Did anyone read this week's Sports Illustrated and the story about college football recruiting. They showed a map of the US breaking down by state and county the number of kids that signed NLIs to play at a BCS school from 2004-2008 (five classes). If you break it down, it gives a good understanding of what challenges Minnesota faces.
For example, during the five-year period, Los Angeles alone produced between 150 and 320 BCS recruits. That is just Los Angeles and not the rest of California. The entire state of Minnesota produced a maximum of 58 BCS recruits. The map does not give exact numbers, but rather ranges. Anyway, no wonder USC is pretty good each year as long as they lock down their own city. I know they compete against UCLA in recruiting, but outside of the Bruins they really only have to compete in state with Cal.
No surprise that the southeast is littered with a high percentage of BCS recruits. Anyway, if you look at the map, Minnesota really is on the outside of the BCS hotspots when you think about that we have to recruit against all of the Big Ten and Notre Dame in their backyards. We are just not in a populated area for BCS football players
For example, during the five-year period, Los Angeles alone produced between 150 and 320 BCS recruits. That is just Los Angeles and not the rest of California. The entire state of Minnesota produced a maximum of 58 BCS recruits. The map does not give exact numbers, but rather ranges. Anyway, no wonder USC is pretty good each year as long as they lock down their own city. I know they compete against UCLA in recruiting, but outside of the Bruins they really only have to compete in state with Cal.
No surprise that the southeast is littered with a high percentage of BCS recruits. Anyway, if you look at the map, Minnesota really is on the outside of the BCS hotspots when you think about that we have to recruit against all of the Big Ten and Notre Dame in their backyards. We are just not in a populated area for BCS football players