COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The real winner here is the fax machines.
Yes, they still exist. But we only think of them every February when the country's best high school football players use the outdated mode of communication to fax in their National Letters of Intent to college programs.
Now? There are two signing periods. The normal period that opens every February, and the new one that will open later this week. Welcome to college football's new early signing period. Good for fax machines.
This is a big deal. The early signing period opens on Wednesday. Recruiting experts are expecting most of the country's committed prospects to sign during the three-day window from Dec. 20-22. This is a radical change to the college football schedule, more chaos added to a time of the year that was already pretty chaotic anyway.
Teams are preparing for bowl games and playoffs, coaches are still getting hired and fired, other jobs haven't even been filled yet. And prospects can begin signing their letters on Wednesday. There's a lot going on.
We can get into the merits of early signing (Who it benefits? What's the point?) later. We won't know the real answers to those questions until after going through it at least once. Just know that it's happening, and it's happening this week. If you were one to look forward to the first Wednesday in February, you need to re-calibrate and get geared up for this Wednesday.
A lot of the fun, and suspense, of signing day will be over with before Christmas.
The NCAA approved the new early signing period last April, along with earlier official visits for juniors and new rules on programs hiring people with personal connections to prospective athletes. The Collegiate Commissioners Association, which runs the National Letter of Intent program, announced in May the dates for the early signing period.
The early signing period does not replace the normal signing period. We'll have both. Though it will minimize the importance of that first Wednesday in February. So here's the deal for this year:
* Players can sign their letters during a three-day period from Dec. 20-22, regardless of whether or not they'll be enrolling early. Any player who chooses can sign during the early period. Most committed players are expected to sign this week.
* If a player does not sign during the three-day early period, he can still sign during the normal period. This year, the normal signing period opens on Feb. 7, and runs until April 1.
What does that means for Ohio State? The Buckeyes' 2018 recruiting class, which sat at 21 commitments as of Monday morning, should have most of those players signed by the end of the week.
There's the potential for a flip or two, and some uncertainty around prospects like five-star safety Jaiden Woodbey and four-star quarterback Emory Jones. They're both signing early, but could choose to surprise with a flip to another program during their signing day ceremonies.
Ohio State is also in the running for some other prospects expected to announce and sign this week.
But Ohio State, and most programs around the country, are expecting to have large chunks of their 2018 recruiting classes inked by the end of this week. That's a new reality for everyone, and changes the normal January recruiting frenzy leading up to the signing period in February.