This article on rivals claims that most of the recruiting talent resides in the south. However the survey below indicates states like Ohio, Michigan, Illinois compete with everyone except Texas in terms of # of high school football players. I also found it interesting Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, Penn, and Indiana all complete with any southern state for participation.
Over the last 10 years have recruiting services, SEC hype, and the national perception really changed things so much that we believe northern schools simply cannot compete? A lot of conclusions can be drawn from these two articles, however I find it hard to believe a state like Illinois can have 38k high school football players and only 5 identified as "blue chip" in 2020. More likely Farrell should be asking if they should reevaluate the way they identify talent.
Re: SEC, Recruiting Rankings, and National Perception
Feb 24, 2020, 4:42 PM
Q: Over the last 10 years have recruiting services, SEC hype, and the national perception really changed things so much that we believe northern schools simply cannot compete?
A: Yes. Read TigerNet comments when any non-Southern team (including tOSU) is discussed.
Total players: SEC 309, ACC 239, Big Ten 224, Pac-12 220, Big 12 132, American 98, Mountain West 68, Conference USA 56, MAC 51, Sun Belt 31
Average per school: SEC 22.1, Pac-12 18.3, ACC 17.1, Big Ten 16.0, Big 12 13.2, American 8.2, Mountain West 5.7, Conference USA 4.3, MAC 3.9, Sun Belt 2.8