It seems that NFL football has affected SEC football as Georgia closed its practices for the first time in memory last week and Florida did the same, except for parents of players. This comes in the wake of the scandal involving the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. The Pats were caught stealing the Jets' defensive signals during their recent game.

Georgia Coach Mark Richt's paranoia is somewhat understandable. His Bulldogs play Coach Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide this Saturday … and Saban is a former assistant for and a good friend of the Patriots' head coach, Bill Belichick.

A look at the early goings on and the polls would seem to indicate the likelihood of a LSU-Florida matchup in the SEC title game.There are six teams in the Top 25 national polls this week - just as there have been every week, including the preseason picks. The cast keeps changing every week, but LSU has been No. 2 on every poll and Florida has moved up to No. 3.

But there is still a lot of football to be played and the Bayou Tigers and the Gators aren't the only SEC teams at 3-0 after three weeks. There are five league unbeatens at the moment - and the other three are certainly surprises. Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky are all perfect so far this season.

For Bama's Saban and the Gamecocks' Steve Spurrier, being undefeated and tied for the lead in their divisions isn't a new feeling - just with different teams now. But for Kentucky's Rich Brooks, it is a whole new ball game.

Two teams - Auburn and Tennessee - have been major busts to date in '07. Both are 1-2, with one of Tennessee's defeats a conference loss to Florida. Vol Coach Phil Fulmer said jokingly last week that his team was “disappointed but not dead.” It won't take too many more losses before the statement isn't a joke.

The question of what is wrong with Auburn is easy to answer in one word - turnovers. The Tigers are tops in turnovers in the nation - a stat you never want to have the lead in - with 12. That is four per game. Anyone who knows anything about football knows that turnovers will kill you. A team can lead in yardage, first down, time of possession and all other stats but still lose the game if it loses the turnover battle.

There are four conference games on tap this weekend and three should-be cake walks.
The spotlight games will be in Baton Rouge, La., and Tuscaloosa, Ala. South Carolina, ranked No. 12, will be visiting LSU in a battle of highly-ranked teams. It is the kind of game that Spurrier loves to win.

No. 16 Bama hosts No. 22 Georgia in another battle of ranked squads. This will be the fifth meeting between the two when both are ranked and the Bulldogs have won four of those. But Georgia has won the last two meetings and has not won three in a row over the Tide since 1916. But another bad omen for Alabama may be the fact that ESPN's College GameDay program is being broadcast from Tuscaloosa Saturday. Bama has a 3-6 record with GameDay on site, including an 0-4 mark in Tuscaloosa.

Other league games include No. 21 Kentucky at now unranked Arkansas (1-1) and Florida at Ole Miss (1-2).

Non-league games have Mississippi State (2-1) hosting Gardner-Webb (1-1), Tennessee at home to Arkansas State (1-1) and Auburn entertaining New Mexico State (2-1).

The Auburn-NMS game could be interesting in that the Lobos are coached by former Kentucky head coach Hal Mumme. Mumme's wide open passing attack that often features five wideouts and no one but the QB in the backfield will be a test for the young Auburn secondary. Kentucky led the SEC in passing ever year (1997-2000) under Mumme and NMS is currently ranked No. 5 in the nation in passing offense.

This weekend's college football TV schedule kicks off tonight, Friday, with Oklahoma visiting Tulsa at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Saturday's weekend TV lineup, other than pay-for-view is as follows:

Clemson at N.C. State, 11 a.m., WB
N.C. at South Fla., 11 a.m., ESPN
E. Carolina at West Va., 11 a.m., ESPN2
Ga. Tech at Virginia, 11 a.m., ESPNU
Florida at Ole Miss, 11:30 a.m., Lincoln Financial Sports
Army at B.C., noon., ESPN Classic
Penn St. at Michigan, 2:30 p.m., ABC
South Carolina at LSU, 2:30 p.m., CBS
Michigan St. at Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m., NBC
Memphis at Central Fla., 2:30 p.m., CSS
Northwestern at Ohio St., 2:30 p.m., ESPN
Texas Tech at Oklahoma St., 2:30 p.m., FSN South
Maryland at Wake Forest, 2:30 p.m., ESPNU
Arizona at California, 5 p.m., Versus
Kentucky at Arkansas, 5 p.m., ESPN2
Rice at Texas, 6 p.m., FSN South
Connecticut at Pitt, 6 p.m., ESPNU
Georgia at Alabama, 6:45 p.m., ESPN
Iowa at Wisconsin, 7 p.m., ABC
Purdue at Minnesota, 9 p.m., ESPN2
Washington at UCLA, 9:15 p.m., FSN South
Alabama A&M at Grambling, 9:15 p.m., ESPNU