TV Lineup and Lines Below

Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

It’s Week 5 of what is turning out to be a highly interesting 2009 Southeastern Conference football season. Story lines abound … Tebow injury, Kiffin-Chizik round two, the Chizik Streak, Alabama offensive balance, LSU vs. CBS, hype too heavy for Ole Miss … take your pick.

Going into this weekend, Florida and Georgia remain atop the Eastern Division, each at 2-0 in league play. LSU leads the Western pack at 2-0 with Alabama and Auburn also undefeated in league play at 1-0. After this weekend, despite Florida taking an open date, the situation could change.

There are seven games on tap this weekend, four of them conference encounters. Which is the “big game” of the week? That would depend on who you might ask.

Most coaches would answer that any league game is a big one. Fans’ answers would vary according to their prejudices. One answer could be LSU’s visit to Athens to take on the Georgia Bulldogs.

There are five SEC teams among the nation’s Top 20 this week –- Florida at No. 1, Alabama at No. 3, LSU at No. 4, Georgia at No. 14 and Ole Miss at No. 18.

So far in 2009, one top five team has been upset each week. Last week it was then-No. 4 Ole Miss. Could it be LSU this week?

Another interesting question is: How can it be called an upset, no matter who wins? When No. 4 LSU (4-0, 2-0) meets No. 14 Georgia (3-1, 2-0) Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on CBS, the Bulldogs will be the favorite (Line: Georgia by 3). Georgia has had to fight for every victory this year, coming from behind in all three wins. And then there’s the CBS jinx factor for LSU. If he could, LSU head man Les Miles would pay CBS broadcaster Verne Lundquist to call in sick Saturday. Lundquist will be at the mike the Bengal Tigers and Bulldogs face off Saturday. LSU has lost five games in a row with Lundquist announcing. And it’s not just the announcer, but the network itself that has proven very unlucky for LSU.

All, every one of, LSU’s last 10 losses have been televised by CBS. The Tigers have lost 10 of their last 11 seen on the network. The lone exception is the 2007 SEC Championship game in which the Tigers defeated Tennessee. The most recent loss by LSU that was not on CBS was way back in 2005, when the Tigers lost in overtime to Tennessee on ESPN.

A big game for Auburn and Tennessee fans will be when the Tigers (4-0, 1-0) and Vols (2-2, 0-1) get together Saturday night at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. Although Auburn comes in undefeated, Tennessee gets the favorite nod (Line: Tennessee by 1) as the home team. While Kiffin and Co. in Knoxville have faced a couple of big time foes already this year, this will be the first real test for Chizik’s Tigers. A win by Auburn combined with an “upset” loss by LSU would leave the Tigers on top in the West half way through the season at 5-0 overall and 2-0 in league play – a position envisioned by most AU fans before the start of the season.

Auburn comes into the game riding a 19-game Chizik win streak. The Tigers have now won four straight with Chizik as head coach. He was the defensive coordinator during Auburn’s 13-win championship season in 2005. An interesting facet of this week’s game is that it is the first rematch coaches Kiffin and Chizik since they squared off against each other on Jan 4, 2006 –- Kiffin as the USC offensive coordinator and Chizik as the defensive coordinator for Texas –- when the Trojans and Longhorns met in the Rose Bowl for the national championship. Chizik won that round. The second meeting should be just as interesting if for different reasons. The last time AU came into Knoxville 4-0 was in 2005. That win gave them the momentum they needed to finish the year unbeaten. AU fans are hoping to see a repeat.

The other two league games are not quite as interesting. Alabama (4-0, 1-0 ) takes its balanced offense –- the Tide has racked up 44 first downs rushing the ball and 44 first downs passing so far this season, can’t get much more balanced than that – to Kentucky (2-1, 0-1) to take on the Wildcats. This one isn’t supposed to be close (Line: Alabama by 15½) but these kind of games – supposedly easy, boring, let’s-get-it-over-with affairs -– that have proved to be tough for the Tide.

Head Coach Nick Saban has preached time and time again about having to respect each opponent and not slack off no matter who is on the other side of the scrimmage line. But so far, Bama has had a hard time focusing in such games. We’ll see how well the Tide has learned come Saturday.

Ole Miss (2-1, 0-1) at Vanderbilt (2-2, 0-2) will be interesting to see if the Rebels can bounce back. The feeling here and other places (Line: Ole Miss by 9) is that they will. The young Rebs just couldn’t handle the hype of being ranked that high.

The couple of the three non-conference games should be interesting. When Georgia Tech (3-1) visits Starkville Saturday to take on Mississippi State (2-2) (Line: Georgia Tech by 6), it will be the first time the Yellow Jackets have ever played in the state of Mississppi. Arkansas (Line: Arkansas by 1) he will be a narrow favorite when the Razorbacks (1-2) tangle with unbeaten (3-0) Texas A&M. But I don’t know why the Hogs are favored. Arkansas has had a hard time keeping opponents from scoring this year, the main reason for their 1-2 mark. And Texas A&M is bringing in the nation’s top offense. The Aggies are ranked No. 1 in total offense, rushing offense, passing offense and scoring offense! Maybe the odds makers think the SEC is that much better than the Big 12. Hope they are right!

The final game is also interesting, but probably only to South Carolinians. S.C. State (3-0) brings in a small school unbeaten to take on its big time rival, South Carolina’s Gamecocks (3-1). Although unbeaten, they difference between the two teams’ foes have the Gamecocks a No-Line favorite –- meaning they will win and by a lot. The interesting fact for Gamecock fans is that a win Saturday will finally get the South Carolina all-time football record back to even. The Gamecocks go into Saturday’s game with a 530-531-4 overall mark.

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

9:30 p.m.
Colorado St. at Idaho (ESPNU)

Tags: Alabama, Crimson Tide, Kentucky, SEC Football, Wildcats

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