Drs. Peter Groothuis and Dennis Guignet, faculty members in Appalachian State University's Department of Economics, along with App State MBA Alumnus Adam Houston, published an article, Competitive Recruiting Imbalances Between National Collegiate Athletic Association Conferences, in the Journal of Sports Economics.
The study uses a novel panel dataset of high school football recruiting outcomes from 2014 to 2023, covering 120 programs, to analyze competitive imbalances in recruiting across NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision conferences.
The researchers found that conference affiliation plays a major role in the distribution of athletic talent. While most universities in Power Five conferences recruit similar numbers of highly rated players, programs in the Southeastern Conference consistently outperform others in recruiting success, even after controlling for on‑field performance. In contrast, universities in the Group of Five conferences face systematic disadvantages in attracting top recruits.
The findings have broader implications beyond athletics, as football performance has been linked to university outcomes such as student applications, admissions quality, and endowment growth.
