The University of Hawai'i football team already has commitments from six — or, by now, is it seven ... eight ... — recruits for its 2010 recruiting class.

Southern California is listed with eight, Washington 12, Florida 14, and Brigham Young 15. Texas is up to 19 ...

Considering that national letter of intent day, the first opportunity for prospects to sign binding scholarship agreements, is Feb. 3, 2010, that's quite a running start to the maximum of 25 per year allowed by NCAA rules.

Of course, there is no NCAA limit on the number of players that can be offered scholarships. Just the number that can ultimately claim them at enrollment.

We bring this up because not only are schools pledging scholarships earlier — remember, UH tendered to 13-year-old lineman Reeve Koehler last year — but some are offering them up like trays of supermarket samples. Mississippi, for example, signed 37 in February.

There is a cautionary tale in our backyard where mediation is under way and trial could be the next stop in the case of Daniel Smith, a one-time prospect from Idaho, who filed suit against UH and former assistant coach Jeff Reinebold.

Smith alleges he was verbally promised a scholarship in 2007 and counseled to reject other offers before UH rescinded its pledge upon the change of coaching staffs in January of 2008, just prior to signing day. UH disputes his allegations and we're told an out-of-court settlement doesn't look promising at this point.

While Smith's situation is, unfortunately, far from unique, it is one that could end up in court where a judgment might become precedent-setting on a national scale.

Which is one reason, you suspect, the Southeastern Conference has joined the Big Ten in permitting members to sign no more than 28 players annually. Another is that some presidents take a dim view of their schools being seen as athletic livestock exchanges.

"Over-booking," as ex-UH coach Bob Wagner used to term it, comparing it to the practice of airlines, has been around for years. Just not at these levels. Schools anticipate some players won't clear academics while others will change their minds and don't want to be left empty-handed at key positions.

Once upon a time, the recruiting derby didn't heat up until late November — or, at formerly late-to-the-party UH, mid-January.

But in a twitter world, the stampede is already on, exacerbated by recruits who put a premium on schools that make the earliest offers and those who pledge "soft" commits to a handful of competing institutions.

As one coach puts it, "you don't want to be the one (player or school) left without a date for the prom."