Where this is hurting the Big Ten is with elite, one-of-a-kind players who can dominate a game. None of the top-25 recruits in this year's freshman class, as ranked by recruiting site Rivals.com, were from a Big Ten state or chose a Big Ten school. Besides Michigan, which is coming off a 3-9 season and has been sidetracked by a report of possible NCAA violations, the conference's pillar programs aren't significantly changing their recruiting patterns. Ohio State's 2009 roster lists a combined 12 Floridians, Californians and Texans, compared to 14 in 2002. Penn State is only slightly less reliant on its region: 59% of its current players are from Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey, down from 65% seven years ago.