Haven't read the entire thread, but from my experience at OSU in 2 worlds, B1G elites don't battle that much because it's pretty obvious who everyone is going to go after using Yatzr's tool distance info, because a lot of recruits only have 1 elite <180 miles. Just throwing out guesses at % distribution, I'd say 50% have 1 elite <180 miles, 40% have 2 elites <180 miles, then 10% have 3 elites <180 miles. So naturally, I'm going after the guys where I'm the only elite <180 miles. I probably have 1-2 elite battles per season there max over the ones where 2 elites are <180 miles (almost always OSU vs. Michigan), but it's never a complete bloodbath just because of geography. Most elites will never give up a recruit where they have a distance advantage, so those battles are pretty rare.
That said, one thing that infuriates me is when a coach in any world sitemails me after the first cycle, saying they are going hard after X, Y, and Z who we are both on (usually happens at lower levels that I can remember). Every time I get those I just ignore them and never respond, because it's obviously collusion and a douche thing to do, but I always wonder how other coaches are reacting to the same sitemails. I doubt people are just straight up list-sharing prior to recruiting, but I would guess sitemailing after Cycle 1 is way more common. Stay woke