Washington and new coach Chris Petersen started the thrills and chills of national signing day early with a commitment Tuesday evening from ESPN 300 safety Bishard "Budda" Baker (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue), and Stanford and USC got things going early on Wednesday.

ESPN 300 defensive end Solomon Thomas (Coppell, Texas/Coppell) produced a Tree and donned nerd glasses as visual aids for his commitment to Stanford. The nation's No. 4 defensive end and No. 25 overall player picked the Cardinal over Arkansas and UCLA.

Finally, USC signed three-star cornerback Lamont Simmons (Jacksonville, Fla./Raines). He picked the Trojans over Auburn, Penn State and Arkansas.

Of course, the big battles today will involve USC and UCLA, most notably over five-star cornerback Adoree' Jackson (Gardena, Calif./Serra). He will announce his decision on ESPNU today at 2 p.m. ET.

Stay tuned. National signing day is just beginning, and much of today's intrigue is about the West Coast.