Signing Day Cap Can Even Playing Field

Another National Signing Day has passed and once again the SEC is on top.

For the fourth time in the past five years, Rivals.com gave Alabama and coach Nick Saban a national recruiting title, inking three five-star prospects. SEC schools also made up five of the top 15 recruiting classes according to ESPN's experts.

It's no doubt that the SEC's success on signing day has helped translate to six consecutive national titles on field. But there's a seldom talked about factor helping those southern schools.

SEC members are notorious for oversigning, where a school signs more recruits than available scholarships. That allows SEC coaches to take more gambles and erase mistakes by revoking scholarships.

During the SEC's title dominance, four of its six champions signed at least 14 more players than their opponent in the four years leading up to the game.

Auburn signed 19 more than Oregon, Alabama signed 18 more than Texas, LSU signed 14 more than Ohio State while Florida signed 16 more than the Buckeyes. The only exception was Oklahoma, who signed three more recruits than Florida.

But the playing field is starting to level, and that's great for college football as a whole.

The SEC passed a soft cap limiting the number of signees between Dec. 1 and May 31 to 25 to comply with the NCAA. What that does is limit a coach's ability to manage their roster and possibly replace athletes who may not qualify to play in the Fall.

"You used to always have that buffer to cover yourself for guys who won't make it (academically) if you oversigned by two or three. Now, not only would you lose the guy who may not make it, but you also lose the guy who may fill that place," ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill explained to AL.com.

Another move that could level the recruiting field and make college football better is offering multi-year scholarships.

Several blue-chip programs including Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan in the Big 10 reportedly offered those scholarships this year. In the SEC, only Auburn and Florida said they gave extended scholarships.

Again, this will limit a head coach's ability to replace players who may not live up the hype with new "top" recruits.

It remains to be seen if that could become a recruiting advantage, but the rule gives student-athletes some protection from losing their scholarships due to how they play or if they get hurt.

The SEC still has the upper hand with huge fan bases, bigger budgets and a football-crazed culture in the South. But for fans who wish the conference would stop dominating BCS title games, these signing day changes could be a small chink in the armor.