TV Lineup and Lines Below

Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

There’s no question about which game is the “Big Game” this week — Week 6 of the Southeastern Conference 2009 football season. They say we don’t have a playoff in college football, but if the past three years have taught us anything, the BCS National Championship Semi-final Game will be played this Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La. … or haven’t you heard?

Yep, it’s Florida (4-0, 2-0) vs. No. 4 LSU (5-0, 3-0) (Line: Florida by 7½), the top-ranked Gators putting their record and unbeaten streak on the line in a night game at Tiger stadium. There’s no need for hype to ratchet up the intensity for this one. All you have to do is state the facts.

First off, the reason this game could well be a semi-final for the national title is that the winner of the Florida-LSU game has gone on to win the BCS trophy in each of the last three seasons. This will be the 11th time in college football history that the two previous national champions have faced off and the second straight time it has involved these teams (which is another first in itself).

Get this … the defending champ has losing (4-5-1) record in these matchups and has lost four in a row. Want more interesting stats? This game will the the 16th ever between top-five ranked SEC teams. The higher ranked team has won 10 of these encounters, which sounds good for the Gators, right? But again there is a “but” – the underdog has won four of the top five meetings and LSU is 4-0 in top-five showdowns.

And talk about a head-on collision! The Gators come into this one riding the nation’s longest current winning streak with 14 straight victories and has an eight-game road game winning streak. But time and place could play a big place in the outcome of this big game.

The kickoff time of 7 p.m. is important as is the Tiger Stadium location. You see, LSU is notoriously hard to beat at Tiger Stadium at night. When the game is played p.m., the Cajun tailgaters will have had plenty of time to get well oiled and in good yelling form. On Saturday night in Baton Rouge the Bengal Tigers have posted 21 consecutive wins – the lone loss a rare Monday night game in 2005 that was postponed from a Saturday due to Hurricane Rita. In Saturday night contests at Tiger Stadium, the LSU win streak stands at 32.

And as some will be quick to point out, a good number of the 32 Saturday night wins in Baton Rouge were over the likes of Louisiana Lafayette or North Texas. But half of the 32 wins have come against BCS members.

So you see, it will not be a surprise if the Gators succumb to the Tigers, the atmosphere or a combination of the two. This will be the highest-ranked matchup at Tiger Stadium since one of the most famous plays in college grid history –Billy Cannon’s 89-yard punt return — gave LSU a 7-3 win in the 1959 Halloween thriller. Showing my age here, but I remember that one.

I was listening to the game (In those days, only one or two games per weekend were actually on TV and football fans were used to listening to them on the radio. On a Saturday night, if you had a good antenna, you could go up and down the dial and find numerous games being broadcast.) while on a double date at the drive-in movie in Talladega, Ala. Because it was Halloween, a double-feature horror movie was being shown and the game was much more interesting (although the girls didn’t agree).

One more historical note before moving on –- the last time, in 1997, the Gators visited LSU toting the No. 1 ranking, the Gators lost 28-21.

And the biggest question surrounding Saturday’s battle at Baton Rouge has to be: Tebow or no Tebow? Heisman Trophy winner and All-Everything Gator quarterback Tim Tebow is listed as “probable” for the big game. Tebow was knocked out of last week’s game against Kentucky with a concussion and has yet to be released by the doctors to play. The story out of Gainesville is that it will be a “game day decision.”

Is that for real? Or does Florida’s Urban Meyer really know but isn’t saying to keep up the suspense and to force LSU to prepare for him even if he isn’t going to play. The No. 2 Gator QB, John Brantley, is capable and is talented –- but he isn’t Tebow.

Now, there are seven games in all on this week’s SEC schedule and five of them are league games. Now it’s getting interesting.

For the first couple of weeks, the matchups aren’t all that interesting and there is no pattern yet set. But halfway though a season, the picture starts to become more clear as many preseason expectations have been wiped away, haves have become have-nots and vice-versa. Each weekend from here on in, the matchups get more and more interesting and important as the season winds down.

This week, for the first time this season, a full half –- six -– of the leagues teams are ranked in the Top 25 nationally with South Carolina (4-1, 1-1) joining in at No. 25. All six of them are playing league games this weekend. We’ve already mentioned the top-ranked Gators and LSU.

But also on tap are No. 3 Alabama (5-0, 2-0) visiting No. 20 Ole Miss (3-1, 1-1) (Line: Alabama by 6), No. 15 Auburn (5-0, 2-0) on the road at Arkansas (2-2, 0-2) (Line: Auburn by 2½), and the No. 25 Gamecocks hosting Kentucky (2-2, 0-2).

Alabama can add to its momentum and could move up in the polls with a Florida loss –- maybe even to No. 1? –- by posting a solid win at Ole Miss.

The danger here is that Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt has made his reputation as a coach by springing upsets in games such as this one. It will be an interesting quarterback battle with the flashy Jevan Snead for Ole Miss against solid, dependable Greg McElroy for Alabama. Snead has super talent and he knows it. His gunslinger mentality sometimes gets him in trouble, an example his three interceptions last week. McElroy, on the other hand, has thrown just one pick this entire season and it came in the opening-season win over Virginia Tech. A couple of notes to make Tide fans feel a little better: Alabama is 5-0 vs. Ole Miss on CBS and, so much for home-field advantage, the Rebels have lost their last four SEC home openers.

Not-Anonymous-Anymore Auburn gains confidence and momentum, as well as fans and believers, with each victory. Arkansas, with its big-play offense that is bound to score points, will be the toughest test yet for Gene Chizik’s bunch. AU needs to keep winning to stay in the top 25. Chizik’s win streak at Auburn –- defensive coordinator and head coach –- is now at 20. A win Saturday and the Auburn head man will join a short list, becoming the fifth SEC head coach to win his first six games as a conference member.

Two of the four, Bobby Bowden at Auburn and Galen Hall at Florida, didn’t stick around too long. But the other two, Ole Miss’ Nutt and Phillip Fulmer at Tennessee, became fixtures in the league. Historically, things look good for AU with the Tigers having won their last four games at Arkansas and the road team having won the past four games in the series. On the other hand, the last time Auburn was 5-0, in 2006, it lost to Arkansas and the last time Auburn was ranked, the Hogs knocked them off in 2008. One key for the Auburn defense – don’t let the Razorbacks get close. Arkansas has scored on all of its 14 red-zone possessions this year.

In the other two league encounters, South Carolina should prevail over the Wildcats (Line: South Carolina by 10), while the Georgia at Tennessee matchup (Line: Tennessee by 1) could go either way. South Carolina should beat the spread if the Gamecocks don’t let their top 25 ranking go to their heads. Under Spurrier, South Carolina has posted a 4-7 record when ranked. But the Gamecocks have won the last nine meetings against Kentucky and Spurrier, personally, is 16-0 against the Wildcats.

At Neyland Stadium, Georgia will be motivated by a chance to get back into that top 25. With the loss to LSU last week, the Dogs fell out of the rankings for the first time since 2006. The two teams are not used to meeting when both are unranked. This will be the first of such type meetings since 1937.

The two non-conference games this week have Vanderbilt (2-3) trying to get back to .500 on the season against Army (2-3) (Line: Vandy by 10½). And Mississippi State doing the same (2-3) hosting Houston (3-1) (Line: Miss. St. by 1). Vandy should be successful. The Knights of the Hudson have not done well over the years against SEC teams with a 6-14-2 record against the league. The Bulldogs will have a tougher test against a good Houston squad that has beaten a couple of good teams in Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

ON THE SOAPBOX … SEC officials’ supervisor Rogers Redding confirmed what everyone watching the LSU-Georgia game last week already knew –- that the celebration penalty called on Georgia’s A.J. Green in the fourth quarter was out of line. Coming when it did, with the Bulldogs having taken the lead on a great catch by Green, the ensuing penalty that gave LSU the field position it then used to retake the lead for good, the call probably cost Georgia a victory.

Rule 9-2 in the NCAA rule book prohibits “any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player (or players) attempts to draw attention to himself (or themselves). I understand a celebration call needs to be made when a player taunts the opposition, as in showing him the ball as he’s crossing the goal line, or standing over him after a big hit. But Green wasn’t taunting and his act wasn’t choreographed. This was just the worst case of several I’m noticed this year.

The NCAA has called for a crack down on celebration –- but some officials have been going overboard. Come on refs! Let them play ball and let them be happy when they make a big play. If it is bad sportsmanship, throw the flag. If it’s just enthusiasm, keep the flag in your pocket.

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

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

Tags: Florida Takes On LSU in Baton Rouge

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