This is an opinion column.

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The all-important three-day signing period for college football approaches. Players for the class of 2025 can put pen to paper beginning Dec.4. Who will win the day? Who will flip, trip and dip? The mailbag stays committed to this crazy sport.

Jim in Scottsboro, Ala., writes …

There is a high stakes game going on. You have Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, Kalen DeBoer and Hugh Freeze at the table.

Who is holding the Deuce?

When the final hand is shown on December 6, will Hugh Freeze’s cards look the same, or will he have to fold if Lane, DeBoer and Smart end up with his recruits? Can Hugh hang onto Deuce McKnight and the rest of his stellar recruiting hand? After all , Auburn has all their chips on Hugh Freeze having a great recruiting class.

Lane Kiffin just played a very hot hand against DeBoer. He flipped wide receiver Caleb Cunningham from Alabama. Lane is known to keep his cards close to the vest. Has the Joker at Ole Miss already flipped Deuce? It would be like Lane to play that card on Dec. 6.

Gorto in Coral Gables, Fla., writes …

I’m looking at recruiting rankings. Auburn is like fourth or fifth! Who the heck would want to play for Hugh Freeze and in obscurity for four years?

ANSWER: For some schools, recruiting seems more like a house of cards these days than a game of high-stakes poker. Alabama is losing recruits. USC’s class is falling apart. Florida State is crumbling.

But guess who’s still holding things together?

Shining like a beacon of hope in a storm, Auburn is currently ranked fifth in the country with a huge class of 28 recruits.

But Auburn fans, conditioned by years and years of self-harm, are worried. Can coach Hugh Freeze pull it off? Can he weather the storm? The results on the field this season haven’t been pretty, but Freeze has been winning the battles on the recruiting trail. Auburn’s projected success is leaving a lot of people around the country confused.

How is Freeze holding onto his recruits?

A lot of people might be shocked by this, but I’m happy for Freeze and his success. And I’m hopeful that Auburn will not only finish strong, but maybe even shock the world and add a couple more blue-chip recruits before it’s all over.

The early signing period runs from Dec. 4 to Dec. 6. Freeze has been preaching patience this season but fans are getting restless. It’s not as bad as it seems, though. Freeze’s freshman class has been improving all season. Linebacker Demarcus Riddick has shown flashes of future greatness. Receiver Cam Coleman had three touchdown catches on Saturday in Auburn’s 48-14 victory against Louisiana-Monroe.

Yes, it was only ULM, but let’s not forget that this time last year Auburn was shellshocked after being embarrassed inside Jordan-Hare Stadium by quarterback Diego Pavia and New Mexico State.

This team is still playing hard for Freeze, and that’s all I needed to see going into the final two games of the season.

Auburn welcomes No.15 Texas A&M to Jordan-Hare on Saturday. I’m predicting a great game, and maybe even an Auburn victory, but anyone paying attention to college football this season should already understand that Auburn’s incoming class of freshmen aren’t concerned with the results on the field this season.

When I went down to Elba, Ala., in late September to visit running back Alvin Henderson, I specifically wanted to ask him if Auburn’s recruits were concerned with the Tigers’ current losing record. He said that Auburn’s recruits were looking ahead to next season. I believed him and still do.

Henderson is one of the leaders of Auburn’s recruiting class. He was with quarterback recruit Deuce McKnight throughout the day when McKnight visited Auburn for the game against Oklahoma.

Auburn lost to the Sooners, but won the day. McKnight committed to the Tigers a few days later.

Can Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin get McKnight to change his commitment?

McKnight visited Ole Miss for the Rebel Land Shark Black Bears’ upset of Georgia. He was on the sidelines for the game alongside receiver prospect Caleb Cunningham. McKnight and Cunningham stormed the field after the game, and then Cunningham later flipped his commitment from Alabama to Ole Miss.

McKnight is still with Auburn, and I’m not expecting a late switch. For anyone who missed the Ole Miss game against Georgia, it should be pretty clear who’s going to be the quarterback next season for Kiffin. Ole Miss redshirt freshman Austin Simmons entered the game against the Bulldogs when starting quarterback Jaxson Dart went out with an injury. Simmons led an outstanding drive, completing 5 of 6 passing attempts for 64 yards.

Simmons is going to be a stud. He went to Pahokee High School in Palm Beach County, Fla. He was originally a member of the 2025 signing class, but reclassified to the 2023 class and has been at Ole Miss ever since.

All signs are pointing to Auburn and Ole Miss finishing strong with this recruiting cycle. I’m actually more concerned about Alabama. First Alabama lost Cunningham, but most recently running back recruit Anthony Rogers of Carver Montgomery and linebacker recruit Dawn Merritt of Stilwell, Kan., de-committed from the Crimson Tide.

Iceman in Lower Alabama writes …

As a recently retired Heavy Equipment Operator (aka pilot), I can tell you that after 43 years of flying (eight in the Air Force and 35 at Delta Airlines) … the most dangerous thing whilst zipping along in an aluminum tube at 550 mph is a FIRE!!!! I can/could/did handle idiots on an airplane. Snakes on the other hand are a different subject. And rats are even worse, they chew through everything!!

Do I miss the job? Well, the flying part, yes. Dealing with idiots NO!! WDE!!

ANSWER: Iceman, I’ve heard that the Auburn basketball team might need a heavy equipment operator with a little more experience.

Perks: Flying one of the best basketball teams in the country from game to game.

Downside: Fights on the plane and missing the parties at the Flora-Bama.

Speaking of the Alabama coast, I’ll be speaking at the Gulf Coast Athletic Club at 5:30 p.m. on Monday at Craft Farms Clubhouse in Gulf Shores. Stop on by for a mullet toss or two.

Greg in Atlanta writes …

A 24-team playoff would be great based on the rankings. Top eight get a first-round bye. Just copy of FCS playoffs.

ANSWER: Sign me up.

Speaking of playoffs better than the one at the FBS level, a big congrats is in order to Miles College and West Alabama for being selected for the Division II college football playoffs.

The national tournament for Division II is a 28-team bracket. There are no automatic qualifiers. A committee sets the field after the conference championship games. Why can’t the top division of the sport just copy that model?

I can’t see the current 12-team format for the Football Bowl Subdivision lasting very long. It’s already clear that five and maybe six teams in the SEC deserve to be in the playoffs. Is the College Football Playoff committee going to leave out the loser of the SEC championship game in favor of Ole Miss?

I don’t read tarot cards, but something tells me that Kiffin will be making headlines one way or another.

BE HEARD

Got a question for Joe? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe an email about what’s on your mind. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”