Agree on MSU, they probably cheat like the rest of the south, but there's no doubt that Mullen is coaching his a$$ off and is due for a promotion in the near future.
yeah LSU is not a top 25 team this year. ATM idk, maybe top 25 but definitely not top 15
You missed where I said per-capita. They are actually 6th (7th if you count DC)
And schools like Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Tennessee, to name a few, poach the top talent out of Mississippi, and keep their own home talent. The rest of the in-state talent is left to split between Miss St, Ole Miss, and Southern Miss. Even in Mississippi they are the bastard stepchild to Ole Miss in most aspects (similar to KSU and Kansas, and yes, I know that KSU has become the better football school). If MSU was the only decent school in the area your thread ending post might have some merit. But it isn't, and it doesn't.
I think a lot of that had to do with how weak the surrounding state schools were for most of the time. We got a decent share of top talent out of Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, the Dakotas, and even Colorado. As Missouri, KSU, and CU improved, more of those states' talent stayed home.
Tom's recruiting rankings rose and fell, but you're right that he consistently brought in elite talent from across the country (though there were many fans in the 70's and late 80's to early 90's that may have disputed that). The major differences fall under how few National programs there were that played on TV back then, the level at which TO won (I disagree that Bo can match even the pre-90's level, but almost no one in history can) and the rules that allowed us to use kids that don't qualify academically today, which TO and our support staff used brilliantly to make up for our geographical disadvantage.
