When Nebraska was in the Big 12 they could go to a 5 star stud in Texas and say our campus might be far away, but we're going to play in your state every single year. If there happened to be a blue-chip recruit from Iowa, Missouri, or Colorado they could guarantee a game not only in-state, but close to home (since they are much smaller than Texas) at least every other year. Now that they are in the Big 10, they have nothing to sell a recruit from Texas. Our campus is 600 miles away, we aren't a powerhouse, and we're never going to play close to you.
Despite not being in a conference, Notre Dame subscribes to this line of thinking to some extent in making schedules. One rationale for the Shamrock Series was bringing games to recruiting hotbeds. We close every season in California (and used to in south Florida every other year) so we can recruit players from talent-rich areas. We've always tried to schedule games in the NY metro area to be close to NJ's blue chip recruits. It's certainly not the only reasoning; those areas also have many alums, football history plays a part, and other factors; but access to recruits is indisputably part of the logic.
The common line of thinking is that Nebraska lost access to their major recruiting base when they switched from the Big 12 to the Big 10. The problem is the facts don't back that up. Nebraska had 164 players play on a team that won at least a share of a national championship (70, 71, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 93, 94, 95, 97, or 99) and made a pro roster (NFL, CFL, WFL, or USFL). Presumably these were the best players on the Cornhuskers' best teams. Of course Nebraska led the way with 58 of those players. The other top states were California (13), Texas (11), New Jersey and Iowa (9 each), South Dakota, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Arizona (4 each).
The Cornhuskers obviously play just as many games in Nebraska as they did in the Big 12 or Big 8. The second biggest recruiting hotbed for them was California. In their 12 national championship years they played 3 games in California. In their 10 Big Ten years they've played 4. The third hotbed, Texas has taken a hit, as they played six games there in their championship years and none since they joined the Big Ten. They played two games in New Jersey in their 12 championship years and one in their 10 Big Ten years. They played 7 games in Iowa in 12 championship years and 5 in the their 10 Big Ten years. Obviously they never played in South Dakota. Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Arizona had 10 games in 12 championship years and 9 games in 10 Big Ten years. So the only recruiting base they've lost access to is Texas. Texas wasn't nearly as important a recruiting base as many people make it seem though. It trailed California in difference-making players and New Jersey and Iowa were just behind despite being much smaller states.