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.

But if Auburn should lose … there’s the rub. Then there would be pandemonium as a national debate would ensue.

Auburn fans, in their (sometimes justified) paranoid way would be convinced that the Tigers are going to be left out again. Many football fans, and many that have votes in the polls that make up part of the BCS formula, would push TCU into the title game against Oregon (unless the Ducks were to lose Saturday, too; that would really confuse things) just for the sake of novelty. Folks who pull for the underdog — want to see that first non-BCS team in the national title game. They want to see history in the making. Who can blame them?

But those people wanting to see TCU in the national title tilt are getting carried away with the novelty aspect of the situation. The idea is to each year get the best two college football teams in the nation to face off for the national championship.

When you look at the schedule, there is no real debate. The Horned Frogs could not compete week-in, week-out against teams the caliber of Alabama, LSU. Florida, etc. and still be undefeated. The thinking is here – and other places as well — that a one-loss SEC team should be ranked higher than an unbeaten TCU. Some critics would complain about a team not able to win its own conference playing for the national title. But it’s happened before.

The idea, again, is to have the two best teams vying for the title. Then Auburn can pluck the Oregon Ducks in the national title game and the crystal football will remain in Alabama for another year. On the way, AU QB Cam Newton will take a side trip to New York to pick up the Heisman Trophy.

The game itself should be entertaining. It is a rematch and yes, Auburn did win the first go-round. But the 35-27 victory was anything but a cake walk. For those who remember, it looked in the first half that Auburn would be beaten badly as the Tigers fell behind 20-3 early and still trailed 27-20 going into the fourth quarter.

The South Carolina game was the one in which the Auburn coaching staff and others, like myself, “discovered” Newton. The play where Newton dove over defenders from the 8-yard-line was the one for me. I said to myself: “This guy is something special.” The AU coaching staff said the same thing and from that game on, let Newton loose to do as his instincts instruct.

The Georgia Dome is not familiar territory for either team. For Auburn, it will be its fourth trip with just one win so far to show for it. South Carolina is enjoying the “first time” thrill of the Big Show. As any coach who has gotten his/her team to that elite level, playing for a regional or national title in any sport, that “thrill” of finally arriving is hard to deal with, often overshadowing the game itself.

Fortunately for the Gamecocks, their head coach, the Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier, has been there, many times. For the ex-Florida Gators head coach, it will be his eighth SEC title tilt and he carries a 5-2 mark into the game.

Now people will tell you — in fact, both Auburn’s Gene Chizik and Spurrier have already said it this week — that coaches don’t matter; that it is all up to the players and if you have the best players and they play a good game, etc., etc. yadda-yadda. Having covered sports for a half century or so, I can tell you that a coach makes a difference. I can’t say how many times I’ve seen losing programs become winning programs when a new coach shows up, only to see it return to the losing ways when that coach leaves. Given a few years for it to sink in, a team, a program, will take on the personality of its coach.

South Carolina had been a perennial loser for many, many years and it has taken six years for Spurrier’s winning attitude to “sink in.” But I think it has and now when that whistle sounds to start a ball game, the Gamecocks believe they are supposed to win!

Auburn is a 6-point favorite to win and the feeling is here that it will do so. This seems to be the year for Auburn. If you’ve noticed, when the Tigers have needed a break, they’ve gotten it. When they’ve had to have a first down or a big play, they find some way for it to happen. Providence has smiled on them and, I think, continue. This is Auburn’s year.

And Newton’s as well. Look for the game to be as close and entertaining as the first one and for Newton to work his magic at the end to pull it out!

We’ll have a “Time Out” later on the bowl situation involving SEC teams once everything has settled after the conference championship games Saturday.

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…

Did an agent hint to Mississippi State officials that to get Newton’s services, money would be required? Did anyone in the Newton family know money was being solicited? Was Newton caught cheating at Florida and was about to be declared academically ineligible when he decided to withdraw from school and transfer to a junior college?

