2011 National Signing Day chatter....

Signing day is tomorrow. I'll post ESPNU's class ranking when it's more official tomorrow.

If anybody doesn't have access and wants to know about their school's class, say so in here and I'll post it tomorrow.

In the meantime, some random chatter from the ESPNU blog.

Saban rumors hurt recruiting?

Could the rumors that Nick Saban is flirting with the Tennessee Titans opening hurt Alabama's recruiting? It hasn't yet with the Tide having picked up 23 commitments thus far.

But as we close in on National Signing Day, the constant departure rumors could force those pledges, who chose to play for Saban, rather than Alabama, to play elsewhere

Football Rumor Mill kept the idea of Saban going to Tennessee alive with this tweet. Saban's history has made him a talked about candidate at most openings after all his seasons at Alabama. But few have happened this late in recruiting.

While the likelihood of Saban going to Tennessee is probably slim-to-none, until a coach is picked there, any slight hint at a candidacy will be used against him on the recruiting trail, which could hurt Alabama's haul on signing day.

Pitt making a push

The Pittsburgh Panthers are trying not to let any sort of coaching upheaval hurt their recruiting.

During their big weekend, the Panthers received commitments from a pair of recruits from the state of Florida, LaQuentin Smith and Roderick Ryles. Furthermore, Pitt picked up their commitments after both had visited rival West Virginia -- an even bigger coup for the Panthers.

Also, Pitt got the last shot at former Arizona State commitment Michael Eubank.

The thought was that two coaching changes would hurt the Panthers recruiting, but at least now it seems that new coach Todd Graham is doing his best to cobble together a class that currently has 16 total commitments.

The Huggins effect

In recruiting, when one chip falls, several follow. Rutgers hopes this will happen after following running back Savon Huggins' commitment to the Scarlet Knights.

ESPN's Corey Long says Rutgers coach Greg Schiano hopes Huggins'pledge will lead to defensive tackle Marquise Wright to come to Rutgers. Wright was choosing in between Rutgers and Michigan State on signing day.

Even if Rutgers can't land Wright, the hope is that Huggins' presence could sway other names on the fence to come to Piscataway.

LSU's numbers

How many players will LSU sign? The Tigers have proposed to the NCAA that they will sign only 23 players due to self-reported violations.

But Scott Rabalais of The Advocate wonders what will happen if a big-named recruit decides at the last second, if he wants to come to Baton Rouge. The article points out if, say, Jadeveon Clowney, decided to go to LSU, how would the Tigers -- whose commitment list has already hit 23, react?

Also, with SEC teams constantly taking more commitments than they know will enroll, will the Tigers once again get caught up in an arms race -- despite their pledge to not take more than 23 recruits.

Hoke's recruiting decision

In some ways, Michigan's Brady Hoke has some tough decisions to make.

As this story in the Detroit Free Press questions, should Hoke go to the mat and try to sign several remaining recruits? Or should he pocket the scholarships for a time when he's better able to sign a class worthy of the blue-blooded program? "It's an impossible task, but what (Hoke's) doing is rallying the troops," recruiting analsyt Tom Lemming told the Free Press. "The key is not to offer scholarships that come back and bite you in the butt. Save them and have (extra) next year."

With that being said, Michigan has received 17 commitments for this year. If Hoke decides to bite the bullet and wait for next year's class to use most of his scholarships, the Wolverines could bring in quite a haul.

The next Cam Newton?

Ever since Cam Newton transferred to Auburn, won the Heisman, and led the Tigers to the national championship, it seems like everyone is trying to catch similar lightning in a bottle. LSU is no different. Mike Huguenin of Rivals.com says junior college transfer Zach Mettenberger may not provide a similar impact as Newton, but could at least boost LSU's passing game. Last season, starter Jordan Jefferson struggled throwing the ball, which could open the door for Mettenberger.

"What LSU needs is a competent quarterback, something Jefferson wasn't able to be for much of 2010. LSU ran the ball well in 2010 (185.7 yards per game), but the passing attack was abysmal (155.6 ypg, 107th nationally)," Huguenin writes.

Huguenin iterates that Mettenberger isn't as athletic as Newton and can't bring the same type of dynamic game Newton had. But he could certainly come in and change LSU's dynamic early, should Jefferson falter.

Rebs look to poach

Not since Ed Orgeron grabbed Michael Oher and Greg Hardy from nearby Memphis has Ole Miss enjoyed much success in the talent-rich area. Houston Nutt will try to reverse this trend.

According to This story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Ole Miss will try to ramp up its recruiting in Memphis for the 2012 haul.

"We're going to hit Memphis extremely hard; we're going to be very thorough," Nutt told the Commercial Appeal. "Memphis has too many athletes and it's too close to Oxford for us not to make it a recruiting priority."

