Eight of the top 15 teams in the country are playing an opponent that is .500 or worse. Guys like Ivan Maisel are writing disappointed requiems for the season. The top two teams in the conference are making late autumn bakery runs. Sets up for a lousy weekend right?
Not in this conference it doesn't.
Florida and Alabama will be tested with FIU and Chattanooga this weekend. Tested to see how deep their benches go that is. Besides the two snacking behemoths, there's still intrigue in the league's other four games.
- LSU and Ole Miss are playing for second place in the SEC West. A win for the Tigers likely means just a two loss regular season and a top ten finish with a bowl win. A win for the Rebels helps redeem themselves a little bit for their struggles earlier in the year.
- Mississippi State cannot lose and still be bowl eligible, so everything's on the line for Dan Mullen's crew. Meanwhile, Arkansas is looking to extend its positive momentum and climb up the standings in the West. A win and an upset over LSU puts the Hogs 4-4 in SEC play, a real improvement over last year and probably enough to make them the off season sleeper team for 2010.
- Tennessee still needs another win to become bowl eligible, and it needs to wash the bad taste of last week's demolition away. This is Vanderbilt's last chance to win an SEC game this season, and how sweet would it be to do it over their in-state rivals?
- Georgia and Kentucky both secured bowl eligibility last week. However the Bulldogs are definitely playing to get into one of the conference's nicer bowls, and a win secures a 5-3 SEC mark. Kentucky is looking to strengthen its standing as well, since six overall wins and just two conference wins is not exactly rolling into the post season in style.
It will be easy to avoid the cupcake eaters this weekend as they won't even be on TV anyway. Focus on the rest of the games, because each one is juicy in its own way. The 2009 season still has some life to it left, and it should be a fascinating weekend of SEC football.