You know what? If any of those things have any truth in them, it really doesn’t matter because they all happened long ago. Some statements from Auburn officials sound as if they may have know about Newton’s checkered academic history at Florida, which also means they didn’t think there was a real problem. When the school says Newton is both academically eligible and eligible according to the NCAA, it more than likely knows of what it speaks. Newton’s past is just that – past.

His present is shining like a star and his future looks wide open. In one year at Auburn, Newton has blown the record books away. Newton leads the nation in TDs scored with 35 – 19 passing, 15 rushing, 1 receiving. By the time the season is over, Newton is sure to be the school’s single-season record holder in both rushing touchdowns (he now has 15, record is 17) and TD passes (he now has 19, record is 22). And Newton needs just 242 yards of total offense to break the single season record of 3,277 set by Deymayune Craig in 1997.

Newton also needs just 110 yards passing this week to become the first SEC player in history with 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in the same season! Again, hats off to AU Coach Gene Chizik for his fierce defense of his quarterback and his firm decision to play him, put him on the field, unless he is declared ineligible by the NCAA.

But with stats like his, I sure wouldn’t take him off the field unless somebody made me!

The game itself, Georgia (5-5, 3-4) at Auburn (10-0, 6-0) (Line: Auburn by 8), will be the 114th renewal of the oldest rivalry in the Deep South. This has always been a streaky, quirky series with upsets and close games galore.

Auburn leads the overall series 53-52-8. And while historically this game has been a close defensive battle — the average score in the series is Georgia 16, Auburn 15 – this year’s game could well be a high-scoring shootout. If both teams keep up the pace at which they’ve been playing, it should be at least 50-something to 30-something.

With its 62-24 win over Chattanooga last week, this year’s AU team became the first Auburn team to score at least 50 points in five games of one season. But the Bulldogs haven’t been doing too badly themselves. Georgia has scored at least 30 points in each of its past five games and in each of its past four SEC games – both the longest such scoring success runs in school history. An early omen of success could be who gets on the scoreboard first. Georgia has scored first in each of its five wins this year, while its opponents have scored first in each of the Bulldogs’ losses.

The Tigers-Bulldogs matchup on The Plains is the top matchup on the week 11 SEC football schedule because — a point we haven’t touched upon yet — if Auburn wins, the first half of the SEC championship game paring will be set.

But not far behind that game in importance is the Battle of the East in Gainesville. It will be South Carolina and Florida, both coming in with 6-3 overall records and 4-3 league marks (Line: Florida by 6 ½). The winner of this tangle in The Swamp will be the East Division representative in the SEC title game in December. Could this be the year for the Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier?

If the Gamecocks are to win, they will have to overcome serious odds. Florida has played in 10 SEC title games. SC has never played in one. South Carolina has never (0-12) won in Gainesville. But then, South Carolina has never beaten Florida, Georgia and Tennessee in one season — a major reason the Gamecocks have never won the Eastern title. This season, however, South Carolina has already taken care of both Georgia and Tennessee. It’s been a long time and the feelings aren’t that strong by now — but wouldn’t Spurrier find it sweet to win the Eastern title for South Carolina for the first time by beating his old team and getting the Gamecocks’ first-ever win at The Swamp?

The Mississippi State (7-2, 3-2) at Alabama (7-2, 4-2) game is relegated to third on this week’s menu (Line: Alabama by 13 ½). It is a big game for both teams for different reasons. For the Bulldogs, it is a chance to really grab the attention of the football world and say, “We’re back!” Mississippi State has a strong running game and a stout defense and is riding a wave of confidence, coming into the game riding a six-game winning streak.

Alabama is surrounded by questions. How will the Tide react after losing its second game of the season and really seeing its national title hopes fly out the window? That can only be answered on the field in Tuscaloosa Saturday. Without running back Trent Anderson, look for the Bulldogs to get a big dose of Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram. This one could be low scoring, with defense and running dominating.

There are two more league games on the busy week’s schedule — Ole Miss (4-5. 1-4) at Tennessee (3-6, 0-5) (Line: Tennessee by 2 ½), a game for a feel-good late win to sort of salvage a disappointing season for one team or the other. Tennessee has never been 0-7 in league play at any time in its long history. Look for the Voles to be motivated at home. There is also a good chance that Ole Miss QB Jeremiah Masoli won’t be able to play due to a concussion suffered in last week’s contest. If Masoli doesn’t play, the Vols’ chances of winning improve considerably.

