Betters: Alabama Should Win by 24
Time Out
by Paul Jordon
LSU vs. somebody from the East is the scenario for the SEC title game after last week’s SEC football action.
When Week 10 began, eight teams were still in the hunt for the SEC title, five in the Eastern Division, three in the West.
But when both Alabama and Auburn posted losses, it left LSU all alone at the top of the Western Division – just as Ohio State’s loss left a void in the national No. 1 slot, which the Bengal Tigers were also all too pleased to fill.
With last week’s defeats, Auburn and Alabama both dropped out of the nation’s Top 25 teams and for the first time since the opening week of the season, less than half the SEC’s dozen squads are listed on the Top 25 list – No. 8 Georgia, No. 14 Florida, No. 19 Tennessee and No. 22 Kentucky joining top ranked LSU.
With the West issue settled, both of the “big games” on this week’s schedule are battles for the Eastern Division crown. Georgia (5-2 in league play, 8-2 overall) hosts Kentucky 3-3, 7-3) in the only battle of ranked teams on the SEC slate (Line: Georgia by 8) and if the Bulldogs prevail, they will put themselves in the East driver’s seat. A Kentucky win will tighten things up.
Every league game is a must-win for the Wildcats, who have to win out to have a shot at a share of the East title. Kentucky will be coming into the contest after defeating Vandy last week in what was also a must-win situation. Besides that, the ‘Cats should have no fear in playing a ranked team. Kentucky has relished the underdog role this season, going 2-0 against top-10 teams – Louisville and LSU – and were big ‘dogs in both contests.
The other game of significance is one of those in-state rivalry contests that are always full of emotion and meaning for the teams’ fans – even if neither is fighting for the division crown. Tennessee (4-2, 7-3) will entertain Vanderbilt (2-5, 5-5) in their annual battle for state bragging rights (Line: Tennesse by 12½). A loss would damage the Vols’ chances of taking the division title. Vandy, already out of the picture after last week’s close loss to Kentucky, would love to play spoiler.
One of the other two league games on tap this weekend will have Mississippi State (3-3, 6-4) traveling to Arkansas (2-4, 6-4) in a game of lower tier Western Conference squads (Line: Arkansas by 10½). The game means nothing as far as division titles (both are out of the picture) or bowl eligibility (both are already there) goes – but it could have something to say about who goes to what bowl.
Mississippi State is coming off its big win over Alabama and would love to keep the string going, win out the rest of the way and wind up with an eye-catching 8-4 overall mark. If that happened, the Bulldogs would have a good shot at ending up in one of the big bowls – Cotton to be explicit. Historically speaking, the Cotton Bowl has a shown a preference for inviting teams from the SEC West.
The Bulldogs’ main competition for the Cotton Bowl bid would probably come from the winner of next Saturday’s Alabama-Auburn game. The winner of that one will also be 8-4 (assuming Bama wins its non-conference breather this week against Louisiana-Monroe).
Top-ranked LSU (5-1, 9-1) visits Ole Miss (0-6, 3-7) in the final conference matchup this weekend. (Line: LSU by 18½). On first glance, on paper, this would seem to be an easy one for the Tigers. But playing the Rebels at home, no matter their record, is no easy task. And that will be even more true this particular week. The Rebels see this game as the last chance to make something out of a dismal season.
Earlier this season the Rebels threw a scare into nationally ranked Florida, Georgia and Auburn before losing. And although Ole Miss has lost five in a row to LSU, it is usually close – four of the five were decided by three points or less. Last year LSU won 23-20 in overtime.
The other two games on the SEC schedule pits league teams against outside foes. Florida Atlantic (5-4) visits 7-3 Florida. (Line: Florida by 34). And as previously mentioned, Alabama (6-4) entertains 4-6 Louisiana-Monroe (Line: Alabama by 24).
WEEKEND TV LINEUP
The weekend television lineup begins, as always, on Friday night. This week’s offering is a good one, giving viewers a chance to check out undefeated Hawaii. The Rainbow Warriors will be playing at Nevada. Kickoff is set for 10 p.m. CST.
Saturday’s schedule, other than pay-for-view:
11 a.m.
Ohio State at Michigan (ABC), Maryland at FSU (WB), Furman at W. Carolina (CSS), Northwestern at Illinois (ESPN), Syracuse at Connecticut (ESPN2), Massachusetts at Hofstra (ESPNU), Tulsa at Army (ESPN Classic), Coastal Carolina at Charleston Southern (SportSouth)
11:30 a.m.
Kentucky at Georgia (Lincoln Financial), Missouri at Kansas St. (FSN South)
1:30 p.m.
Duke at Notre Dame (NBC)
2:30 p.m.
Miami at Virginia Tech (ABC), LSU at Ole Miss (CBS), Penn State at Michigan St. (ESPN), Chattanooga at Appalachian St. (SportSouth), UAB at Memphis
5:30 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Baylor (FSN South)
6:45 p.m.
Boston College at Clemson (ESPN2), West Virginia at Cincinnati (ESPN)
7 p.m.
Oklahoma St. at Texas Tech (ABC)