The "modern" recruiting era is tied directly to the online recruiting websites. Rivals and Scout began the explosion around 2001 and ESPN and 247Sports have powerfully entered the market since. The rankings databases only go back 10 or 11 years, so it is difficult to evaluate historic recruiting classes. But since the turn of the millennium, fans and analysts alike have a tremendous amount of data to evaluate recruiting rankings, talent development and scouting evaluations.

National Signing Day 2013 is here!

It’s college football’s version of Christmas morning when millions of dollars, thousands of man-hours traveling and countless phone calls come to fruition in the form of a single sheet of faxed paper. Nowhere in sports are grown adults held captive by the musings of teenagers like the first Wednesday in February.

The phrase “SEC Speed” instantly conjures images of glory, victory and pride for one region in the country and thoughts of depression, agony and exasperation for every other part of the nation. But after claiming their seventh national championship in a row, the SEC has a right to claim the best programs, players and coaches.

But why is that?

The nation’s best prospects are competing in two major cities this weekend. San Antonio hosts the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and Tampa-St. Petersburg welcomes the Under Armour All-American Game.

The Under Armour game will take place Friday at 5 p.m. Eastern at Tropicana Field, while the Army Bowl will be played in the Alamodome at 1 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.