The fifth league game a really a non-event — Vandy (2-7, 1-5) at Kentucky (5-5, 1-5). The Wildcats should be the more motivated of the two. A win would make Kentucky bowl eligible.There are two non-league contests on tap this week — La. Monroe (4-5) at LSU (8-1) (Line: LSU by 33) and UTEP (6-4) at Arkansas (7-2) (Line: Arkansas by 28½).

TV LINEUP

This Saturday’s television football menu is as follows:

11 a.m.
Ole Miss at Tennessee (CBS), Iowa at Northwestern (ESPN), Indiana at Wisconsin (ESPN2), S. Fla. at Louisville (ESPNU), Miami at Georgia Tech (WB), Cincinnati at W. Virginia (CSS), Brown at Dartmouth (Versus), Southern Miss at Central Fla. (CBS College Sports), Michigan at Purdue (Big Ten Network), Minnesota at Illinois (Big Ten Network)

11:21 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Kentucky (SEC Network)

11:30 p.m.
Kansas St. at Missouri (FSN South)

1 p.m.
BYU at Colorado (Mountain)

1:30 p.m.
Utah at Notre Dame (NBC)

2 p.m.
Wofford at Appalachian St. (SportSouth)

2:30 p.m.
Georgia at Auburn (CBS), Virginia Tech at North Carolina (ABC), Penn St. at Ohio St. (ESPN), Syracuse at Rutgers (ESPNU), Central Mich. at Navy (CBS College Sports), Fla. International at Troy (CSS)

3 p.m.
San Diego St. at TCU (Versus)

5 p.m.
New Mexico at Air Force (Mountain)

6 p.m.
UTEP at Arkansas (ESPNU)

6:15 p.m.
South Carolina at Florida (ESPN), Mississippi St. at Alabama (ESPN2)

6:30 p.m.
Oregon at California (Versus)

7 p.m.
Clemson at FSU (ABC), Tulsa at Houston (CBS College Sports)

9 p.m.
Wyoming at UNLV (Mountain)

9:30 p.m.
Nevada at Fresno St. (ESPN)

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

One of the interesting story lines last week was the return of Mark Ingram to the Crimson Tide starting lineup –- and did he ever make a noise with his return, busting out for 40-plus yards on his first carry of the year and ending his first game with 151 yards and two touchdowns. The Heisman winner’s return means that the outstanding Bama running back tandem of Ingram-Trent Richardson is now a reality and that makes the Tide offense even harder to stop.

In their second year together in the backfield, the Ingram-Richardson tandem could be a history-making duo. Already, pundits are putting them into the category with Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis, who led Army to two straight undefeated national championship seasons in 1945-46. Each won a Heisman Trophy.

Their yardage total is not record-setting, but back in that day teams only played 9-10 games per season (Army played just 9 in ’45). Blanchard-Davis scored 97 touchdowns for the Cadets, second all-time to the 99 scored by USC duo Reggie Bush and LenDale White in 2005. The Bama duo is also being compared by some to the SMU “Pony Express” tandem of Eric Dickerson and Craig James, whose combined total of 8,193 rushing yards in their career still stands as the NCAA record.

The Tide pair could conceivably break all those marks. They combined for 2,409 yards last year. If both go over the 1,000-yard mark this season and both stick around for a third season together, they could challenge Dickerson-James. Right now, only Ingram owns a Heisman. But if Richerson continues the way he has started this season – the sophomore from Pensacola leads the SEC and is eighth nationally in all-purpose yards after three games with an average of 179 yards per game. He ranks third in kickoff returns (41.25 average).

The game has been billed as a battle between the league’s top two quarterbacks. Both Alabama senior Greg McElroy and Arkansas sensation Ryan Mallet are both top-ranked –- Mallet leading the SEC in passing yards per game this season (360.3), McElroy ranked the No. 1 quarterback in passing efficiency in the nation. It could to be a shootout if both QBs are “on” and especially if both teams drive the ball well enough or come up with turnovers that help them reach the opposing team’s Red Zone.

