recruiting in the south is like shooting fish in a barrel. 4 of the 6 teams are in texas, and both oklahoma teams are big in the minds of texas players, they have always recruited well out of texas.
For the teams of the north, it is a much, much harder issue. Bad weather cerainly doesnt help, neither does the fact that all the of north schools have had bad coaching hires, or internal issues and scandals(CU) sence the big 12 was formed.
Basicly the entire north is rebuilding(NU, CU, KSU) or have never been dominant teams, even back to the big 8 days(ISU, KU, MU) . In the age of instant gratifacation, people want what they want now. The reality of it is that it takes time to rebuild a winner, especially with the parity around these days. The south teams that were rebuilding are ahead of the north right now. Some of the schools need time(NU, CU, KSU), and some really need to look at a coaching change(ISU, MU)
While it is entirely possible that NU finnishes with the same record as a year ago, the teams NU faced this year are a bit better than a year ago.