johnnyf, look at it this way. I am coming off a National Title at DII and you went 8-5 last season (In reality it is more than one season but it illustrates the point.)
I need 12 recruits, and so do you.
That's 72K each.
I have 18K from playoff rewards, you have 6K
So, now I have 90K to your 78K
The recruits I can see at the top, maybe 5 schools can see and no SIMs
Your best recruits are seen by 60 SIMs and thus have SIMs on them.
Therefore, for my other 11 recruits, I am able to have minimum battles and lock them all up for 45K, conservatively
I have 45K left
You had to battle some, settle some, and get some lesser guys. It cost you 65K
You have 13K left.
We both notice a running back that is Sky's the Limit. He is 1 mile from your campus and 2500 from mine.
Does the distance give you an advantage? For sure. You can send him CVs for 800 and it costs me 2200.
However, you can send him about 15 CV out of your 13K if you consider that you scouted him and need to sign him.
Nonethles, I can send him 20 CV with my 45K. And I have prestige to boot.
In short, it is a science, but at the lower levels prestige doesn't help you win battles, it gives you more options to avoid battles.
DIA is it's on thing, however, as the prestige levels are more significant and more hard coded between Non BCS, BCS and Elite