Auburn Tigers: Now the Favorite for La'El Collins and Jeremy Hill?

Long considered to be a "stone cold lock" to LSU, it looks like 5-star OL La'El Collins is wavering in his commitment to the Bengal Tigers.  

Recently, rumors have been running rampant that Collins was seriously considering de-commiting or even flipping his commitment to the Tigers of the Auburn variety.  To be clear, nothing has been confirmed, and in all likelihood nothing will be confirmed until National Signing Day.  

However, it is worth noting that Collins' high school teammate, Jeremy Hill, a 4-star RB, recently de-commited from LSU and is now seeing a significant increase in his recruitment by Auburn.

Hill and Collins have said that they have previously talked about playing college football together and, while it originally looked like they would both end up at LSU, it now appears that Auburn would be the only option that will allow them to stay together.  

Meanwhile, reports and rumors began swirling Wednesday that Hill was now leaning towards signing with Auburn and might cause a rare "good problem" with regards to recruiting.  

If Hill were to sign with Auburn it would mean that the Tigers would likely sign three running backs in the 2011 class (Tre Mason, Savon Huggins, and Jeremy Hill).  As nice as that sounds, it means Auburn would only have eight remaining spots in the 2011 class to address other areas of need.  

How the Auburn coaching staff choose to fill those remaining slots is going to be an unenviable task.  However, I suppose that is why Gene Chizik and co. get paid big money.

Collins and Hill aren't the only big name recruits rumored to be leaning towards Auburn. There have been several other high profile athletes visiting Auburn in recent weeks, including 5-star OL Christian Westerman. 

Despite the fact that I have previously thought an Auburn class including Collins, Westerman, Hill, Huggins, and Mason to be impossible, it is beginning to look more probable everyday. 

One thing is for certain, things will be very interesting in Auburn leading up to National Signing Day.

If you enjoy watching recruiting, it would be well worth your time to keep both eyes on Auburn the rest of "recruiting season," as they are in the midst of making a serious move for the top spot in the rankings.