Recruiting is much more involved than I want to play for a certain team for a single reason. Recruits look at it much differently than fans.
School matters for alot of kids (and parents), especially for kids who know that the NFL payday is a longest of longshots.
Connecting with recruiters on a personal level is significant.
Who offers the most first is bigger than most people realize, kids want to be wanted.
Teams that evaluate well and use time(attention) and money(scholarships) well, will outrecruit many stadiums and fanbases.
See SDSU for proof in this part of the country.
You aren't recruiting against Texas or Florida or USC for players.
I do believe however that there may not be enough population and qualified players for 4 upper echelon D-1AA teams in area, which makes recruiting all that more difficult and spread out geographically, less time seeing and talking to kids in person, more tape and phone calls. Can't drive to Chicago Friday night to watch a game like you can to Detroit Lakes and have people(parents) notice you in bleachers and know who you are there to watch.