The bedrock of college football always has been recruiting.
If that wasn’t the case, no way SMU boosters would’ve dolled out mortgage payments to players in the mid-1980s, right? And the NCAA wouldn’t be so anal about impermissible benefits that it sanctioned a once-homeless Baylor football player for accepting free housing.
It makes sense, then, that geography is a not-so-subtle advantage (or disadvantage) in major college football.
ESPN released a list of the top states by FBS talent between 2006 and 2014. It’s not a surprise five of the SEC teams reside in states that made the Top 10.
MOST FBS SIGNEES BY STATE, 2006-14
| State | FBS Prospects |
|---|---|
| 1. Texas | 1,779 |
| 2. Florida | 1,444 |
| 3. California | 1,112 |
| 4. Georgia | 903 |
| 5. Ohio | 593 |
| 6. North Carolina | 401 |
| 7. Pennsylvania | 372 |
| 8. Virginia | 365 |
| 9. Alabama | 357 |
| 10. Illinois | 311 |
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
