There are exceptions, but by and large, to win consistently in big-time college football, you have to recruit at an elite level. There are only a handful of teams that have done that since 247Sports started measuring and keeping track of these sorts of things and Ohio State is one of them (sorry Michigan, but nope).
And with a program like Ohio State, the reach has been national with players coming from many different states. Sure, Ohio is king when it comes to talent committing to the program, but other states like Florida, Texas, and California have also sent plenty of players to the banks of the Olentangy.
