KU should be bowl eligible every 3-4 years. While Kansas is not a highly populated state, it is a beautiful school situated in the center of the country, and close to recruiting hotbeds of Texas, Oklahoma and even Chicago. The basketball program is national and plays in a great conference, so no reason why the football program can't have SOME success. The UW / Kansas academic comparison is irrelevant. UW is marginally more competitive, but KU has an honors program that matches with any public school in the country (of 5 star honors programs, Michigan and VA included, not Washington). These players don't care... they want a degree and the ability to play on TV and possibly professionally. Last year's super bowl champ had two kids from KU and one from defending national champ Alabama. go figure, not as straight forward as one would think.