Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts have really two high major programs - Ohio State and Penn State. Yes Cincy and Pitt are doing well of late. But they are not high major programs, and, particularly in the case of Cincy, offer nothing close to the level of education at the only two consistent high major programs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._by_population
That is two programs per 62.2 million people.
A lot of good Football players come out of these states.
I notice you have not addressed the recruiting disappointments for Duke Football this and last year. You may not follow these that closely.
Some of the recruiting mishaps have been self-inflicted wounds which suggest little weight is given superior academic credentials in the recruiting process. For example, Duke's snub of high major offered DE Henry Anderson whose high school coach confirmed that he wanted to come to Duke but that our coaching staff snubbed him entirely.
http://duke.scout.com/a.z?s=167&p=8&c=1&nid=4023411
You are aware of Stanford's tremendous success.
http://duke.scout.com/a.z?s=167&p=9&c=14&yr=2010
Notice 7 of 21 of the verbal commits for 2010 are from the South. Yes there are good Football players in the South who are very well qualified academically. Our chances of landing them are much improved if we target and screen firstly for the best students - like Stanford. But this is SEC country.
Cold, snowy winters up north may also help us in recruiting, where kids commonly dont grow up dreaming of playing for Alabama, but where they may grow up dreaming of going to Penn or Harvard. Enter stage left - our new Defensive Coordinator.