Just as interesting as the states represented in the University of Wisconsin football team’s 2008 recruiting class are the states not represented.
Did you ever think you would see a day when the Badgers would land a total of six players from SEC country (Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas) and another three from Texas — and zero players from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, four states in the Northeast that have been very good to UW over the years?
The 2008 class that was unveiled Wednesday wasn’t a fluke year, either. The Badgers also didn’t sign any players from the Northeast last year and signed just one — John Moffitt of Connecticut — in the 2006 class, Bret Bielema’s first after taking over for Barry Alvarez.
What once was a rich recruiting area for UW under Alvarez has turned into an afterthought under Bielema.