Like the farmers working the fields all over the Midwest, college football coaches know some years have strong crops and some years don't.

Apparently, drought conditions prevail in 2011.
"It was a very weak year (for college football prospects) in the Midwest, noticeably down," said Tom Lemming, recruiting analyst for CBS College Sports network. "Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, they all had fewer prospects to recruit. Chicago in particular was weak. Western Pennsylvania was exceptionally dry, compared to what we're used to seeing."
Recruiting experts consider the year an exception, not a trend, but the universities that depend upon the Midwest pipeline to supply their programs are understandably faring poorly, relatively speaking, this year.
Scout.com ranks the Big Ten fifth among major conferences this year, said Allen Wallace, the website's national recruiting editor, behind the SEC, Big 12, Pac-12 and even the ACC. Last year, three Big Ten teams' classes ranked among the site's top 20 -- Penn State at No. 9, Michigan at No. 11 and Ohio State at No. 18 -- but on Wednesday, only the Buckeyes, who figure to be among the top five teams, will make the top 20.
ESPN.com likewise places Ohio State seventh and Nebraska 14th, but rates no other Big Ten teams in its top 25.
"It'll bounce back," Lemming said. "Chicago's got a lot of talent next year. This is just an odd year."
Both analysts rate Ohio State as the runaway No. 1 recruiting class in the Big Ten. Lemming said Iowa is having a surprisingly strong year and looks like the league's No. 2 class, and Nebraska should place third. Illinois is the surprise success story, he said, with coach Ron Zook living up to his reputation as a recruiter despite rumors about his job security for much of the season.
Michigan has the same problem as the Gophers -- a new coach who had little time to attract his own players. Brady Hoke has collected a half-dozen relatively good prospects in the past couple of weeks, but the Wolverines will have their weakest crop in a decade, Wallace said. Michigan was ranked in the top 10 by scout.com every season from 2001-2009, but slipped to 11th last year and out of the top 20 completely this year, he said.

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The Gophers will hold a "social" for their fans Wednesday night at TCF Bank Stadium, beginning at 5 p.m. The $25 ticket includes food (a cash bar will be provided as well), a silent auction, stadium tours and, beginning around 6:30 p.m., an analysis of the Gophers recruiting class by coach Jerry Kill.