espn.com: Rust Belt states see football recruiting shift toward south
As part of his remarks at last week's Big Ten meetings, commissioner Jim Delany said that one of the compelling reasons for expanding the conference was the population shift out of the Midwest.
No one in the league had been in a hurry to accept that, writes ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel, but coaches have been concerned for at least a decade about football's base moving toward the Sun Belt.
Maisel explores the shift and its ramifications on football from Pop Warner to the Big Ten.
Here's a snippet:
"The best teams are found where the best players are raised. The 2010 ESPNU ranking of the top 150 high school players included 28 from Florida, 24 from Texas and 18 each from California and Georgia. Michigan had five, Pennsylvania four. Ohio, home of The Ohio State University and home of famed high schools such as Massillon and Moeller, had two."
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