Arkansas leads the SEC (a perfect 10-for10) in scoring when it gets inside a foe’s 20-yard-line and led the nation in that department last year. The Red Zone has been good to the Tide so far this year as well, Bama scoring 10 of the 15 times it has reached there. On the other hand, the Tide’s young secondary could continue to play at the level that has them first in the conference, second in the nation, in pass-efficiency defense after three games of play. If that happens, the Tide defense could cancel out the Hogs’ top-rated passing offense leading to a low-scoring game with the running game and turnovers making the difference.

PASSING TEBOW IN PASSING

Alabama’s McElroy pushed Florida’s Mr. Everything Tim Tebow out of first place in one statistical category last week when he threw his 400th career pass during the win over Duke. That’s the number of passes that qualifies quarterbacks’ achievements for inclusion in the SEC Record Book. McElroy replaced Tebow with the best interception-to-touchdowns ratio in SEC history. In his career, McElroy has thrown just one interception every 67.5 passes. Tebow’s ratio was 1-to-62.2.

Then there is the second battle of undefeated Top 20 teams this week. Saturday in Auburn, the War Eagles play host to South Carolina (Line: Auburn by 3). Both teams are 3-0 and the questions is which will suffer their first loss Saturday.

This one will be a showcase for two of the future stars of the SEC – freshmen running backs Marcus Lattimore and Mike Dyer of Auburn. Both have been impact players for their respective teams in the first three games of the season. Lattimore leads the SEC in rushing with 333 yards and 5 touchdowns. Dyer has 212 yards as part of the Tigers’ league-leading rushing attack. From here, it looks like Lattimore will win that battle and if Auburn puts all its attention on stopping the run, South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia will take over. Garcia has been accurate this year, hitting on 41-of-60 passes. And anyone who remembers the Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier at Florida knows that having to pass is no problem at all.

The Gamecocks could even come out throwing because of the physical advantage their receivers have over the AU secondary. The three top SC receivers are 6-4 or taller, while the AU defensive backs range from 5-9 to 6-2. Auburn has had trouble with its passing game in the first three games. And while the Tigers are leading the SEC in rushing yardage, the Gamecocks match that with the league-leading defense against the run. and etc. etc. When all the dust has cleared, the South Carolina defense will again win the day, giving notice to the rest of the league that the Gamecocks are a real threat to the SEC East title.

The other two league games feature Kentucky at Florida (Line: Florida by 14) and Georgia at Mississippi State. The first contest is a between two Eastern Division leaders, each coming in 3-0 overall. Florida has won, but looked less than impressive in winning. Kentucky has looked better than expected in reeling off three straight under new head coach Joker Phillips, who has proved so far to be anything but a joke. A win Saturday and no one will be laughing except maybe Phillips. A win would also be the first time since 1911 Kentucky has started a season 4-0.

The fourth win came over Lexington High School. If the Wildcats were playing a high school Saturday, they would for sure tie that mark! But Joker is already doing fine, putting himself in the same sentence with Bear Bryant. Phillips is the first coach in 99 years to win his first three games as the Kentucky head football coach. The last was Bryant in 1946.

The second game is a battle for respectability, matching two 1-2 teams that desperately need to put a “W” on the board to even their score for the season, with Georgia visiting Mississippi State (Line: Miss. St. by 1). A drop to 1-3 would be hard to shake for either.

All of the non-league game will be worth watching, with all three league teams hosting respectable if not dangerous opponents. The most interesting is the Big East vs. SEC matchup in Baton Rouge, where LSU (3-0) entertains West Virginia (3-0). (Line: LSU by 9). West Virginia has been good the past few years and is undoubtedly still strong, but LSU has too much Cajun mojo going on. For one thing, it is a night game at Tiger Stadium where LSU head man holds a 25-1 record. Secondly, the game is broadcast on ESPN2. The Bengal Tigers have won 24 straight games that have been broadcast on the sports network. ‘Nough said!

Tennessee (1-2) tries to keep from losing its third straight at Neyland. The Vols have a good shot as they host 1-2 UAB (Line: Tennessee by 14). Ole Miss (1-2) will try to even up its season mark when it hosts 2-0 Fresno State. Keeping in mind Jacksonville State, you know that anything could happen in this one. (Line: Ole Miss by 3)

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

The fourth week kicked off on Thursday night with another ACC-Big East matchup, Miami (Fla.) at Pittsburgh. The weekly ESPN Friday contest features TCU at SMU at 7 p.m.

Saturday’s television lineup is as follows:

11 a.m.
N.C. State at Georgia Tech (ESPN), Austin Peay at Wisconsin (Big Ten Network), Fla. International at Maryland (ESPNU), Bowling Green at Michigan (ESPN2), Toledo at Purdue (Big Ten Network), Ohio at Ohio St. (Big Ten Network)

11:21 p.m.
UAB at Tennessee (SEC Network)

1 p.m.
Air Force at Wyoming (Mountain Network)

2 p.m.
USC at Washington St. (FSN)

2:30 p.m.
Alabama at Arkansas (CBS), Delaware at Richmond (Comcast), Stanford at Notre Dame (NBC), Florida A&M at Tennessee St. (Versus), Tulane at Houston (CBS College Sports)

5 p.m.
Elon at Georgia Southern (SportSouth), Nevada at BYU (Mountain Network)

6 p.m.
Kentucky at Florida (ESPNU), Georgia at Mississippi St. (FSN), Akron at Indiana (Big Ten Network)

6:30 p.m.
Fresno St. at Ole Miss (CSS)

6:45 p.m.
South Carolina at Auburn (ESPN)

7 p.m.
Baylor at Rice (CBS College Sports), Oregon St. Boise St. (ABC)

7:30 p.m.
Northern Ill. at Minnesota (Big Ten Network)

8 p.m.
West Virginia at LSU (ESPN2)

9 p.m.
New Mexico at UNLV (Mountain Network)

9:30 p.m.
Oregon at Arizona St. (FSN)

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…

So far this season, the Crimson Tide’s schedule has been a trip down memory lane with a historical theme. Last week it was Bama vs. Joe Perterno’s Penn State Nittany Lions.

This week, fans who are students of the game will be imaging the late Coach Wallace Wade looking down with extreme interest, not knowing which team to pull for. It may be surprising to some rabid Bear Bryant devotees that is was Wade, not Bryant, that made Alabama a force in college football.

They probably haven’t noticed, but Coach Wade’s statue stands outside Bryant-Denny Stadium, along with Bryant’s. But Wade also made Duke a feared name – really, no kidding! – in college football, too. Wade coached at Alabama from 1923 through 1930. When he arrived, Alabama was a complete unknown on the national grid scene.

During his tenure in Tuscaloosa, Wade led the Crimson Tide to three Rose Bowl berths and three national titles while compiling a 61-13-3 record. The 20-19 Bama win over highly-favored Washington in the 1926 Rose Bowl is considered by all students of the game to be a watershed event for Southern football.

At that time, it was the Big Ten, Northeast teams such Army and Navy, Notre Dame and Pacific Coast teams that were considered the cream of the football crop. Southern teams were not even mentioned. And after Wade left Alabama and went to Duke, he did the same thing there. In his 16 years at Duke, Wade turned the Blue Devils into a national power.

Wade was 110-36-7 at Duke and his 1938 team, called the “Iron Dukes” went undefeated in regular season before losing 7-3 to Southern Cal in the 1939 Rose Bowl.

Bama’s Bryant often spoke of how he may not have played at Alabama if not for Wade.

“I grew up listening to those great Rose Bowl teams of Wallace Wade. That made me from a young boy want to go to Alabama,” Bryant said.

Bryant and Wade were good friends and Bryant often called him for advice. Early in Bryant’s tenure, Wade made a visit to Tuscaloosa and Bryant introduced the coaching legend to his team.

“Men, I’d like to introduce you to Coach Wallace Wade, the man who is most responsible for the great tradition of Alabama football,” Bryant said. “Coach Wade got the ball rolling around here.”

The game of the week has to be Florida (2-0) vs. Tennessee (1-1) in Knoxville (Line: Florida by 14). Ever since the league went to two divisions, the winner of this game has been in the driver’s seat to win the East Division title. Florida was inconsistent in its first two outings, winning despite mistakes. Tennessee looked surprisingly good against No. 7 Oregon – for a half. They looked like a completely different team in the second half. We’ll see which Vol team is the real team this week.

The other three league games feature Arkansas (2-0) at Georgia (1-1) (Line: Georgia by 3), Vanderbilt (0-2) at Ole Miss (1-1) (Line: Ole Miss by 12) and Mississippi State at LSU (Line: LSU by 8).

Playing between The Hedges is always tough, but Georgia has had a hard time against highly-ranked foes in recent years. The Bulldogs haven’t beaten a team ranked as high as Arkansas (No. 12) at home since 1991 and has been 0-3 in such contests. The game is looked at as dead even, with the Bulldogs getting nod because they are playing at home. The key to a Georgia win is to not let the Razorbacks get to the Red Zone. Arkansas is perfect, 9-for-9, scoring every time it has gotten inside an opponents’ 20-yard-line this year. Last year the Razorbacks led the league in Red Zone efficiency, scoring 47 out of 49 times.

It’s probably ‘nough said to point out that Mississippi State will be playing LSU at night at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. That’s one of the toughest assignments in college football. Tiger head man Les Miles has to love it when he sees these games on the schedule. Miles is 24-1 in Saturday night games in Tiger Stadium.

Another reason that the Tigers will win is that the game is on ESPN. LSU has won 23 straight games when on ESPN. Also, LSU in riding a 15-game winning streak in September games, the longest such streak in the SEC and a school record.

There’s not much to say about Ole Miss and Vandy. Ole Miss is still stinging from the loss to Jacksonville State and that should be enough to get them the win. Vandy looks to be on the way to a terrible season. Vandy has never won more than four games in a season in which it started 0-2.

The other two contests are “fillers” in a tough schedule for the SEC teams involved. Kentucky, off to a 2-0 start under new coach Joker Phillips, hosts Akron, which is off to an 0-2 start (Line: Kentucky by 25). South Carolina, after two good wins, gets to breathe easy this week as the unbeaten Gamecocks host 1-0 Furman. The Gamecocks are so heavily favored that there is no betting line on the game.

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

The third week kicked off on Thursday night with an ACC-Big East matchup, North Carolina State vs. Cincinnati. Neither conference has fared well in the first two weeks, so the story there is that one gets a win against a fellow BCS league. The weekly ESP N Friday night doubleheader has Southern Miss hosting Kansas in the early (7 p.m.) game, followed by California at Nevada at 9 p.m.

Saturday’s TV Lineup

11 a.m.
Arkansas at Georgia (ESPN), Ball St. at Purdue (Big Ten Network), Georgia Tech at North Carolina (Raycom Sports), Iowa St. at Kansas St. (FSN), Maryland at West Virginia (ESPNU), Kent State at Penn State (ESPN2), Northern Ill. at Illinois (Big Ten Network), Ohio at Ohio St. (Big Ten Network), UMass at Michigan (Big Ten Network)

11:21 p.m.
Vanderbilt at Ole Miss (SEC Network)

2:30 p.m.
Alabama at Duke (ABC), Florida at Tennessee (CBS), Air Force at Oklahoma (FSN), Arizona St. at Wisconsin (ESPN2), BYU at FSU (ESPNU), USC at Minnesota (ESPN), Washington St. at SMU (CBS College Sports)

3:30 p.m.
Baylor at TCU. (Versus)

4:30 p.m.
Louisville at Oregon St. (FSN)

6 p.m.
Akron at Kentucky (FSN), Clemson at Auburn (ESPN), Miss. St. at LSU (ESPNU)

7 p.m.
Boise St. at Wyoming (CBS College Sports), Louisiana-Monroe at Arkansas St. (CSS), Notre Dame at Michigan St. (ABC), Texas at Texas Tech (ESPN2), Utah at New Mexico (Mountain)

9:30 p.m.
Houston at UCLA (FSN), Iowa at Arizona (ESPN), UNLV at Idaho (ESPNU)

10:15 p.m.
Wake Forest at Stanford (ESPNU)

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?”

