When PJ Fleck was at Western Michigan he said he wouldn't go beyond 200 miles of Kalamazoo to recruit. (now that easy to say when Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis and Grand Rapids are in that circle) His point was he wanted the players parents to be in the stands. When he got to Minnesota the Gophers players were from Florida Texas Georgia etc. they hardly recruited their own state.
When Fleck arrived he said he was going to recruit Minnesota first and formost. Minnesota has one Div 1 school and a ton of Div III schools. Same as Wisconsin but the Badgers rarely miss out on a Wisconsin kid. Both state might have a couple Div II schools. St Thomas in Minni-no-place just moved to FCS last year. All the tweener Div I players from Minnesota were going to NDSU. It's 150 miles from Minni-no-place. NDSU coaches could promise those kids a chance to play close to home play, 14-15 games a year, get plenty of looks from NFL scouts yada yada yada.
Fleck has stated taking those 3 star recruits that the Bison use to get and making the state proud of their team again. He's had a big impact on the Golden Corral crew. Keep an eye on St Thomas too. Those guys are gaining momentum.