No. 3 Arkansas at No. 1 LSU (Friday at 2:30 p.m. on CBS)
Coach Les Miles and LSU looked every bit like the top-ranked team in the nation in Saturday’s 52-3 thrashing on the road against Ole Miss. Slated to face off with a top-three ranked opponent for the third time this season in Friday’s matchup against Arkansas, Miles and the Bayou Bengals face the task of maintaining momentum in spite of a short week along with the challenge of slowing down the Hogs’ SEC best passing attack.
“Our football team came [to Ole Miss] to get another conference victory, and they came here and played well. Our defense played extremely sharp to start,” Miles said. “We look forward to our future. It’s something that we’re really pointing to. It’s a short week, but we look forward to playing a very talented Arkansas team.”
No. 2 Alabama at Auburn (Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on CBS)
The Crimson Tide caught the breaks it needed this weekend thanks to a trio of losses for Oklahoma State, Oregon and Oklahoma and enter the week just one win away from clinching an invitation to the national title game. To punch that ticket, however, Alabama will have snag a win at Auburn in the Iron Bowl, a program senior safety Mark Barron said can never be taken lightly.
“Preparing for that team is always tough,” Barron said. “They have a lot of things going on with that offense, so we have to make sure we come in and have a good week of preparation next week.”
Junior linebacker Dont’a Hightower echoed that opinion, adding that last year’s loss to the Tigers in Tuscaloosa will add motivation to the matchup.
“It is something that we have had on our minds since the season started,” Hightower said. “We are really ready for these guys, and we know they will be ready for us.”
No. 13 Georgia at No. 25 Georgia Tech (Saturday at noon on ESPN)
The Bulldogs enter the week with a significant weight off their shoulders thanks to Saturday’s 19-10 victory over Kentucky to clinch their first SEC Eastern division title since 2005. Georgia will now ride its nine-game winning streak into Atlanta to attempt to post a third straight win over the rival Yellow Jackets.
“I am so proud of the guys for winning the SEC East,” said UGA coach Mark Richt. “Guys could have quit, pointed fingers and found a way to fall apart, but they didn’t do that. Last season was pretty horrible by record, but the players never gave up on the coaches and the coaches never gave up on the players. We maintained our unity. That’s what carried us through the offseason and carried us through the early part of this year.”
Florida State at Florida (Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2)
The 2011 season hasn’t lived up to expectations for either Florida or Florida State, but Saturday provides each with the opportunity to close out the regular season with a rivalry victory. Coming off a near disaster against Furman at home this weekend, UF coach Will Muschamp said he was pleased with his team’s ability to stay composed and avoid the upset but said a much improved performance defensively will be important against the Seminoles.
“Obviously we had a tough start [against Furman], hung in there and were able to win the game,” Muschamp said. “I’m pleased offensively with the explosive plays, played penalty free. Defense was totally unacceptable. Tackling was poor, our leverage on the ball, lack of communication in some areas, a couple blown situations. Just totally unacceptable.”
Tennessee at Kentucky (Saturday at 12:21 p.m. on SEC Network)
Thanks to the return of quarterback Tyler Bray, the Volunteers managed to earn their first conference victory of the season last week, outlasting Vanderbilt on the road to escape with a 27-21 overtime victory. UT should be in line to earn SEC victory number two this week at Kentucky, but coach Derek Dooley said he won’t be overlooking the lowly Wildcats.
“I know a lot of people are going to want to change the focus away from Kentucky to other things like streaks and bowls and all that,” Dooley said. “It is so important that our team takes the same approach as they did last week and they take the same approach during the game as they did Vanderbilt. Like every SEC game, it’s going to be hard. It’s on the road.”
Ole Miss at Mississippi State (Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU)
The Bulldogs didn’t reach the high expectations many set for them heading into the season, but their shortcomings don’t come close that of rival Ole Miss, which enters the week in danger of going winless in the SEC. Returning home after a tough loss at Arkansas, MSU coach Dan Mullen said his team’s only focus now is securing a third straight victory in the Egg Bowl.
“Obviously this is the biggest week of the year for us as it is every year,” Mullen said. “I know this game means so much to our team, our players, our students and the people of Mississippi. This is as big as it gets each and every year. We certainly treat it like the biggest game of the year. Our guys are going to be excited to get out on the field and go play.”
Vanderbilt at Wake Forest (Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU)
The Commodores enter their final matchup of the regular season one win shy of becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2008. To get that highly coveted sixth win, however, Vandy will have to escape with a victory on the road against Wake Forest, a program VU coach James Franklin faced often during his time as an assistant coach at Maryland.
“I’m probably a little bit more familiar with this program than others just because of my background in the ACC,” Franklin said. “Tremendous respect for [Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe]. I see their team and their program with a lot of parallels to ours. I think he does a really good job at maximizing the talent that they have. Tremendous respect for him and their program.”