All ranking are Associated Press and all times are central standard. Note: Arkansas defeated South Carolina last night on ESPN.
1) No. 18 Tennessee @ No. 6 Miami, 11 a.m., ABC
Miami struggled in getting stomped by Virginia Tech last weekend 31-7. They have two key injuries on the defensive line and a player suspended for the game due to a fight against the Hokies. The Hurricanes also have a quarterback in Brock Berlin that has to be struggling with his confidence after having a so-so season thus far and a pitiful performance against Tech.
Tennessee is coming off of a pitiful performance of its own. After leading hapless Duke by a score of 9-6 entering the fourth quarter last weekend, the Volunteers came out a played a solid final frame to put away the Blue Devils 23-6.
Quarterback Casey Clausen, the rock of the Tennessee offense, is now 10th on the Southeastern Conference career list with 8,528 yards. He passed current Cleveland Browns quarterback Tim Couch.
Something tells me that Tennessee will help out the one-loss BCS teams and knock off what has to be a reeling Miami squad.
Tennessee 24, Miami 23
2) No. 20 Mississippi @ Auburn, 2:30 p.m., CBS
So I guess we’ll see if Ole Miss is really for real. I really doubt it though.
Ole Miss has a porous defense that allowed a mind-blowing 40 points to a less than powerful South Carolina offense last weekend. Auburn led by Carnell “Cadillac” Williams will run all over this horrible defense. The Tigers had three players score at least two rushing touchdowns against the University of Louisiana-Monroe in a 73-7.
As far as Ole Miss goes, quarterback Eli Manning had a solid game last week against the Gamecocks, garnering SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors. In the first half alone, Manning was 20-of-26 for 260 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Still, Ole Miss won’t be able to beat Auburn; much less beat them at home.
Auburn 27, Ole Miss 17
3) Alabama @ Mississippi State, 11:30 a.m., Jefferson Pilot
Due to a light and mostly weak SEC schedule, this game is the third best of the week.
But if you will take a second to consider how miserable these two teams have been this season, this actually could be a very interesting game to watch. This is a battle to see which team can avoid being stuck in the cellar of the SEC’s Western Division. State will try to win one for outgoing coach Jackie Sherrill while Alabama will hope to gain momentum for a huge home contest with LSU in one week.
Then again, the Tide could be looking forward to LSU.
The fact is Bama running back Shaud Williams is awesome. He has become the 10th running back in Alabama’s storied history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.
He’s the reason why Alabama should win this one.
Alabama 31, State 27
4) Vanderbilt @ No. 17 Florida, 12 p.m.
The unbelievably hot Florida Gators will finally return back home to take on the horrible Vanderbilt Commodores.
Maybe returning home is a bad thing for the Gators. After road wins at LSU and Arkansas, Florida knocked off Top 5 opponent Georgia on a neutral field last week. True freshman quarterback Chris Leak will help Florida roll over Vandy.
Florida 41, Vanderbilt 13
Off: No. 9 Georgia, Kentucky, No. 4 LSU.
What a good time for the Bulldogs to have an off week and get healthy.
As for the Wildcats, they get to reflect on another heartbreaking loss at home.
Once again as far as LSU is concerned, maybe this is not
such a good time to have an off week.