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Here’s the top 5 games to catch this weekend. There’s only six games involving conference teams, so the only one we’re leaving out is Arkansas’ home game with Tennessee-Martin. (That one has Homecoming wipeout written all over it.)
Get ready for a full day of fun. Saturday is going to go a long way in determining a rips to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game in the SEC East.
Florida vs. Georgia (at Jacksonville): This one is for all the marbles in the SEC East and should be another classic, which is something this rivalry game always seems to produce. The Gators are a slight favorite, which means absolutely nothing in this series. Florida ran the ball down Georgia’s throat in a big upset last year, but the running game has been struggling lately. It will be interesting to see what kind of new wrinkles first-year coach Jim McElwain comes up with after a bye week. For Georgia’s Mark Richt, he needs to find a way to grab the upper hand in this series now, and get something positive out of his quarterbacks. Florida is coming, and fast.
Ole Miss at Auburn: The Rebels’ dream season a year ago got derailed in a brutally tough – in many ways – loss to Auburn. The Laquon Treadwell hideous injury notwithstanding, that loss ripped the heart out of Ole Miss Nation. Now, a year later, here we are again, with Ole Miss still controlling its own destiny in earning a first-ever trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game. Auburn has had a disappointing season and you keep waiting for them to do something special. Is Saturday that day?
Tennessee at Kentucky: Tennessee’s long list of disappointments this season have been chronicled endlessly, so we won’t rehash all of that here. What’s interesting here is the start of a five-game stretch to end the regular season where the Vols will be favored in all five games. Can they close out the season on a hot streak? That starts with this border war. The Vols need to learn how to finish games and this last month of the season will go a long way in building on future success. The Wildcats have been stumbling in a season that started with high hopes. This is a game the ‘Cats can’t let get away if they want to start turning the corner.
South Carolina at Texas A&M: The Aggies are reeling after ugly losses to Alabama and Ole Miss, so much so that on the eve of Saturday’s game we have no idea who’s even going to be their quarterback. It’s time to turn their season back around in the right direction against a Gamecocks teams with plenty of flaws. Shawn Elliott deserves plenty of credit at Carolina for taking over after Steve Spurrier’s departure and getting a win in his debut, but after a bye week it’s going to be interesting to see if the Gamecocks can string together more impressive performances.
Vanderbilt at Houston: Finally breaking their SEC losing streak last week was nice, but now the Commodores are going to get a tough nonconference test. Houston is unbeaten still and can score a ton of points. Vandy has struggled to score all season and getting into a shoot-out doesn’t really fit their style. Making a statement here with a big road win would be impressive. It’s unlikely, but you never know what a few positive vibes might do to a team’s psyche.
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist and author who is covering SEC football for Saturday Down South.
