Signs of he times: who's moving up? Who's dropping down? The future began on national signing day--the most important date on the offseason calendar.(COLLEGE FOOTBALL)(Calendar)

 
Signs of the times 
 
Who's moving up? Who's dropping down? The future begun on national 
signing day--the most important date on the offseason calendar 
 
By matt hayes 
 
                           ACC                       BIG EAST 
 
  Best classes   1 Florida State            1 Pittsburgh 
                 2 Clemson                  2 Louisville 
                 3 Miami                    3 Rutgers 
                 4 North Carolina           4 Syracuse 
                 5 Maryland                 5 West Virginia 
  Best players   1 DB Myron Rolle,          1 WR Deantwan Whitehead, 
                   Florida State              Louisville 
                 2 RB C.J. Spiller,         2 TE Nate Byham, 
                   Slemson                    Pittsburgh 
                 3 DE Brandon Warren,       3 RB Kevin Collier, 
                   Florida State              Pittsburgh 
                 4 DE Ricky Sapp, Clemson   4 OL Adam Rosner, Syracuse 
                 5 RB LeSean McCoy, Miami   5 WR Kenny Britt, Rutgers 
Underachievers   N.C. State. Chuck          West Virginia had a 
                 Amato once was             limited number of scholar- 
                 Florida State's ace        ships available, but it 
                 recruiter; now he's        still failed to land a 
                 just another               marquee defensive back--a 
                 coach selling a            serious need. The karma 
                 middle-of-the-road         from its Sugar Bowl 
                 team.                      victory should have helped 
                                            more. 
 Overachievers   For a guy who              Syracuse is coming off a 
                 annually has               one-win season but still 
                 to fend off                landed what will go down 
                 rumors about               as a program-defining 
                 his job security,          class. The staff filled 
                 Clemson's                  needs everywhere, specifi- 
                 Tommy                      cally with eight signees 
                 Bowden is                  on the offensive line. 
                 one hell of a 
                 recruiter. 
      National   Top players 
   perspective 
                 1 WR Percy Harvin, Florida. He's not the next Reggie 
                 Bush. He's closer to Ted Ginn or Derrick Williams, 
                 though Harvin is physically ready for a full college 
                 football season. 
 
                 2 DT Gerald McCey, Oklahema. Get ready for the Tommie 
                 Harris comparisons. McCoy is a big, thick, quick run 
                 stuffer with a gregarious personality-when making his 
                 official announcement, he put on an OU hat and flashed 
                 a horns-down sign. 
 
                 3 QB Matthew Stafferd, Georgia. Stafford has a live 
                 arm and is comfortable under center or in the shotgun, 
                 which makes him a perfect fit for coach Mark Richt's 
                 offense. Stafford already is enrolled and will 
                 participate in spring practice. 
 
                 4 DB Myron Rolle, Florida State. Get this: Rolle's 
                 last "B" carne in the ninth grade.The Seminoles' 
                 undisciplined secondary can use immediate help. 
 
                 5 RB Chris Wells, Ohio State. He keeps getting called 
                 "Maurice Clarett without the baggage." Two things: 1) 
                 Forget any association with Clarett; 2) how does Wells 
                 play ahead of budding star Antonio Pittman? 
 
                 Top classes 
 
                 1 Southern California. The Trojans closed fast and 
                 loaded up on skill players. Coach Pete Carroll should 
                 be embarrassed by how easy he makes this look. 
 
                 2 Florida. Coach Urban Meyer isn't giving up on his 
                 spread option offense, having recruited specifically 
                 for the scheme with dual-threat quarterback Tim Tebow 
                 and the best receivers in the nation. 
 
                 3 Florida State. Death, taxes, a top five FSU 
                 recruiting class.Yet, the Seminoles have lost 20 games 
                 since the start of the 2001 season. Could it be 
                 c-c-c-c-coaching? 
 
                 4 Notre Dame. This is why Charlie Weis makes so much 
                 dough: nine wins, a BCS bowl, a top five recruiting 
                 class, tons of good karma. All in a span of 11 months. 
 
                 5 Texas. More than 80 percent of the class already had 
                 committed before the Longhorns' national championship. 
                 Translation: 2007 will be a monster recruiting year. 
 
                          BIG TEN                     BIG 12 
 
  Best classes   1 Penn State                1 Texas 
                 2 Ohio State                2 Oklahoma 
                 3 Michigan                  3 Oklahoma State 
                 4 Michigan State            4 Nebraska 
                 5 Illinois                  5 Texa A&M 
  Best players   1 RB Chris Wells, Ohio      1 DT Gerald Goy, Oklahoma 
                   State                     2 LB Sergio Kindle, Texas 
                 2 LB Brandon Graham,        3 DE Eddie Jones, Texas 
                   Michigan                  4 RB Mdson, Texas A&M 
                 3 DB A.J. Wallace, Penn     5 QB Jevan Snead, Texas 
                   State 
                 4 DE Robert Rose, Ohio 
                   State 
                 5 OL Stephen Schilling, 
                   Michigan 
Underachievers   Iowa. Was last year's top   Who here thinks Bill 
                 10 class an aberration?     Callahan has to win now? 
                 Annual rumors about         Nebraska has eight junior 
                 coach Kirk                  college signees. A JC 
                 Ferentz's                   fix isn't a long-term 
                 going to ...