Memphis is an interesting spot. Technically in Tennessee, in the past, Ole Miss and Arkansas routinely pulled players from the city. Ole Miss' efforts there could affect Tennessee's and Derek Dooley's desire to hold serve in-state with Tennessee.

Ohio lineman headed west?

When you're 6-foot-6, 330 pounds, and you grow up in the Cleveland, you're supposed to go to Ohio State. Apparently, nobody told that to Aundrey Walker.

The monster tackle from Glenville High School hasn't ruled out a commitment to the Buckeyes, but according to ESPN recruiting blogger Bill Kurelic, he is strongly considering playing on the West Coast for Lane Kiffin's USC Trojans. Kurelic says Walker also made official visits to Michigan State, Florida, and Wisconsin, but the race for his services appears to be a two-horse contest between the Trojans and Buckeyes.

Walker is expected to announce his decision Tuesday night.

LSU's DL history pays off

Marcus Spears. Glenn Dorsey. Tyson Jackson. Since 2005, all three of these LSU Tigers were picked in the first round of the NFL draft. Mickey Johnson hopes to add his name to that list.

ESPN Recruiting blogger Corey Long says that Johnson chose LSU in part due to their track record of developing defensive linemen. "When people refer to LSU they call it 'D-Line U' these days because of all the success they have had," said the 6-foot-1, 305-pounder. "The line is always stout and coach [Brick] Haley does a great job."

Johnson had about 30 scholarship offers, and also took visits to Tennessee and Arkansas.

Brissett and the Canes

Al Golden has ramped up his recruiting efforts in order to make up for lost time in Miami. This could pay some unexpected dividends on signing day with a quarterback.

The Miami Herald reports that the Canes are in the running for four-star Palm Beach Dwyer quarterback Jacoby Brissett and have put the full-court press on him.

The story says that the Hurricanes are one of the final few teams in the running for Brissett's services. The others are possibly Florida, Wisconsin and Washington.

UPDATE: Chris Nee of Rivals.com is now reporting that Washington is out of the running for Jacoby Brissett's services.

Louisville's secrets to Fla. success

The Louisville Cardinals have 19 commitments so far in the 2011 recruiting season, with 11 coming from the state of Florida, including seven from Miami. How are they beating schools like Florida, Florida State, and Miami for these athletes?

Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier-Journal says that a lot of the credit goes to Clint Hurtt, the school's football recruiting coordinator. Although he grew up in Rochester, N.Y., Hurtt played three seasons for th Hurricanes and coached at the school when his playing days were over.

"Clint knows everybody from all of his time at Miami," says ESPN recruiting blogger Jamie Newberg. He knows all the twists and turns and do's and don'ts in South Florida. That's a huge thing to have because there's so much talent down there. I would imagine because (of connections), Louisville is going to be a pain in everybody's butt down there for years to come."

Among Louisville's recruits this year is quarterback Teddy Bridgewater from Miami Northwestern. Newberg says Louisville will see the benefits of Bridgewater's commitment for years.

"Teddy is such an important recruit," Newberg says. "He's a superstar at a school that has a direct pipeline to Miami. If he goes there and plays well, I look for Louisville to always be a factor in South Florida. Those kids watch others."

Huskers QB to play baseball?

The good news for Bo Pelini and the Nebraska Cornhuskers: Quarterback Bubba Starling, Kansas' football player of the year, has committed to the school. The bad news: He's coming to school to play football and baseball. The even worse news: If Starling is selected early in Major League Baseball's draft this June, he may skip college altogether.

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports has the story. Starling was so committed to playing both sports that when Nick Saban said he would only play football at Alabama, Starling immediately said no. However, a pro baseball contract could earn Starling more than $5 million, an offer that Starling may not be able to refuse.

One bad sign for the Cornhuskers: Starling has been getting baseball advice from a professional agent. Even worse news: That agent is Scott Boras.

Ex-Texas LB coming to Florida?

Tariq Allen, a redshirt freshman linebacker, is leaving the University of Texas, the school has announced. Allen worked on the Longhorns' scout team in 2009, but did not see the field in 2010.

Could Allen follow former Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp to the Florida Gators? In 2008, Allen told Jared Gravette of InsideTexas.com that he was a fan of Muschamp's defense: "I like the defense that coach (Will) Muschamp is bringing in. It is a very aggressive and attacking defense. I watched all of the linebackers from both the first and second team. I think I learned from watching players on the college level, and I really liked the atmosphere down there."

Ducks stealing USC corner?

Officially, DeAnthony Thomas remains committed to USC. That didn't stop him from visiting Oregon's campus last weekend though. It also didn't stop him from reportedly texting others that he was now leaning away from the cardinal-and-gold, and toward the green-and-yellow-and-black-and-silver-and-charcoal-and-white.

