This is an extremely busy week in sports as National Signing day for high school football players looms on Wednesday and then the 44th Super Bowl rolls around come Sunday.

    From a recruiting standpoint, it looks to be a banner year for most Southeastern Conference schools. Florida and Texas have the top-rated classes in the country barring some last-minute changes of heart by several prospects, but Alabama and Auburn are in most respected services' Top Five. The Tide has made it a practice to sign that type of class since Nick Saban arrived, but this is rarified air for the Tigers. If they land a couple more of the undecided prospects that they are contending for, it could go down as the highest-rated class in school history.

    Also in the Top 10 of most services' rankings are LSU, Tennessee and Georgia, giving the SEC six schools among the nation's elite. That means the talent level will only get better, with the separation between a 10- win team and a 7-win squad extremely thin. It'll likely come down to the same thing it always does: coaching.

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    Speaking of coaching, I was totally underwhelmed at the quality of play in Auburn's 58-57 win over Alabama Saturday at Beard-Eaves Coliseum. Sloppy, undisciplined, unskilled...those are just a few of the adjectives that popped in my mind as I watched the contest.

    Perhaps an ominous note for Jeff Lebo, Auburn's embattled coach, came when none of the former players off the 1986 Elite Eight team honored before the game came out in support of him. Jeff Moore, a center on that team, noted the Tigers were good in both football and basketball during that stretch.

    "It can be done," said Moore.

    At 11-11 overall, a trip to the NCAA tournament appears all-but impossible, and the NIT might be a long shot, especially considering the Tigers are just 2-5 in SEC play even with the win over the Tide.

    Speaking of 'Bama and its new coach, I noticed only one glaring difference in Anthony Grant's first edition and Mark Gottfried's clubs. Alabama plays far harder on defense, and seemed to bother Auburn with its full-court press. But Grant's got to elevate the overall talent level and he must find some consistent shooters if the road back to respectability is to be a short one.

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    It's difficult to pull against either team in the Super Bowl, as the Colts feature perhaps the finest quarterback in SEC history in Peyton Manning, while the Saints still hold a special place in most people's hearts after the horrific damage Hurricane Katrina inflicted on New Orleans and the gulf coast.

    Personally, I think it takes 28-30 points to win Sunday. Both Manning and Drew Brees are adept at picking up blitz packages, and their receiving corps are second to none. Only sad thing about it is, we're shut out on football games that matter until September. My, that sounds a long time away.

    Phil Paramore's column appears Tuesdays in The Dothan Eagle. He can be heard weekday mornings from 7-9 on AM 560, 100.1 FM or at www.woofradio.com. He can be reached at the same website.