TV Schedule and Lines Below

Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

Freeze Frame! Fans of both Georgia and Auburn would like nothing better than having the league standings after Week 2 of the Southeastern Conference football season frozen in time, a photograph printed from one frame of the “College Football 2009” video.

If the 2009 SEC Championship Game were to be played next week, it would be the Bulldogs, on top with a 1-0 mark in the East, vs. the Tigers, 1-0 in the Western Division, vying for the league crown in the Georgia Dome. But fans of the Dogs and Tigers had better enjoy the moment because their respective teams won’t be on top of the division standings for long.

Questions will begin to be answered once results from this weekend’s nine-game SEC schedule are in, with three leagues games on tap and two interesting non-league contests on the lineup as well.

Week 3 begins with five SEC teams ranked among the nation’s Top 25 teams … in fact, the SEC almost makes up the top five with the Florida Gators No. 1, Alabama No. 4 and Ole Miss No. 5. The league almost has half of the top 10, with LSU coming in at No. 7. Georgia is still in the mix at No. 20.

The number should remain the same after this week’s action. The top four mentioned will certainly remain among the nation’s top 25, even if a major upset occurs, while Georgia will remain ranked if it defeats Arkansas – and the Razorbacks would replace the Bulldogs on the list if they win. And Arkansas is a slight favorite in the game.

Memo to Lane Kiffin: Words CAN hurt you. Perhaps the biggest game among this week’s three league contests is the annual Eastern Division showdown in Gainesville. The Florida-Tennessee game is called the unofficial division championship because history has shown that in most years, the winner of this early-season grudge match goes on to take the East crown. When the Gators and Vols meet Saturday (Line: Florida by 29 ½), the scene will be even more dramatic than usual – as if grabbing the momentum toward a division title isn’t enough to create interest – because of new Tennessee head coach Kiffin.

The ex-Oakland Raiders’ head man created a stir that still hasn’t calmed down when soon after being hired as the Vols’ head coach, he accused Florida coach Urban Myer of recruiting violations and pictured singing “Rocky Top” all night long “after we beat Florida next year. It will be a blast.”

The only blast Saturday will not be the kind Kiffin visualized. His team will be blasted with a wall of sound from the angry Gator Nation when it runs on the field and then blasted by the Florida offense in the game. The Gators are a four-touchdown-plus favorite in the game and could put up 80 points instead of their usual 50-60. Florida players could probably recite Kiffin’s comments by memory. Signs with Kiffin’s words adorned the walls of the Florida weight room when they arrived for fall preseason drills. Kiffin said this week that he didn’t believe his comments would have any impact on an already hostile rivalry. He’ll find out differently.

After Saturday, Kiffin will know why it wasn’t a good idea. Speaking from the vantage point of someone who knows firsthand how hard it is to win on the road in the SEC – even if you haven’t taunted your opponent — former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer, now a CBS sports analyst, said last week of the incident, “The problem in this league is that you are going to play great football teams every week once you get into the SEC schedule and if you are going to be brash, you’d better be able to back it up.” Tennessee can’t do that. It will be a long afternoon for the Vols – and the Gator fans will have a blast shouting “Gator Bait!” all afternoon.

Cheerleaders on both sides will be chanting, “Are you ready, are you ready” at Reynolds Razorback Stadium Saturday night. And that’s the question that will be answered when Georgia invades Arkansas (Line: Arkansas by 1). This will be a real swing game for the winner. Just who is ready is unclear with Georgia coming in 1-1 after two close games, losing to Oklahoma State and narrowly defeating South Carolina, while Arkansas is 1-0 after a blowout over cupcake Missouri State. Many think Arkansas will be this year’s surprise team – like Ole Miss last season – and turn out to be much better than preseason predictions.

