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And that's just what Tennessee, Alabama and Florida have done.

It's a dead heat for the top three spots in the league, but Tennessee just has too much firepower to be denied the No. 1 spot. The Vols landed commitments from seven players off the SportsLine Top 100 -- eight if you count the conditional scholarship offered to offensive lineman Jason Respert, who must first clear himself of a sexual battery charge that occurred on his recruiting trip to Florida last weekend.

The Vols embarrassed Pac-10 schools by stealing away two of its brightest quarterback prospects -- Casey Clausen from Mission Hills, Calif., and John Rattay from Phoenix. Both players graduated from high school early and are enrolled at Tennessee, taking part in informal team workouts.

Rattay is the brother of NFL hopeful Tim Rattay, who just finished a stellar career at Louisiana Tech. Clausen has already been drawing raves for his strong arm.

Tennessee also got bookend Top 100 tackles to protect its valuable arms. Mike Munoz, the son of former USC great and NFL Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz, is likely to settle in at left tackle while Sean Young, who originally committed to Clemson, should someday anchor the right side of the line. Then, of course, there's Respert.

More embarrassment of riches: Receiver/defensive back Mark Jones, Mr. Football in the state of Pennsylvania; Rashad Baker, the top receiver in New Jersey; defensive back O.J. Owens. All are Top 100 players. Another who easily could have made the list is defensive lineman Lynn McGruder from Las Vegas. He, too, said he will be a Vol.

And don't forget that Tennessee is getting Eric Locke, a transfer receiver from Alabama.

Speaking of Alabama, the Tide is close behind, in large part due to its fabulous defensive line class … although grades figure to be an issue with more than one of those players.

Mike DuBose received commitments from defensive linemen Anthony Bryant, Antwan Odom and Mac Tyler -- all Top 100 players -- and then managed to change the mind of Canada's best player right before signing day.

Nautyn McKay-Loescher, a defensive end from Toronto, de-committed from Michigan State on Tuesday to say yes to 'Bama.

"Mac Tyler, on tape, looks like a human bowling ball," said PrepStar managing editor Rick Kimbrel said of the 6-6, 330-pound prospect from Bessemer, Ala. "He looked like a bowling ball and the opposing guys were pins. He was blowing up plays all over."

And on signing day, 6-6, 310-pound defensive tackle Albert Means from Memphis, considered the No. 1 prospect in the Southeast at any position, announced that he had picked Alabama over Georgia … a big day for the Tide, indeed.

And then there's Florida.

Everybody loves the Gators' quarterback recruit -- national offensive player of the year Brock Berlin from Shreveport, La.

"Brock Berlin is a faster, strong-armed version of Danny Wuerffel," Kimbrel said, "and we all saw what Danny Wuerffel did for Florida and Steve Spurrier. I think he is going to be an early, early contributor to the Gators."

Florida also scored heavily elsewhere, especially on both sides of the line. Six other Top 100 players committed to the Gators, including receiver Kelvin Kight from Lithonia, Ga. Kight didn't announce his decision until signing day.

Georgia's class isn't as star-studded as last year, but the Bulldogs got a gem in Sacramento, Calif., running back Albert Hollis II, who originally had committed to UCLA.

Desperately seeking immediate backup help for Quincy Carter and needing a long-term answer at quarterback, Jim Donnan brought in three prospects at that position: David Greene (the best QB in Georgia), Sean Jones of Atlanta and Matt Redding of Madison, Fla., dubbed a "sleeper" by PrepStar.

The next Corey Simon?

Florida State tried to sign the player that people were comparing to FSU All-America defensive tackle Corey Simon, but the Seminoles lost out on this one. Jeremy Caudill, who earned the comparisons while at the Seminoles' summer football camp, is going to Kentucky.

FSU couldn't overcome the home-state factor. Caudill (6-3, 288) is from Prestonburg, Ky.

He ran 40 yards in 4.67 seconds at FSU's camp.

"As far as a physical specimen, he has the goods to be great," Kimbrel said.

Best of the JCs (Auburn division)

Auburn brought in the nation's top junior-college class, getting three players from SportsLine's 25-man All-American team.

It starts with the quarterback, Daniel Cobb, a former PrepStar Dream Teamer who originally signed with Georgia. After a stint at Butler County (Kan.) College, he is headed to Auburn … and he's bringing All-America running back Rudi Johnson with him. Johnson rushed for 2,121 yards and scored 35 touchdowns for Butler County last season.

For defense, the Tigers are bringing in linebacker Alton Moore, rated the best player among the talent-rich Mississippi junior colleges.

Best of the JCs (everyone else)

Tennessee has major holes to fill in the secondary, and Charles Small, who already is enrolled, will get a long audition to see if he can take over for cornerback Dwayne Goodrich. Free safety Tony Campbell, who goes to Tennessee by way of a military academy after signing with North Carolina State last year, is another who could step up and help right away. …

Needing a spark to boost his anemic offense, South Carolina coach Lou Holtz added receiver James Adkisson from Kemper Military Junior College and Corey Alexander, a speedy running back from Gulf Coast Junior College. …

Mississippi State did its usual excellent job of collecting junior-college talent, including two offensive linemen from SportsLine's All-American team -- Courtney Lee from Blinn College in Texas and Tommy Watson from Lincoln Junior College in Mississippi.

Florida dabbling in the junior colleges? It's true. The Gators got back linebacker/defensive end Kennard Ellis, a Florida signee out of high school, who had 13 sacks for SW Mississippi College last season. Already enrolled in school, there's a good chance he'll be the first junior college transfer to play for the Gators since the 1992 season.

Throw-back recruit

Thought the only time you'd see a square-toed kicker again was on black-and-white highlights of Lou Groza? Well, here comes Matt Piotrowicz from Chicago, who has all the angles covered by kicking straight-on.

He's good enough to have earned a scholarship to Florida.

Piotrowicz can also kick soccer-style, but the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder gets some serious oomph behind his straight-on boots, hitting 95 percent of his kickoffs into the end zone and hitting field goals of about 50 yards.

Just can't say no

Justin Smiley, a 6-4, 300-pound offensive lineman from Brooklet, Ga., had a difficult time making up his mind. He originally committed to South Carolina, but that was just the beginning of the saga.

He then de-committed from the Gamecocks … re-committed … de-committed … juggled Florida, Alabama and South Carolina … and then said yes -- for the last time -- to Alabama.

Tug-of-wars

The saga of linebacker Robert Peace from Louisiana: He committed to LSU as a junior, but that all changed when Gerry DiNardo was fired in November, touching off a new recruiting battle. And there was somewhat of a time crunch because Peace graduated early from high school and could enroll at college for the spring semester.

The word was that he had then committed to Tennessee … but then rumors started flying that he would actually end up at Arkansas, where his father's best friend, John Thompson, coaches defensive backs and where his uncle, former Hogs and Buffalo Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson, is an assistant.

After a whirlwind week of recruiting gossip, Peace enrolled … at Tennessee.

"I never thought it would be this confusing," Peace told the Tennessean.