What he says is true. He's just putting a positive spin on the situation. It's called logic, simple logic. What is the recruiting footprint of most B10 teams as it pertains to their geography?
Now think of what is true for Iowa, especially for Iowa (and NE), and most B10 teams. The only team that may disagree is PSU and Michigan. For PSU it's a matter of extreme geography. They're about as far east as you can get. Michigan (maybe NE too) is the only school in the B10 that historically has what resembles a national recruiting base.
ND is most like Michigan in terms of recruiting territory, which is one reason B10 teams would LOVE to see ND come into the fold. NE also helps that as they too have national cache, but.....
I don't know that it makes much difference, it has a lot to do with building relationships with high school coaches, and treating your recruits fairly. Nebraska definitely has a national recruiting base, and has had for years. Since we normally only see it fit to offer scholarships to about 3 or 4 in-state kids per year (some years more, some less), on average, we have to get kids from other areas.
Some people think that we won't get kids from Texas to come to play in the Big 10 as opposed to playing in the Big 12, but we got recruits from Texas when we were in the Big 8 and rarely played down there. Historically, we have got great players from New Jersey, Florida, Oregon, Washington, and California, yet have never played more than one game a year in these states, and sometimes have gone years without playing a game there. Much like Ohio, I can't remember the last time we played there, but Bo has connections, and we have been getting a recruit or two per year from there. Now that we are in the Big 10, will Ohio become more of a focus, maybe. Will we be more successful with top Ohio kids, hopefully. Does that mean that Texas kids won't come play for Nebraska, I doubt it and hope not. It might sway a recruit or two a year, but it should not be a huge impact.
I think that simply playing in a geographical area has little impact on recruiting.
