Cupcake Time Is Over

This weekend marks the first weekend with really a full slate of SEC Football, the best kind of football pretty much ever. Georgia and South Carolina battled last Saturday to give us a little taste, but now it’s on. The SEC race begins in earnest this weekend with four games, and two more interesting non-conference matchups just for kicks.

Indeed, it’s the best part of being a southern football fan. Those of us fortunate enough to be in Knoxville for the showdown with the Gates (at least we all hope it’s fortunate to be there…) will likely be tailgating before. Not only that, but it’s felt absolutely magnificent here in Knoxville this week. PERFECT FOOTBALL WEATHER…

For me, tailgating isn’t complete without a TV. First, football I care about so much about is just on Saturdays. I want to see how other teams are doing. Second, it’s great for getting attention. Honestly, if you don’t have a TV, but the folks next to you brought their 48-inch high-def TV with a satellite dish, you’re going to watch it. Great ice-breaker – as if being fans of the same team wasn’t already enough. That early game is now an SEC game, which makes it that much better.

And after seeing an SEC game in person, there’s more SEC football to watch in high-def. So (hopefully) after a win, you can relax and watch other teams kill each other, knowing you’ve taken care of business – or that your season is going to be a long one. With the lack of a big national game NOT involving an SEC team, much of my focus will be there…

SEC Games

Mississippi State at Georgia Tech: Mississippi State has a chance to redeem themselves for that loss to Louisiana Tech with a win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. We’ll find out how good the State front seven is against the heavy rushing/triple option offense the Jackets have had success with already – they won at Boston College and nearly won at Virginia Tech last week.

Alabama at Arkansas (RayCom, 12:30): The appetizer for the day. Arkansas starts a death run – after the Tide, it’s at Texas, Florida at home, then at Auburn. I want to say the Tide runs away with this thing, but I just have a feeling Arkansas will stick around – keep in mind the Tide haven’t won at Arkansas since 2002. Either that or Bammer just runs over them with the run game. This will be the first look at the “new” Casey Dick for pretty much everyone who isn’t an Arkansas fan.

Those of us tailgating before the Florida game will most likely be watching Alabama-Arkansas, our first real look at the Razorbacks

Florida at Tennessee (CBS, 3:30): I’m going to wait til tomorrow to really go into my feelings on this game, but I will say this now (and probably again tomorrow): NOBODY expects Tennessee to even keep it close, and that always seems to be to the Vols’ advantage. Also, the last two games in Neyland between these two teams have been determined by a whopping 3 points. That’s all for now…

Vanderbilt at Ole Miss: Speaking of under-the-radar, this game isn’t even on TV. These two teams are probably better than their names suggest they are. It’s the first SEC game in Oxford for Houston Nutt, and it’s probably a good idea to not lose to Vandy.

The ‘Dores have been impressive, and their next three games – trips to the Mississippi schools sandwiching hosting Auburn – are winnable. I can’t lie, as much as Vanderbilt going to a bowl is something I wouldn’t mind seeing, I am ready to see how Vanderbilt will blow this good start and miss on a bowl for the 75th straight year (actually, it’s just been 25 years…)

Wofford at South Carolina: If I was a South Carolina fan, I probably wouldn’t even go to this game – there’s too much better football on…

Then again, it’s a definite win, so Williams-Brice will likely be packed full…

LSU at Auburn (ESPN, 7:45): All you people who claimed Auburn as a shoo-in to win the West, how do you feel now?? I’ve been on the LSU side of that debate since summer, and I think they’ll win this game at Auburn. The thing that makes me a little hesitant is the injury to Darry Beckwith, one of the two Tiger starters returning behind that nasty defensive line. Chris Todd thought Mississippi State was good up front? Uh, he should be having nightmares of the LSU front this week…

Seriously, with the amount of talent surrounding the LSU QB - like Demetrius Byrd - I think I could probably win some games (although not against the Auburn defense)

Of course the LSU QB is the biggest question in this game. That could be interesting thing, seeing as Auburn scored three points last week – and won. I don’t care how bad Mississippi State’s offense is, Auburn’s defense is pretty nasty too. But LSU has an advantage at the WR position, ridiculous talent all over the field, and the best lines in the SEC. Can the QB (Jarrett Lee/Andrew Hatch, I don’t even know…) use that?

Georgia at Arizona State (ABC, 8:00): I was so upset the Georgia Bulldogs pulled out the win in Columbia, but they made the plays they had to for the W. I really do want them to fail at everything. A win in Tempe would make up for “The Fluke” (what I’m calling the UCLA loss from now on), and I haven’t been impressed with Arizona State any – not last year and didn’t think they’d be that good this year. Then they lose to UNLV. Georgia’s the better team and they should win – but of course I want them to fail – miserably.

IN CASE OF BLOWOUTS:

Here’s proof that everyone’s going to be watching the SEC games this weekend. The rest are just not so pretty that I’m not giving them their own little bits.

Tonight’s game (West Virginia at Colorado (8:00, ESPN)) is fairly interesting. How bad would it be if the second best team in the JV League (giving USF the benefit of the doubt of course) went out and lost to the fourth-best team…in the Big 12 North? Maybe it will prove what many talking heads have already been saying – that the Big 12 is this year’s runner-up in terms of conference strength.

The ACC could very well be determined this weekend, as there’s Virginia Tech at Lawvol’s Tar Heels and Wake Forest at Florida State. I can’t lie, I’m on the Seminole bandwagon, so if they lose to Wake they pretty much won’t win the ACC. Not that Wake’s bad because they aren’t, but this a game the Noles need to win.

Another game with an ACC team features Miami at Texas A&M, and it’s another measuring stick for the Canes program. They need this game. Florida State and Miami need to get back up to respectability, to quell the stupid Gator success (or maybe Tennessee should do it themselves…)

Elsewhere, there’s Notre Dame at Michigan State (I hope the Irish fail at everything, too), Boise State at Oregon, and don’t sleep on Troy as they play Ohio State (who doesn’t get bolded anymore til they actually win a big non-conference game).

Enjoy your SEC football this weekend, folks.

Images Courtesy of: Danny Johnston / AP (Daylife) • Chris Graythen / Getty Images (Daylife)

About the Author:  I'm from Memphis but I'm now entering my third year at the University of Tennessee here in Knoxville. I am majoring in Journalism/Electronic Media and hope to go into sports broadcasting/writing/something like that. I'm a huge Vol fan and have been going to games for as long as I can remember. I started my on blog called "The View From The Hill" but moved here to Gate 21 for bigger and better things. In addition to my passion for Tennessee football and basketball, I enjoy watching the NFL and the NBA as well. Basically, sports are a big part of my life. >> Read more from this author

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