The game is a tossup, with Arkansas a slight favorite because it is playing at home. The Bulldogs have been super successful on the road under Coach Mark Richt, with a 30-5 record on its opponents’ home field. But the Hogs’ coach Bobby Petrino has a streak of his own going. In all of his past five years as a college head coach, Petrino has always won his first two games. If the Razorbacks win, they will start to be considered as a Western Division contender. A Georgia loss would drop the Dogs to 1-2 and perhaps start a downward spiral to their season.

The third league game of the week – Mississippi State at Vanderbilt (Line: Vandy by 8 ½) – is another defining game for the teams involved. Both teams were picked to finish at the bottom of their respective divisions and both have already lost league games on the road and both can’t afford to be 1-2 at this point in the season. The Bulldogs, under a new coach and running a new system, need some success to remain optimistic about the rest of the season.

There are also two non-league game that are big ones this week. The first one is down on The Plains, where Auburn hosts West Virginia (Line: Auburn by 7). This game could give a more accurate picture of just where the new AU program is. The Tigers have looked impressive, racking up over 500 yards of offense in successive games for the first time since 1970. How good is the Auburn running game? Right now it looks super, with two running backs gaining at least 100 yards in two consecutive game for the first time in team history. Senior Ben Tate leads the way with freshman Onterio McCalebb right behind. McCalebb is already becoming known as the “New Bo,” after breaking Bo Jackson’s first-game freshman rushing mark in game one.

The “New Bo” has already put his name in the record book by rushing for over 100 yards in his first two starts. And if the Tigers keep winning, the Chizik legend will continue to grow. Is Chizik the good luck charm? AU is 17-0 with Chizik on the staff – 2-0 with him as head coach and 13-0 (in 2004) with him as defensive coordinator. West Virginia will provide a real test for the Tigers. The Mountaineers come in 1-0 and are also 1-0 in the series between the two teams. West Virginia won 34-17 last year in the teams’ only previous meeting. Auburn has not fared well against Big East teams in its history, now 1-4 against the league.

The second interesting non-league game will be another Big East-SEC matchup – Louisville at Kentucky (Line: Kentucky by 13 ½). This one is sort of the Alabama-Auburn game of the Bluegrass Country. It is an in-state battle that has its own intensity built in. Kentucky has 16 players on its roster that list Louisville as their home town. The Wildcats lead the series 12-9 and should add to their win streak against non-conference teams on Saturday. Kentucky, not really a factor in the SEC East as yet, has quietly been improving year-by-year and has been overall successful recently.

Out of the league, Kentucky has been super successful, winning 15 straight non-conference games, the second-longest such streak in the nation. It’s the longest non-conference streak for Kentucky since 17 straight back in the Bear Bryant era in Lexington (1954-60).

The other SEC contests this week feature non-conference foes with little chance of winning. Alabama will host a Sun Belt Conference team for the second week in a row when the Tide takes on North Texas Saturday (Line: Alabama by 38 ½) in Tuscaloosa. An interesting aside is the fact that Bama QB Greg McElroy will be going up against his old high school coach. North Texas head coach Todd Dodge and McElroy teamed up to win the Texas high school championship. Only one will be a winner Saturday and it will be McElroy. Look for freshman standout Trent Richardson to have another big day for the Tide. Also, don’t look for standout wide receiver Julio Jones. With the opponent no real threat, Jones will be held out so as to not take a chance on aggravating the injury to his knee.

Other SEC matchups include Florida Atlantic at South Carolina (Line: S.C. by 21), where coach Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks, after two close games, finally get to win one with no sweat; Louisiana-Layfayette at LSU (Line: LSU by 26½), where if the Bengal Tigers lose, it would bring new meaning to the word “upset” – LSU has played the Ragin’ Cajuns 21 times, winning all 21 and outscoring their in-state rival 957-22 in doing so; Southeastern Louisiana at Ole Miss (No Line), where the Rebs should be able to extend their current winning streak to eight – Ole Miss’ longest since a 10-game string in the ‘70s.

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

10 p.m.
Hawaii at UNLV (CBS College Sports)

Tags: College Football, Southeastern Conference

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