has three national titles and is in the thick of the championship picture, annually. The Ohio native is a multiple coach of the year award winner and has sent countless players to the NFL, where they have gone on to live fruitful lives. As far as facilities, the Woody Hayes Athletic Center has its own waterfall, as the property was most recently renovated in 2014.

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Penn State: Tradition

Not many programs sell itself like Penn State, one of the most tradition-laden schools throughout the country. It is known traditionally for not having names on the backs of its jerseys, the school bus ride that drops players off at Beaver Stadium, the school's pregame chants, the collective singing of Hey Baby during the third and fourth quarters, and not allowing opponents to take their field until absolutely necessary. PSU earned consensus national titles in 1982 and 1986, four Big Ten titles, have gone to 46 bowl games and have produced 39 consensus All-Americans.

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Ohio State: Behind enemy lines

Overqualified coaching staff?

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MIchigan: The Big House

We could have easily gone with Harbaugh, arguably the most polarizing head coach in college football today. But as important as he's been to the success of the Wolverines, there is nothing like being able to tell a recruit that he'll play in front of more fans at Michigan than at any other stadium throughout the country. The Big House was built in was built in 1927 and has an official capacity of 107, 601, making it the largest college stadium in America. Michigan is also perceived as having the best in-door facilities in the conference. The Al Glick Field House is monstrous at approximately 104,049 square feet.

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Minnesota: P.J. Fleck

First-year head coach P.J. Fleck is a guy recruits want to play for due to his infectious personality and love for the game. And on top of that, he's proven he can win turning a marginal Western Michigan program into a two-time division winner in 2015 and 2016, and conference winner in 2016. He was also named MAC Coach of the Year in 2014.

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Chris Ash studies the Chicago Cubs

What has he learned from the World Series champs?

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Photo courtesy of alumni.northwestern.edu

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Northwestern: High academic/big-time football combo

Northwestern offers recruits the opportunity to attend a top rated academic school, which also competes under the bright lights of the Big Ten. And that has always been the biggest selling point for the Wildcats. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald having played at the school is also key, as he accomplished lots at the school, winning the Chuck Bednarik, Bronko Nagurski and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year awards in 1995 and 1996. He was also a two-time consensus All-American. So the man talks from experience.

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Photo courtesy of theonlycolors.com

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Michigan State: Player development

The Michigan State staff has developed a reputation for developing the prospects they sign, despite remaining middle of the pack within the conference recruiting rankings on an annual basis. Mark Dantonio has spearheaded this effort since touching down in East Lansing in 2007. Current Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi, who was defensive coordinator at MSU from 2007 to 2014, also played a big role in the culture created at the school. The Spartans have three Big Ten titles since Dantonio's arrival. And he also earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors in 2010 and 2013.

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Chris Ash on Aaron Judge

Sees him as a left tackle.

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Brian Ray/The Gazette-KCRG

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Iowa: All eyes on you

Hawkeyes football is one of the biggest attractions sports fans can support in Iowa, which elevates the players into stars within the eyes of the community. And it also helps that they've been winning under head coach Kirk Ferentz (135-92 at Iowa), who provides a calming force after being at the school for 18 years, tied for the longest current tenured coach in FBS ball. The program is also thought to be on the upswing, and considered a program which develops its players.

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Photo courtesy of intellectualgridiron.com

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Purdue: Early playing time

Purdue has a large senior class going into the 2017 season, meaning there is opportunity for incoming recruits to compete as freshman for newly-appointed head coach Jeff Brohm in 2018.

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Rutgers practice fields update

Why they might not be used every day in training camp.

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Illinois: NFL ties

Although the NFL not being guaranteed, deep down inside, most recruits have a desire to play at the highest level. And what better coach to guide them there than Lovie Smith, who spent eight years as coach of the Chicago Bears and one year as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was the NFL's coach of the Year in 2005, and led the Bears to Super Bowl XLI, which they lost to the Indianapolis Colts.

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Photo courtesy of FootballHelmets.com

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Indiana: Senior leadership

Indiana returns 17 of its 22 starters from 2016, and is a senior-laden team. This means that recruits will be around a number of older, experienced guys when they visit, which could ingratiate them to the program. The Hoosiers' schedule should also allow for them to win some games in 2017 with seven teams slated that finished below 85th in the final S&P rankings in 2016.

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Nebraska: Behind enemy lines

A Jersey guy is running the show for the Cornhuskers.

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Maryland: Under Armour

Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank attended the University of Maryland, and has become its biggest donor and business partner. Maryland has the biggest Under Armour deal of any school throughout the country, which trickles down to players in facilities, gear and accessories. The university is in the process of spending $155 million on facilities upgrades, a large portion of which was donated by Plank. College Park also sits right between Washington D.C. and Baltimore, where there is always a ton going on. And there is also a ton of local talent that the staff sells on being able to stay home and bring a title to town.

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Wisconsin: Gameday experience

There are some strong game day atmospheres in the Big Ten like Penn State and Ohio State. But the best game day experience takes place, arguably, in Madison, Wisconsin, where fans "jump around" at the end of the third quarter of every game, and are made apart of the game experience from the pregame to the post-game. The Badgers also sell themselves as one of the last remaining predominantly pro-style offenses in the conference, and are known for landing some of the country's biggest and most physical offensive linemen, year after year, because of that.

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Morgan State: Behind enemy lines

Dak Prescott's former backup is running the offense.

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Photo courtesy of Huskers.com

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Nebraska: Consistently packed house

The Cornhuskers have sold out every home game since Lyndon B. Johnson was president of the United States (1968), due to its strong tradition of winning -- five national titles -- and the fact that there isn't a whole lot to do within the immediate area of the school. Every seat is always full at Memorial stadium, leaving opposing visiting fans engulfed in red. Being that Nebraska only produces eight to 10 FBS recruits per year, they have to be able to recruit nationally. And the fan support, combined with the tradition, are the school's two greatest draws.

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Todderick Hunt may be reached at thunt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TodderickHunt. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.