The SEC's New Hot Recruiting Rivalry

Auburn and Florida last met on the football field in 2011, and barring matchups in the SEC Championship Game, they won't meet again on the gridiron until 2019 in Gainesville.

The two traditional SEC powers are, however, meeting in the living room early and often this January.

Former Gator head coach Will Muschamp's dismissal and subsequent move to Auburn as the new defensive coordinator for head coach Gus Malzahn has transformed the Auburn/Florida rivalry into the hottest recruiting rivalry in the SEC in 2015. And it doesn't appear like it will slow down between now and national signing day.

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Muschamp brought defensive backs coach and noted super-recruiter Travaris Robinson with him to the Plains, and the presence of the dynamic defensive duo piqued the interest of several top-tier prospects from the state of Florida.

Among those prospects were 5-star offensive tackle Martez Ivey, 5-star defensive end Byron Cowart, 5-star defensive end CeCe Jefferson and 4-star linebacker Jeffery Holland.

According to James Crepea of the Montgomery Advertiser, Cowart, Jefferson and Holland all visited Auburn this weekend and could be a package deal, while Ivey was also on campus visiting friend and recent signee Chandler Cox.

Jefferson's comments on Twitter certainly suggest that the trio could be playing together at the next level:

Cowart's comments echoed Jefferson's, via Wesley Sinor of AL.com.

"Yeah, we're going to stick together," Cowart said on Sunday. "We'll all play at the same school, because we know we can make an impact. One guy can't make a difference at a school, and I don't think people understand that."

It was a star-studded recruiting weekend on the Plains, as 5-star defensive tackle Terry Beckner, Jr., 5-star athlete Terry Godwin, 4-star dual-threat quarterback Torrance Gibson and several others were also on hand.

With that said, the four aforementioned stars from the Sunshine State hold the keys to the recruiting success of both Florida and Auburn.

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If all four—or even the trio of defensive stars reported to be considering a package deal—head to Auburn, it would be considered a grand slam for Muschamp, Malzahn and the entire Auburn staff.

The Tigers currently rank 10th in the latest 247Sports team recruiting rankings for 2015, and according to the class calculator, Jefferson, Cowart and Holland would give them 276.21 recruiting points and vault them all the way into the sixth spot, with more shuffling still possible down the stretch.

For Florida, keeping the best uncommitted players in-state is absolutely critical to the success of head coach Jim McElwain's first recruiting class. The Gators have only eight commitments thus far in their 2015 class and rank 84th in the nation—one spot behind Old Dominion. 

Cowart will get a visit from Florida this week, according to Thomas Goldkamp of 247Sports, and Greg Ostendorf of ESPN.com (h/t ESPN's Derek Tyson) reported that Ivey will officially visit Gainesville before announcing his decision on national signing day:

Clearly, the need for quantity and quality is on the minds of McElwain and his new staff.

Uncertainty over Mushcamp's status took its toll over the last two seasons, and now that the recruiting dead period is over, McElwain and his new staff have to close strong. Otherwise, this will be a lost recruiting class for the Gators.

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The lasting effects of a lost class are comparable to heavy recruiting sanctions. Depth issues will follow, the absence of momentum can linger, and the rebuilding effort will suffer the college football equivalent of a construction delay.

All four stars from the Sunshine State are capable of defining a program, and protecting the border needs to be the first thing on McElwain's agenda.

Florida's success or failure in this recruiting cycle goes hand in hand with Auburn's.

If Auburn becomes the talk of the college football world over the next three weeks, it will likely be at the expense of the Gators. If Florida comes on strong, Auburn's class will still be solid but it would leave Tiger fans wondering what might have been.

We're not going to see these two teams on the same field in the near future, but this offseason recruiting battle will at least quench the thirst of fans who remember the good old days when the Tigers and Gators clashed against each other regularly.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.