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Outside of the games themselves, there are few more important, celebrated or highly anticipated days on the college football calendar than national signing day.

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There’s pageantry around the simple act of an athlete putting pen to paper and signing a national letter of intent (NLI) that bonds them to the program of their choice. Players hold news conferences in which they put on the hat of their future destination. Live animals of the chosen school’s mascot occasionally get involved. It’s one of the few times in which a fax machine is a frequently used as an indispensable resource.

For years, that day fell in February. But in 2017, an early signing day was instituted for programs to secure binding signatures from athletes — rather than verbal commitments, which are regularly reneged on — before the end of the calendar year.

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Rather than be a complement to the regular signing period and national signing day, the early signing window has effectively replaced it, with a large majority of recruits inking their NLIs during that three-day stretch in December.

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With it inching closer on the calendar, here’s what you need to know about the 2023 early signing period in college football:

When is the 2023 college football early signing period?

This year’s early signing period will take place from Wednesday, Dec. 20 through Friday, Dec. 22.

While the early signing period has been a popular alternative for eager players to fortify the bond between themselves and the program they committed to, its placement on the calendar and increased prominence has drawn some criticism.

The three-day early signing period comes during what has become a chaotic December for college football programs, coaches and the players themselves.

On Dec. 1, a 15-day window opened for coaches to freely contact and visit with high school prospects. Three days later, the transfer portal officially opened. All of this is taking place as conference championship games just finished, the College Football Playoff field was selected and teams prepare for bowl games.

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2024 college football team recruiting rankings

As we head into the early signing period, here are the top-ranked recruiting classes as determined by 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, as of Thursday, Dec. 14: