Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

Just call the state of Alabama the “Football Capital of the Nation.”

That’s what everyone will be calling it after Auburn defeats whoever the Tigers’ BCS opponent in the national title game turns out to be. It is only deserving. No other state can claim back-to-back national titles plus back-to-back Heisman Trophies. Last year it was the Alabama Crimson Tide and Mark Ingram; this year it will be the Auburn Tigers and Cam Newton.

But first things first. That national championship column will be in January. This is still December, the end of the regular season for Southeastern Conference football.

For the record, it’s Week 14, the SEC Championship Game Week — this year dubbed “The Rematch.” The SEC title game in the Georgia Dome on Saturday should be a great one and storylines abound. It would be easier for everyone all around — except South Carolina folks — if Auburn would just go ahead and handily win, thus putting them into the national title game automatically. There would be no arguments from any corner.

The game is at 3 p.m. on your local CBS station.

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Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

Yes they Cam!

Talking about the Auburn Tigers, who can ride star quarterback Cam Newton all the way to a SEC title and perhaps a national title as well! If Newton can shake off all the commotion going on around him and isn’t declared ineligible, the Tigers are in great shape to be the second straight team from the state of Alabama to play in the national championship game.

Auburn is No. 2 in the BCS standings this week and the second-ranked team in the fourth week of the BCS standings has reached the title game over half the times is has been played — seven of 12 times -– and has won the national title four of those seven times.

Much, perhaps most, of the controversy surrounding Newton is, as Shakespeare put it so well, much ado about nothing.

TV Schedule and Lines Below…
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Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

War Eagle! This week’s musings on Southern Conference football must begin with an apology to still-undefeated (3-0) Auburn. It seems that last Saturday’s Tigers vs. Tigers battle on The Plains was not mentioned in last week’s column. That was indeed a shame, since it turned out to be one of the most entertaining games of the weekend with Auburn edging Clemson 27-24 in overtime on a missed field goal by the visitors.

Some readers who know this writer’s historical connection (two first-cousins played quarterback for the Tide and an uncle who played both baseball and football at the Capstone in the ‘40s — Jack Rutledge and his two sons, Gary and Jeff) to the Alabama Crimson Tide probably think that leaving out Auburn was on purpose. Not true, not consciously anyway. If it was on purpose, blame my sub-conscious, which marches to its own drummer.

In any case, the Plains Tigers (as opposed to the Bayou Tigers from Baton Rouge) will get plenty of mention this week, although AU fans may not like what is said.

Now down to the business of looking at upcoming Week 4 of the 2010 SEC college football season. This week looks to be very interesting indeed. The SEC has half its members among the Top 20 teams in the national polls (Bama still No. 1, followed by Florida (8), Arkansas (10), South Carolina (12), LSU (15) and Auburn (17). That number could go down next week, with four of the six ranked league teams going head-to-head against each other on Saturday.

Saturday’s seven-game lineup includes four conference matchups and three intersectional contests.

The game of the week has to be the battle of Top Ten teams in Fayetteville, Ark., set for 2:30 p.m. on CBS. It’s No. 1 Alabama at No. 10 Arkansas. (Line: Alabama by 7).

TV Schedule and More Lines Below
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Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

It’s Week Three of the 2010 college football season and so far the Southeastern Conference is looking good with an 18-6 overall record – and two of those six losses game at the hands of another SEC team. After two weeks of play Alabama has looked like the No. 1 team in the nation, Florida has won but has looked shaky.

South Carolina is atop the Eastern Division standings — the Ol’ Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier, is getting close to having the “perennial loser” tag removed from the Gamecocks’ program. S.C. now has an dead even overall record (536-536-44) and after this week will be officially in the “winners” book.

The SEC has half its members among the Top 20 teams in the national polls – Bama is still No. 1, followed by Florida (7), Arkansas (12), South Carolina (13), LSU (15) and Auburn (16).

One of the interesting story lines this week is the return of Mark Ingram to the Crimson Tide starting lineup. The talking heads on TV have been going on and on about whether or how much missing the first two games will hamper Ingram’s chances of winning a second straight Heisman Trophy.

Perhaps the most injurious to his chances has been the play of backup Trent Richardson in the first two Bama wins. The sophomore has been running the ball with authority, leading the way in rushing with 210 yards and three TDs and is second in pass receptions with seven. Ingram’s return means Richardson’s totals will go down.

But while Ingram is the starter, and should be, the fact of the matter is that Alabama has two Heisman-worthy tailbacks. Maybe Coach Nick Saban should say that they both are co-starters. That would be fair, right?

Saturday’s eight-game lineup includes four conference matchups and one interesting if not intriguing intersectional contest that features top-ranked (2-0) Alabama against the Duke Blue Devils (1-1) (Line: Alabama by 24).

What would make any game against Duke — a team that is a perennial loser in the Atlantic Coast conference, not really a football conference — interesting or intriguing you ask?

The answer is history…

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TV Lineup and Lines Below

Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

With the two top spots already decided and nine league teams already bowl eligible, the Week 12 Southeastern Conference football schedule seems a bit out of kilter, almost unnecessary.

Most folks — except those in Alabama of course, for whom the world would surely come to an end if there wasn’t an Iron Bowl, which is set for next Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, on CBS — would just like to fast forward to the SEC Championship Game in December. There are six games on this week’s schedule, with both division leaders spinning their wheels playing cupcake opponents.

Alabama (10-0), ranked No. 2 nationally, will entertain Chattanooga (6-4) in Tuscaloosa and No. 1 Florida (10-0) will host Florida International (3-7) in Gainesville. These are games that both teams would rather skip. Looking at these two games from the prospective of teams poised to play for a conference title with a shot at the national title to follow for the winner and one has to ask, “Do those games really have to take place?”

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The Question Is: How Will Alabama’s D Work Against the Spread?

TV Lineup and Lines Below

Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

With Florida and Alabama already penciled in against each other in the BCS national semifinal game, also known as the SEC championship game, the rest of the league teams will fight it out for bowl bids in the last two weeks of the regular season.

The Week 11 schedule has five conference games on tap, with two non-conference matchups as well. Four teams can claim that magical sixth victory that makes them bowl eligible – Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Arkansas.

The tangle between the hedges in Athens between visiting Auburn and Georgia (Line: Georgia by 5) is big bowl-wise for both teams involved. For Georgia (5-4 ,3-3), a win would send them bowling somewhere. For Auburn (7-3, 3-3), a victory would give them the opportunity, as an eight-win team, to end its season in Dallas playing in the new Cowboys Stadium in the Cotton Bowl. That’s pretty heady stuff for a team that didn’t go bowling anywhere last season and to whose fans a spot in the Liberty Bowl or Music City Bowl would have sounded great before the season began.

For Auburn Saturday, it’s a question of which AU team shows up — the one that ran roughshod over opponents early in the season or the team that mysteriously misplaced its offense during a three-game losing streak.

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TV Lineup and Lines Below

Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

What’s happening in the world of SEC football? Well, for one thing, there will be a national quarter-final game played in Tuscaloosa.

The winner of the LSU vs. Alabama contest Saturday on CBS will win the SEC Western Division and with that a spot in the SEC Championship Game against Florida, which is already penciled in as the Eastern Division champion. And everybody knows the winner of the Florida-Alabama (or Florida-LSU) title game will claim a spot in the BCS finale.

Undefeated and rested Alabama (8-0, 5-0), coming off a bye week with all minor bumps and bruises healed, is a slight favorite (Line: Alabama by 8) against an LSU (7-1, 4-1) squad that has struggled on offense at times — like the Crimson Tide — and looked sharp at time — like Alabama — but has found a way to win — like Alabama — in every game but one, a close loss to top-ranked Florida.

Most observers think it will come down to the defenses, which have saved victories for both teams this season. This could be another of those close, low-scoring games — old-time type SEC contests that feature field position and turnovers as keys to victory. Alabama is fourth in the nation in total defense and one of just three teams in the nation giving up fewer than four yards per play. Add to that the fact that LSU is dead last in the SEC in total offense and you can see that the Bengal Tigers don’t want a high-scoring affair.

To win, Bama will have to reverse a trend. LSU has turned Bryant-Denny into a home away from home in recent years, having claimed wins in its last four visits. And while most experts and the stats themselves indicate a low-scoring and close battle, the Crimson Tide has the potential to explode. Bama quarterback Greg McElroy has sputtered in his last three outings and fans are still waiting for star receiver Julio Jones to return to his fabulous freshman form and have a breakout game. This game has the possibility to be that game.

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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.

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