[MikefromOhio]

Well that and Ohio State can get the pick of the litter in a football crazy state, being that they are the only powerhouse team here.

Michigan can't even say that, but Penn State can every so often, especially since Pitt hasn't exactly been dominating in the past 30 years or so.

[JeffAtlanta]

Agreed - controlling your own state is the first step to becoming a powerhouse. I was under the impression that ND, Miami, UF, FSU, Tennessee and Michigan came in and cherry picked Ohio here and there. Tresell probably put a stop to a lot of that though but it is hard to stop FSU, Tennessee or ND when they really want someone.

LSU became a power by controlling its home state and stopping the cherry picking. Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M and FSU used to come in a raid that state of all the top recruits. Saban put a stop to that but we'll have to see if holds.

I've always wondered why Illinois hasn't been able to field a powerhouse team. Football might not be as big there as in other state, but the state is huge in population.

[aft_lizard]

Obviously teams like OSU and Penn State and even Michigan have the homefield advantage in each state but I also add the Noerth East as part of there recruiing grounds, the closer to home a student stay with a top notch program the better everybody feels, there are exceptions like the New Jersey to Nebraska pipeline, but I think if Rutgers is for real, and maintains program consistency we may soon see them become a top ten power, especially after JoePa leaves at PSU, Rutgers would be able to recruit heavily in the Philly area or most of Eastern Pennsylvania. Rutgers is on my programs to watch list this year, possible top twenty.