It has been said recruiting is the lifeblood of every program, and the same holds true for Auburn.
The stakes don't get much higher, as talent translates to wins, which translates to big bucks. (Auburn will likely reap upwards of $100 million from its national championship season.)
Even while the Tigers were busy preparing for their showdown against Oregon in the BCS National Championship game, the coaches couldn't rest on the recruiting front.
While in Glendale, coach Gene Chizik made a trip to Chandler, Ariz., for an in-home visit with four-star offensive lineman Christian Westerman, attempting to sway the long-time Texas Longhorn commitment to Auburn.
It worked, as Westerman switched, joining the Tigers' 2011 recruiting class.
Such is the hectic, 365-day-a-year face of college football recruiting.
It's also a yearlong obsession for fans, as thousands shell out money to premium sites, such rivals.com or scout.com, so they can follow every twist and turn in an 18-year old's recruitment.
Some even go so far as to follow recruits on Facebook or Twitter, reposting to their message board of choice every morsel that might hint at the prospects' intentions.
The whole process culminates on national signing day, when highly-prized, blue-chip prospects announce for which college they will spend the next three or four years playing.
Sunday marked the last day that coaches could contact prospects, with the NCAA mandated no-contact period beginning Monday at midnight.
Since then, many recruitniks have jumped like fleas onto the mane of every passing rumor.
One recruitnik who goes by the handle AUVTM and attended the signing day party at Zazu for rivals.com's message board community, the Bunker, expressed how big recruiting has become for football fanatics.
"I don't take Christmas off, I don't take New Year's, but I take national signing day."
Graham Hage, owner of Zazu, said he foresees the national signing day party becoming an annual event.
"I think it will only get bigger and better next year," Hage said. "Mark your calendars."
The enormity of the day was never more apparent than when the top-ranked offensive tackle in the nation, five-star Cyrus Kouandjio spurned Alabama by announcing his commitment to archrival Auburn.
At Zazu, recruitniks jumped in the air, shouted "BOOM!" and gave each other high fives after Kouandjio's announcement.
However, the excitement was short-lived and the high fives turned into hand wringing as the news came out that Kouandjio had not faxed in his letter of intent and was wavering on his public commitment to Auburn.
What is often lost on many recruitniks is that the prospects are only high schoolers who haven't even attended their senior proms yet.
These kids are often under tremendous pressure from parents, guardians, communities and football fanatics to choose a certain school.
There is no place of refuge. For a high school senior just choosing a college to attend, the stakes and the consequences couldn't get much higher.
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