The Southeastern Conference has four teams ranked in the first BCS standings of the season entering week eight of the college football season.Florida and Alabama lead the way ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation, respectively. Alabama moved ahead of Florida in the Associated Press Top 25 after the Gators barely escaped with a win against Arkansas on a game-winning field goal with 13 seconds remaining in the game. Both teams face inter-division rivals this weekend with seven weeks until the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. EAST MEETS WESTIn this week’s premiere SEC match-up, Tennessee (3-3, 1-2) travels to Alabama for the annual rivalry game which began in 1901. Alabama (7-0, 4-0) leads the series with a 45–38–7 record. “This is a great traditional rivalry game for both teams,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban in a teleconference. “They are certainly a team that has improved dramatically, and coach Lane Kiffin has done a really good job of creating discipline and doing the things they need to do to get better.”The Crimson Tide have blown out the Volunteers in the last two matchups, 29-9 and 41-17, respectively. “We’re going to have to have a great week in practice to start making this series competitive again,” Kiffin said. Kiffin said his team’s experience against Florida might help against Alabama. Tennessee hung close with Florida but eventually fell, 23-13. “I think it does help a little bit, just from the build up that goes around when you go play the No. 1 team, that our guys have done it before,” Kiffin said. Alabama enters the game with the No. 1 defense in the SEC, allowing 226.6 total yards per game. The strength of the Crimson Tide defense is their ability to stop their opponent’s running attack. Alabama allows a conference-low 63.3 rushing yards per game. But Tennessee’s defense isn’t far behind. The Vols hold their opponents to 272 total yards per game and 110.2 rushing yards per game, which are both third best in the SEC. A WESTERN DUELThings just haven’t gone right for Arkansas this season. Just when the Razorbacks (3-3, 1-3) thought they were turning their season around against the nation’s No. 1 team, the Gators snatched a victory away from Arkansas late in the fourth quarter. Now the Razorbacks find themselves sitting at the bottom of the SEC West with a 1-3 conference record. “We have to forget about the Florida game, and we have,” said Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. “One thing that I always talk to my players about is that it’s not what happens to you in life, it’s what you do with it.”Arkansas’ opponent this week, Ole Miss, has also had a disappointing season. The Rebels (4-2, 1-2) reached as high as No. 4 in the nation this season with aspirations of an SEC Championship game appearance, but losses against No. 24 South Carolina and Alabama have dropped Ole Miss out of the top 25. Arkansas averages 34.5 points per game, which is fourth-best in the SEC, despite the disappointing losses. Sophomore quarterback Ryan Mallett leads the SEC in passing, averaging 274.3 passing yards per game. “We’ve got to do a good job of trying to get pressure on [Mallett],” said Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt. “Everybody knows that if you’ve got the quarterback handling the ball each play that can make things happen, you’re going to be able to put points on the board.” CLIMBING THE LADDERSaturday’s SEC East matchup between Vanderbilt and South Carolina has very different ramifications for each team. A Gamecock (5-2, 2-2) victory would move them into a tie for second place in the East with Georgia, who has a 3-2 conference record. Georgia owns the tiebreaker because the Bulldogs beat South Carolina earlier in the season, 41-37.The Commodores (2-5, 0-4) are looking for their first SEC win of the season. “It’s a tough place to play in Columbia,” said Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson.Vanderbilt enters the game having beaten South Carolina in each of the last two seasons, including a 24-17 win last season against the then-No. 24 Gamecocks. Vanderbilt ranks last in scoring in the SEC and 110th in the nation, averaging 17.6 points per game. The Commodores also have the worst passing offense in the SEC, averaging 150.6 passing yards per game. But Vanderbilt’s pass defense has been among the best in the SEC and has allowed only 133.6 passing yards per game, which is second to Florida’s 133.3 passing yards per game. “They’ve had a tough defense,” said South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier. “Their defense is as good as they’ve been the last four or five years we’ve played them.”—-Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]