Couldn’t Alabama and Florida just pay Chattanooga and FIU their guaranteed payments and negotiate some kind of final score and be done with it? Probably not … but the games are still strange at best.

Neither the Gators nor Tide have anything to gain in the games and both have plenty to lose. A blowout win by the Gators (Line: Florida by 45) and Tide (No Line) would be the expected outcomes. But both games are perfect setups for the kind of letdown for which Bama has shown a proclivity in the past.

With two big, big games looming, it is easy to just play to the level of the opponent. And if that happens and either Bama or Florida or both don’t play well or suffers a closer-than-expected outcome that could trigger doubts or loss of confidence at exactly the wrong time. The right move would be for the coaches of both SEC teams to sit their starters across the board — unless of course the outcome of the game was in doubt.

An injury to a Tim Tebow or a Mark Ingram — just to mention two examples — would be fatal to national title hopes. Any fan can substitute several names from each team that would be just as telling a blow to lose for the upcoming games that really count. But we all know that sitting the starters won’t be done.

There will be full stadiums of fans at both venues who are there for Senior Day. And on their last home games of their careers, there won’t be many seniors sitting on the bench. And all will be going all out, trying to look their best in their last games in their home stadiums. So that will be the story in both of those contests. The scores of the games don’t matter. The injury list will be the important stat.

Of the four conference games, the LSU (8-2, 4-2)-Ole Miss (7-7, 3-3) contest is the “biggie” this week. With Bama and Florida sure to be in BCS bowls, LSU and Ole Miss appear to have the most control of their bowl destiny. If the Tigers beat Ole Miss, they will cement their place as the league’s No. 3 team and will surely end up in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando.

The Cotton and the Outback bowls are next in the pecking order, with the Cotton getting its preference from the SEC West and the Outback getting to pick from the East. Of course, if the Rebels win, they would earn the trip to Orlando. Ole Miss at home is a slight favorite (Line: Ole Miss by 3½), but if things go as they have all season, you’ll know at intermission who is the winner. Ole Miss has led at halftime in all its wins and trailed at intermission in all its losses.

There are three other league games. The biggest of the trio is the annual championship of the state of Tennessee game. The Vols (5-5, 2-4) will be hosting the Commodores (2-9, 0-7) with bowl eligibility on the line. Fans should know soon in this one as both Tennessee and Vanderbilt have scored first in all of their wins this year. It’s just that Tennessee has scored more points more often and should do it again Saturday (Line: Tennessee by 16).

Arkansas (6-4, 2-4) hosts Mississippi State (4-6, 2-4) (Line: Arkansas by 10½) and Georgia (6-4, 4-3) takes on Kentucky (6-4, 2-4) (Line: Georgia by 8) between the hedges in Athens in the other two conference matchups.

With the Thanksgiving holiday weekend coming up, which will be jam-packed with TV football offerings from Thursday through Saturday, this weekend’s television lineup is sparse indeed. Also contributing to the lack of grid games on TV is the beginning-of-the-season basketball tournaments also taking up air time as college hoops gets underway. First up is a Friday night doubleheader on the all-sports network – beginning with Akron at Bowling Green at 4:30 p.m.

The second game of the twin bill will again give grid fans the chance to see one of the nation’s top 10 teams play on a Friday night as No. 6 Boise State takes on Utah State at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2. You know that when those schedules were set up, no one foresaw – not surprisingly – that Boise would be rated in the top 10 this late in the season. Saturday’s lean television lineup, not including pay-for-view games, is as follows:

WEEKEND TV LINEUP

There is one Tuesday, Nov. 24, game scheduled to be broadcast on TV. I couldn’t decide if it should be listed as an early game for next week or a late game for this week. But because Tuesday was closer to this weekend, here it is – Ball State at Western Michigan at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.