Early Signing Period Opens with Alabama Primed for Top Class

The second year of college football's early signing period promises to be busy, with most teams expected to lock up the bulk of their 2019 classes and Alabama working on another recruiting championship.

Last season was the first with an early signing period in college football. It quickly replaced the traditional February signing period as the primary time for high school players to make their verbal commitments binding by inking national letters of intent. More than 70 percent of available scholarships in FBS were filled during the early signing period last year and coaches expected that to go up this year.

Based on verbal commitments, Alabama is lined up to again have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country after relinquishing that mythical title last year to SEC rival Georgia.

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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://podcastone.com/AP-Top-25-College-Football-Podcast

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