According to ESPN Recruiting blogger Greg Biggins, at least two Trojans recruits say they have received texts from Thomas that say he is favoring the Ducks. Biggins describes Thomas as an individual who wasn't likely to bow to local pressure to go to USC (Thomas attended Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles). He also explains why the timing of Thomas' Oregon visit couldn't have been worse for Southern Cal.

Next step for ill Hawkeyes

While the 13 Iowa Hawkeyes who suffered rhabdomyolysis after a brutal workout session have all been released from the hospital, it's too early to call them healthy yet -- ESPN Big Ten blogger Adam Rittenberg says the players will not be allowed to practice until they have passed several rounds of blood tests to ensure they undergo no further muscle deterioration.

After that? Not surprisingly, Rittenberg says that attorneys have contacted family members of the football players about potential negligence lawsuits.

Lawsuits or not, Rittenberg wants the Iowa coaching staff held accountable: "I want [head coach Kirk] Ferentz, [athletic director Gary] Barta and other Iowa officials to get to the bottom of what happened during those workouts. Only the players and the strength coaches know, but players are loyal and don't want to say things that could come back to hurt their well-respected coaches. No one wants to be labeled a rat or a soft football player."

Crowell or nothing

Georgia is still waiting on one final verbal to complete its in-state Dream Team. Thing is Isaiah Crowell is the most important member and he may not pick the Bulldogs.

The five-star running back would go a long way toward making Georgia a legit SEC East contender in 2011, but Alabama is thought to be a good possibility for the top back in the class. If Crowell does pick the Tide, then Mark Richt may not sign a RB at all until next recruiting season.

As Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes, UGA has put itself in a Crowell or nothing situation. The Bulldogs showed no interest in three-star rushers Marcus Caffey out of Atlanta or Josh Clemons out Fayetteville, Ga., who are both set to sign with Kentucky on Tuesday.

There was some speculation that one of those two might be a back-up plan, but the fact that Crowell is waiting until signing day likely means neither will still be available. That could also end up leaving UGA with a depth chart of Washaun Ealey, Carlton Thomas, Ken Malcome and Caleb King in the backfield. Let's just say that's not necessarily national championship material.

Will Bradley bolt for MLB?

Three-star quarterback Archie Bradley (Broken Arrow, Okla.) is set to sign with the Sooners on Wednesday, but many analysts wonder if he'll ever make it to campus.

Not only is he the No. 19 QB in the country, he's also considered a top-five MLB prospect. So it stands to reason he'll hear his name called during the first round of the draft in June. But he tells John E. Hoover of the Tulsa World that money's not everything and expect to see him in Norman.

Bradley will play both football and baseball for Oklahoma and will likely redshirt for a season behind starter Landry Jones who will be a junior in 2011. (2010 four-star Blake Bell will have four years of eligibility remaining, too.) Bradley will be considered a preferred walk-on for Bob Stoops, which will help the Sooners sign a full class.

Commodores need a signal caller

Academics is often a recruiting-killer for a private school like Vanderbilt. And three-star quarterback Shaun White (Pensacola, Fla.) fell victim to the Commodores' stringent entrance requirements, being told he must go the prep school route.

So White decided to look elsewhere and leaves new coach James Franklin scrambling to get a QB signed on Wednesday. According to ESPN.com recruiting blogger Corey Long, high two-star athlete Josh Grady (Seffner, Fla.) is a good bet to pick Vandy after visiting Nashville over the weekend. Grady was thought to be a Wake Forest lean, but the Demon Deacons have him pegged as a utility player while Grady has his heart set on staying under center. Iowa State is trying to lure him as a QB, while USF would like him to be a defensive back.

The Tennessean reports that no-star, dual-threat QB Jaleel Awini (Aurora, Colo.) is a possibility for Wednesday, as well.

Clowney not done visiting

Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 recruit in the nation, will not announce his college choice until his birthday, Feb. 14. So the speculation about where he'll land will likely only get more intense once signing day has ended.

The top two teams have long been Alabama and South Carolina, but after a visit to Clemson over the weekend, it appears to be a three-way battle. But a report on ESPN Radio Monday night has a fourth team, LSU, in the mix. There are rumors that Clowney will be traveling to Baton Rouge this weekend for an official visit, although Palmetto Sports' Phil Kornblut quotes a source saying the trip is nearly impossible.

Clowney has a basketball game Friday night, a football banquet Saturday afternoon and another basketball game Saturday night. The source could not say with complete certainty that Les Miles wouldn't be seeing the five-star defensive end, but it sure doesn't appear Clowney would have enough time to leave South Carolina without missing at least one of those events.

For what it's worth, ESPN.com's Jamie Newberg tweets that Clowney told him the decision is already made, and Newberg's money is on the Gamecocks.