ESPN.com: Report says Michigan led the B1G with a $577,663 football recruiting budget in 2011

By Nick Baumgardner University of Michigan Sports Reporter

Posted on Tue, Jun 12, 2012 : 2:48 p.m.

Football recruiting costs money. A lot of money, actually.

And in 2011, few schools in the country spent money on luring newcomers to its campus than the Michigan football program.

According to research compiled by ESPN.com on Tuesday, Michigan spent $577,663 on recruiting in 2011, a number that ranked No. 1 overall in the Big Ten and No. 11 nationally.

According to the report, Michigan's recruiting budget climbed $88,251 from 2010, ex-coach Rich Rodriguez's last year with the program.

Illinois was second in the Big Ten last year with a recruiting bill of $545,363, while Nebraska was third at $478,554.

The report did not include information from either Penn State, who does not have to submit information due to Pennsylvania's absence of open record laws, and Northwestern, a private institution.

Michigan State spent $383,448, according to the report, while Ohio State spent $320,938. Interestingly enough, defending champion Wisconsin was at the bottom of the list with a budget of $204,181.

Tennessee -- who went 5-7 a year ago -- led the country by nearly $500,000 with an overall 2011 recruiting budget of $1.47 million.

Tags: Recruiting, Wolverines,

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Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.