Blog: SEC stays strong in signing-day rankings

SuperPrep (Allen Wallace)	CSTV (Tom Lemming)	Rivals.com (Bobby Burton)	National Blue Chips (Max Emfinger)	ESPN.com (Scouts Inc)
1. Florida	1. Florida	1. Florida	1. Florida	1. USC
2. USC	2. Tennessee	2. Tennessee	2. USC	2. Florida
3. LSU	3. Texas	3. USC	3. LSU	3. Texas
4. Tennessee	4. USC	4. LSU	4. Tennessee	4. S. Carolina
5. Texas	5. LSU	5. Texas	5. Texas	5. Tennessee
6. S. Carolina	6. S. Carolina	6. S. Carolina	6. Auburn	6. LSU
7. Auburn	7. Notre Dame	7. Auburn	7. South Carolina	7. Auburn
8. Michigan	8. Nebraska	8. Notre Dame	8. Ohio State	8. Notre Dame
9. Oregon	9. Auburn	9. Georgia	9. Notre Dame	9. Miami
10. Notre Dame	10. Georgia	10. Michigan	10. (tie) Ga., Ala.	10. Michigan

Florida gets four of the five No. 1 rankings, and the Gators may have been bumped to No. 2 in the ESPN rankings by USC's signing of Joe McKnight (ranked No. 1 in the country by ESPN). Five SEC schools were in all five services' top 10 rankings: Florida, LSU, Tennessee, South Carolina and Auburn. Three services put Georgia in the elite and Alabama snuck into a 10th-place tie in the National Blue Chips rankings.

As usual, looking at these rankings is like looking at a who's who of college football powers. However, two schools really stick out. South Carolina is starting to capitalize on the presence of Steve Spurrier. And Oregon made some headway despite a 7-6 record in 2006 and a Las Vegas Bowl loss to Brigham Young. The Ducks are No. 9 in SuperPrep and Oregon's No. 11 ranking in Rivals was its highest by that service, according to The Oregonian. The Ducks were aided by the signings of three players ranked by Rivals in the top 20 at their positions.

Upstarts like South Carolina and Oregon and former powers like Nebraska and Tennessee hope this success can be the impetus to reach the next level. The current powers like Florida, USC, LSU hope continued success on the recruiting trail means a continue spot among the nation's elite during the next few autumns.