I still think that on the surface "National Signing Day" is ultra-creepy, but for those of you that want to know the latest recruit to attend your College/Alma Mater, you've got plenty of options. Last year ESPN had a grand total of seven hours of coverage, but this year that wasn't enough! No sir, we're talking nine....count them....nine hours of teenagers announcing the school they'll be attending next semester. Not only that, but you also get Tommy Tuberville as an analyst!!!

This year, former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville will join ESPNU anchor Lowell Galindo on the primary set of the Signing Day special along with ESPN’s Scouts, Inc. analysts Tom Luginbill and Todd McShay, and ESPNU college football analyst Charles Arbuckle. Tuberville will provide his analysis from a coach’s perspective to give viewers an in-depth look into the recruiting experience. Additionally, David Amber will anchor another news desk at the Charlotte studios that will track notable developments and offer further analysis and commentary from two more ESPN Scouts, Inc. analysts -- Craig Haubert and Bill Conely. The show will also integrate fan comments from ESPN.com and ESPNU.com and will feature a matrix graphic that will display constant updates of school recruiting classes.

Several players ranked by the ESPNU 150, a nationwide ranking of top prep football prospects compiled by ESPN Scouts Inc., are expected to announce their college decision live during the show, including #2 Manti Te’o, OLB (Punahou HS - Honolulu, Hawaii); #4 Dre Kilpatrick, CB (Gadsden HS - Gadsden, Ala.); #9 Jelani Jenkins, OLB (Good Counsel HS - Wheaton, Md.); #24 Marlon Brown, WR, (Harding Academy - Memphis, Tenn.); #27 Sam Montgomery, DE (Greenwood HS - Greenwood, S.C.); #29 Frankie Telfort, OLB (Gulliver Prep School - Miami, Fla.); #35 Xavier Su a Filo, OT (Timpview HS - Pleasant Grove, Utah); #39 Darren Myles, Jr., S (Carver HS - Atlanta, Ga.); #66 Kendall Kelly, WR (Gadsden HS - Gadsden, Ala.) and #71 Bryon Moore, Jr., ATH (Narbonne HS - Harbor City, Calif.).

I still think nine hours of coverage is insanity, but whatever floats your boat. Oh and if you're like me, and you still don't get ESPNU, here are a few websites you can check out throughout the day....

Decision Day (ESPN)
Signing Day (Fanhouse)
The Wire (Rivals)

There are a ton of conspiracy theories about ESPN out there, but this one actually could be plausible. Shelley Smith broke a story earlier in the week about a recruiting violation involving UConn player Maya Moore. Well the violation in question was a free tour at ESPN Headquarters on her recruiting visit in 2005 and Auriemma think it's just a little sketchy that they're "breaking" the story now....

"It's a story that has been rehashed by ESPN to serve its own purposes," Auriemma told WTIC-AM's Joe D'Ambrosio Thursday on his weekly coach's show. "[ESPN reporter] Shelley Smith came up to talk to me to do a story on [Tennessee women's basketball coach] Pat Summitt and my relationship with her, why the series was canceled, and I flat out said, 'Go ask her. I didn't cancel it.' I didn't want to be involved in [that] story.

"And [Smith's] response was, 'OK, we're going to [report the violation].' ... What purpose does that serve? It's already been discussed and dealt with [last summer]. It's typical: 'Let's drum up some interest before the NCAA Tournament starts and hope these two meet in the finals so we can get boffo ratings' at the expense of Maya Moore."

Auriemma goes on to admit that they made a mistake but had one last parting shot for ESPN in the interview, ""With all the stuff going on in sports today ... you need to run something about a kid getting a tour of ESPN?".

Women's College Basketball ratings hinge on UConn vs. Tennessee and it makes perfect sense that ESPN would pull something like this off. Pretty smart if you ask me, but also a little sketchy. These are the things you can try when you're the only game in town.

Auriemma Questions ESPN's motivations in report on Moore visit (Hartford Courant)

Obviously it would be against NCAA regs to contact a recruit through a social networking tool like Facebook. Well that's not stopping one College Coach from adding his name to the millions of students who use the website. I'll give you three guesses (even though you probably won't need them). Via SI...

Pete Carroll has added boogey boarding to his list of interests.

That little nugget popped up on my computer screen late last week. See, Carroll is my friend. Or at least he is in the wonderful, slightly terrifying world of Facebook, where you can poke a perfect stranger with absolutely zero legal consequences. So when Carroll blasts Dire Straits in his office, me and his other 1,025 friends (as of Thursday morning) know about it. I also know his favorite book is The Inner Game of Tennis, his favorite television show is 24 and his musical favorites include James Brown, The Fray, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones.

Carroll's coaching colleagues can't say the same. A Facebook search for the names of the other 64 BCS-league coaches returned no legitimate matches. Alabama's Nick Saban has five profiles, but the geniuses who created them all thought he lived in Birmingham instead of Tuscaloosa. Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino's son has a page, but the Head Hog himself does not. Pitt's Dave Wannstedt doesn't have a page, but his mustache has its own fan club.

So Pete Carroll is taking it to the next level isn't he? The page says he can't respond to many of the comments (because of the NCAA Regulations mentioned above), but being the only real Coach in the network is definitely a great move. Free advertising never hurt anyone.

Pete Carroll (Facebook)
USC coach ahead of curve again with Facebook page (SI.com)