Even the one non-conference game is a big one in that it involves the once-beaten South Carolina Gamecocks, who are 5-1 overall (leading the SEC East with a 3-1 mark), ranked No. 7 in the nation and still in the hunt with, of course, unbeaten (6-0, 3-0 in SEC West) LSU, for the BCS title. The Bayou Tigers are currently the top-ranked team in the national polls.

Heading into the weekend, seven teams - LSU, South Carolina, Alabama (4-2, 2-1), Auburn (4-2, 2-1), Florida (4-2, 2-2), Tennessee (3-2, 1-1) and Vanderbilt (3-2, 1-2) - have their destinies in their own hands, meaning each could win their respective divisions without any help from anybody else. True, the Gators and Commodores already have two league losses. But both of their losses came against teams fro the SEC West and either team could take the East title if they win the rest of their games.

It's like the old saying about the NFL … on any given Sunday. Just change that to “Saturday” for this year in the SEC. Parity - LSU the only unbeaten and Ole Miss and, amazingly, Arkansas the only two winless in league play - is the theme.

This week's league games include LSU at Kentucky in a game that epitomizes the unmovable object vs. the upstoppable force cliché with the Tigers having. LSU one of the top defenses anywhere and Kentucky one of the highest scoring teams in the nation; Auburn at Arkansas, a game that will be very important for Hogs' Heisman hopeful Darren McFadden whose performance before a national TV audience could make him or break him; Alabama at Ole Miss, a game where Bama fans would love to see a boring victory - everybody loves exciting games, but the Tide has carried that a bit far by winning the past two seasons over Ole Miss on the last play of the game; Tennessee at Mississippi State, a game that could become an old-fashioned line up and run right at them slugfests with the Vols rediscovering their running game in last week's win over Georgia; and Georgia at Vanderbilt, a game in which Vandy should probably say “No” to ESPN's offer to televise the contest - the Commodores are 0-6 in games broadcast on ESPN2.

The other game on this week's SEC schedule is actually on old ACC rivalry - South Carolina at North Carolina. Don't look now, but the Ol' Ball Coach Steve Spurrier has already accomplished one of his goals at SC - making the Gamecocks relevant in the SEC East. The Gamecocks have a one-game lead with home games left against Florida and Vandy and road contests at Tennessee and Arkansas. It's not an easy road, but one that Spurrier can navigate.

WEEKEND TV LINEUP
The weekend TV lineup kicks off with the Friday night ESPN contest (7 p.m.) Hawaii at San Jose State.

Saturday's TV lineup, other than pay-for-view is as follows:
Va. Tech at Duke, 11 a.m., WB
Georgia Tech at Miami., 11 a.m., ESPN
Illinois at Iowa, 11 a.m., ESPN2
Central Fla. at South Fla., 11 a.m., ESPNU
Alabama at Ole Miss, 11:30 a.m., Lincoln Financial Sports
Texas at Iowa St., 11:30 a.m., FSN South
Ga. Southern at Elon, 2 p.m., SportSouth
South Carolina at North Carolina, 2:30 p.m., ABC
LSU at Kentucky, 2:30 p.m., CBS
Boston College at Notre Dame, 2:30 p.m., NBC
Hofstra at Townson, 2:30 p.m., CSS
Wisconsin at Penn St., 2:30 p.m., ESPN
Connecticut at Virginia, 2:30 p.m., ESPNU
Georgia at Vanderbilt, 5 p.m., ESPN2
Missouri at Oklahoma, 5:30 p.m., FSN South
Oregon St. at California, 6 p.m., Versus
La.-Monroe at North Texas, 6 p.m., CSS
Louisville at Cincinnati, 6 p.m., ESPNU
Auburn at Arkansas, 6:45 p.m., ESPN
Colorado at Kansas St., 8:15 p.m., ESPN2
Washington at Arizona St., 9:15 p.m., FSN South
Florida A&M at S.C. St., 9:15 p.m., ESPNU