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Man will this epidemic ever stop. Top 5 teams losing every week. I have never seen a College Football season go like this. My Gators have two losses, LSU lost to Kentucky ( not in basketball), Stanford beat USC, Colorado beat Oklahoma, Kansa State beat Texas, can you see where I’m going with this. Now this week Ohio State is in the hot seat as the number 1 team in the nation. Can they survive? Let’s get to the predictions shall we…………….

If it’s the third Saturday in October than that means it’s time for Alabama Tennessee. Nuff said. The Gators need a Crimson Tide victory to control their destiny of winning the SEC East. Roll Tide!!!!!!!!!

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN TENNESSEE HAS THE BALL
Wideout Lucas Taylor leads the SEC and is 12th natinoally (FBS) with an average of 103.0 receiving yards per game midway through the season. Erik Ainge has thrown just three interceptions in 221 attempts this year. Ainge has amazingly attempted 218 straight passes without being sacked. Junior tailback Arian Foster’s 139-yard performance against Mississippi State last weekend propelled him into the top 20 on UT’s all-time rushing list.

Wallace Gilberry has been a force up front for the Tide in the last two games, with 16 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and three pressures. He leads Alabama with four sacks this season and all four have come in the last two weeks. In seven games this season, Simeon Castille has 8 tackles and leads UA with six pass breakups. In his four-year career, Castille leads all UA defenders with 151 total tackles.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN ALABAMA HAS THE BALL
Erik Ainge is 21-8 as a starter in his career and 9-2 in SEC road games … He has an efficiency rating of 140.8, which is the third-best mark in the SEC this season. He is averaging an interception every 73.6 attempts. Arian Foster has 237 yards rushing and four touchdowns in his last two games, including a 139-yard effort at Miss. St. Lucas Taylor leads the team with 41 catches for 618 yards. He caught a career-high 11 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown at Miss. St.

John Parker Wilson is 11-9 (.550) as the starting quarterback. In 25 career games, Wilson has completed 364 of 643 (.566) passes for 4,318 yards, with 27 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. In seven games this season, D.J. Hall leads the team with 37 catches for 579 yards and three touchdowns. He also leads UA with 15.6 yards per catch. Terry Grant leads all Crimson Tide rushers and ranks 9th in the SEC with 84.7 yards per game. (fromsecsports.com)

Alabama 21 Tenn 14

#8 Kentucky vs #14 Florida

ESPN’s College Gameday is in the Bluegrass and again I say it is not basketball season. Andre Woodson and the Wildcats are coming off an emotional and physical win over then number 1 LSU last week. Florida has won this game 20 straight times. I look (and hope) for the trend to continue.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN FLORIDA HAS THE BALL
Tim Tebow’s passer rating of 173.1 is the fourth-highest in the nation. He has completed 65.5 percent of his passes, which is the 23rd-highest mark in the country and is the second best in the SEC. Percy Harvin is first on the team with 698 all-purpose yards and is averaging 116.3 yards per game. He has rushed for 185 yards on 27 carries and has a team-leading 32 catches for 513 yards.

Linebacker Wesley Woodyard leads the SEC and currently ranks tied for 16th nationally in tackles, averaging 10.9 per game. He is the only SEC player to average double-figure tackles this season. Defensive end Jeremy Jarmon ranks second in the SEC and is tied for 16th nationally in sacks with 6.5 on the year. The sophomore has recorded at least one sack in seven of the last nine games.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN KENTUCKY HAS THE BALL
Brandon Spikes and Dustin Doe rank as Florida’s leading tacklers with 57 and 41, respectively. Against LSU, Jermaine Cunningham had a career-high 17 tackles. The total was the second-best effort in the SEC this season. Defensive end Derrick Harvey recorded a pair of sacks in Florida’s game against Auburn to bring his career total to 17, which are tied for the 10th-highest nationally and are the second-highest total in the SEC as terms of active leaders.

Andre’ Woodson completed 21 of 38 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns in Kentucky’s 43-37 triple-overtime win against #1 LSU. His seven-yard completion to Steve Johnson in the third overtime was the eventual game-winner for the Wildcats. He also rushed three times for 16 yards, including a 12-yard TD run. Woodson directed a UK offense that scored 27 points and had 333 yards in regulation - the most LSU had given up this season.(from secsports.com)

Florida 45 Kentucky 17

#4 LSU vs #17 Auburn

This will be the second night game in Baton Rouge in the last three weeks for the LSU Tigers. I like the way Auburn has really turned their season around since two early season losses ( S.Florida, Mississippi State).Tough wins over Florida and Arkansas on last second fieldgoals really have Auburn ready. The question for LSU is how do they respond after last week’s loss to Kentucky?

