The Southeastern Conference is on a roll heading into week four of the college football season. Five teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, including four teams in the top seven. The SEC went 9-3 in week three with the three losses being in conference play. EAST AND WEST COLLIDEFor the first time this season, all four teams ranked in the top seven of the national polls are playing conference games in one weekend.The East and West divisions collide in this week’s first key matchup as the East’s South Carolina meets up with the West’s Ole Miss on Thursday night in Columbia, S.C., at Williams-Brice Stadium.The No. 4 Rebels (2-0) are looking to redeem their 31-24 loss against the Gamecocks last season. South Carolina (2-1, 0-1) will be Ole Miss’s first conference opponent of the season.The Rebels come into the game ranked No. 1 in the SEC in scoring offense with 48.5 points per game and ranked No. 2 in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing 10 points per game. The Gamecocks are looking to contain the Ole Miss offense with a defense that has only allowed 249.3 yards per game, which is fourth best in the SEC. INTRADIVISION RIVALRIESA couple West rivalries highlight Saturday’s matchups as No. 7 LSU faces Mississippi State and No. 3 Alabama faces Arkansas. The West is well represented in the AP Top 25, with three teams ranked in the top seven. “There’s competition in this division week-in and week-out, and you better be ready to play,” said LSU coach Les Miles. “Nationally, I don’t know that there is any conference or division that is as competitive as this one.”LSU (3-0, 1-0) travels to Starkville, Miss., having gone six straight quarters without allowing a touchdown. Mississippi State (2-1, 1-1) is led offensively by senior running back Anthony Dixon, who averages 107.5 rushing yards per game. Alabama (3-0) welcomes Arkansas (1-1, 0-1) into Tuscaloosa, Ala., where the Tide haven’t lost since Nov. 17, 2007, when Louisiana-Monroe beat them, 21-14.The Razorbacks are led offensively by sophomore quarterback Ryan Mallett, who leads all SEC quarterbacks with 358.5 passing yards per game. “He’s deadly accurate, or he was anyway in this last ball game,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt. “I’ve got a feeling they are going to throw for a lot of yards against a lot of people and score a lot of points throughout the year.”No. 1 Florida (3-0, 1-0) travels to Kentucky (2-0) for an SEC East battle Saturday. Kentucky leads the SEC in yards per kick return, averaging 42.3 yards per kickoff return. The Wildcats exploded against Louisville last Saturday with 254 kickoff return yards, including a 100-yard kickoff return by junior running back Derrick Locke. “First time I’ve ever seen a kickoff return where the guy just catches and outruns everybody,” said Florida coach Urban Meyer. “This is the biggest challenge our kickoff team is going to have for the year.”NON-CONFERENCE BATTLENo. 21 Georgia faces its second out-of-conference opponent from one of the major conferences Saturday when the team welcomes Arizona State (2-0) from the Pacific 10 into Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga. Georgia senior quarterback Joe Cox enters the game following his greatest performance as a Bulldog when he threw for a career-high 375 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown passes. Cox leads all-SEC quarterbacks with eight touchdown passes. BIRDS OF A FEATHERIt will be a semi-battle of the birds Saturday when the Auburn nation of War Eagle hosts the Ball State Cardinals in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday. Auburn (3-0, 1-0) is 9-2 against out-of-conference opponents since 2007, whereas Ball State (0-3) is trying to avoid its sixth consecutive loss since last season. The Cardinals won their first 12 games of the 2008 season before dropping the last two. Auburn has allowed 156.7 rushing yards per game, No. 10 in the SEC. Ball State’s offense is led by senior running back MiQuale Lewis, who ran for 1,736 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2008. “I think he’s the key to them moving the ball on offense right now.” said Auburn coach Gene Chizik. “They’re trying to get back on track where they were last year.” 
 
—-Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]