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN AUBURN HAS THE BALL
Brandon Cox has led Auburn on three game-winning scoring drives in the closing minutes this season, including victories over Kansas State, Florida and Arkansas. In the last four weeks, Cox has completed 57-of-85 (.671) passes for 628 yards, two scores and just one interception, for a quarterback rating of 134.53. The return of junior RB Brad Lester has benefited an already improving running game for Auburn. The Tigers averaged just 93.5 yards rushing in their first two games, but have averaged 194.4 in their last five, with three games over 200 yards rushing. S Craig Steltz leads the Tigers in defense with 46 tackles, 4 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles, while LB Ali Highsmith has 45 tackles and 5.0 TFL. DT Glenn Dorsey is tops on the team with 4 sacks.

Despite giving up season-highs of 43 points and 375 yards against Kentucky, LSU is still ranked No. 2 in the nation in total defense, allowing 223.14 yards per game. The Tigers remain No. 1 nationally in pass efficiency defense with a 68.0 rating.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN LSU HAS THE BALL
Junior linebacker Chris Evans, who leads Auburn with 40 tackles this season. Auburn is ranked ninth nationally in total defense (279.0), 10th in scoring defense (15.6) and is 12th in passing defense (169.7). Trey Blackmon led the Auburn defense with a career-high nine tackles, including six solo, at Arkansas. He was instrumental in helping the Auburn defense hold UA to just 193 yards of total offense, including 67 on the ground.

Offensively, the Tigers are 13th in the nation in scoring offense with 37.7 points per game and 10th in rushing defense with 232.14 yards per contest. LSU RB Jacob Hester leads the Tigers with 494 yards and 5 TDs, while QB Matt Flynn has thrown for 947 yards and 5 TDs, while backup QB Ryan Perrilloux has 414 passing yards and 6 TDs. Perrilloux has also rushed for a pair of scores. (fromsecsports.com)

Auburn 13 LSU 10

#16 Missouri vs #24 Texas Tech

One week after battling the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman the Tigers take on the dynamic offense of the Red Raiders. Texas Tech is led by Graham Harrell ( 3,151 yds passing 31tds) and Michael Crabtree (78 rec 1244 yds 17 tds). The Tigers counter with Chase Daniel (345.5 yds per game).

Texas Tech (6-1, 2-1 Big 12) won its first three games before falling 49-45 at Oklahoma State on Sept. 22. Since that defeat, the Red Raiders have won three straight, outscoring their opponents 152-31 in that stretch.

Missouri (5-1, 1-1) opened the season with five consecutive wins for the second straight season, rising to No. 11 in the country — its highest ranking since 1981. The Tigers’ streak, however, was snapped with a 41-31 loss to then-No.6 Oklahoma last Saturday.Despite some sloppy play last week, the Tigers still rank fifth in the FBS with 533.5 yards per game and 11th with 40.0 points a contest.The Red Raiders, meanwhile, are first with 582.0 yards a game and third with 50.0 points per contest.Temple ran for two touchdowns in the Tigers’ 38-21 victory over the Red Raiders last Oct. 7, Missouri’s second consecutive win in the series and its fourth in six all-time meetings. The Tigers have outscored the Red Raiders 96-38 to win both matchups in Columbia.(fromespn.com)

Mizzou 45 Texas Tech 41

#25 Michigan vs Illinois

I had to this game out of love for Ron Zook. Even though he never led Florida to an Sec East division Championship he did however beat Florida State in Tallahassee. For that he will hold a special place in my heart. With that being said in true Ron Zook fashion his Fighting Illini could not handle prosperity as they lose to Iowa last week 10-6 in a game in which they were ranked for the first time in six years. For Michigan it seems like the first two weeks of the season which yielded two major thumpings is all but forgotten. Unbeaten in conference play the Wolverines eye a Big Ten championsip. And believe it or not it is still in their sights.

On Saturday, the Wolverines will play as a ranked team for the first time since opening at No. 5. They fell out of the poll after the 34-32 loss to Appalachian State.

Michigan is looking for its sixth victory in a row over Illinois, and will be trying to extend its unbeaten streak in Champaign to 10 games. Both are possible for a Michigan team that is tied with top-ranked Ohio State for the conference lead.

Stronger defense and the running of Heisman Trophy candidate Mike Hart has fueled the Wolverines’ resurgence.Hart, who has 1,078 rushing yards and leads the nation at 154.0 per game, is expected to play Saturday despite hurting his right ankle against Purdue. He ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the first half before departing.

The Illini, though, are looking to bounce back after a 10-6 loss at Iowa last week knocked them out of the poll after spending just one week at No. 18. Illinois was held well below its 26.7 scoring average by the Hawkeyes.Versatile sophomore Juice Williams is expected to again start at quarterback despite being replaced by Eddie McGee for a third straight game. McGee threw an interception inside the Iowa 15-yard line with 2:28 left, ending the Illinois’ comeback attempt.

Rashard Mendenhall, 13th in the nation at 119.9 rushing yards per game, will try to rebound after being held to 67 yards on 15 carries against Iowa.Illinois won 35-29 at Michigan on Oct. 23, 1999 for its most recent victory in the series. The Illini haven’t beat the Wolverines in Champaign since a 16-6 victory Oct. 29, 1983.

Illinois 23 Michigan 10