With all eyes on the stock market, let’s play a little SEC stock up/stock down:
Stock up
Alabama: Not only is the Tide 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the SEC, Nick Saban’s team en fuego has the Saturday off before Ole Miss visits Tuscaloosa next weekend. A trip to Tennessee follows on the 25th, but Saban’s club should be 9-0 heading into the No. 8 throwdown at LSU. It’ll be Nick’s first trip back to Baton Rouge since he skipped town for the NFL.
Georgia: Yes, Mark Richt just booted a pair of bad Bulldogs off the team, but hope is such action is a sign that the nice Georgia coach has had enough. The Dawgs have had two weeks to stew over the drubbing they took at the hands of Alabama. Tennessee is a dangerous guest come Saturday, but Georgia still has the talent to win the East.
Kentucky: Rich Brooks has been a grump all week, possibly because he’s afraid his team is “satisified” with that 17-14 loss at Alabama. Still, the Cats showed well in hanging with the Tide in Tuscaloosa. Now they have a chance to stop a 15-game losing streak to Steve Superior.
LSU: The Tigers have taken care of business to this point, fashioning a 4-0 record overall and 2-0 record in the league. That win over Auburn doesn’t look quite as impressive as it did at the time, but Saturday’s date with Florida in The Swamp should tell a lot about the Tigers’ tale.
South Carolina: The Gamecocks were all fret and aggravation until Chris Smelley caught fire in Oxford, throwing for 327 yards against Ole Miss. The hope is Steve Spurrier has finally found his quarterback for the rest of the year. The rest of the league fears that Spurrier has finally found an offense to go with an impressive defense.
Vanderbilt: Even better than the Commodores 5-0 overall record is their 3-0 conference mark. Who would have thought that? (And all without an athletic director.) Bobby Johnson’s team is winning with great special team play and eye-popping turnover margin. After a visit to Starkville on Saturday, it travels to Georgia.
Stock down
Arkansas: Let’s be real here, the Razorbacks are awful. Bobby Petrino putrid, you might say. They might have had a chance this week against a discombobulated Auburn were the game not in Auburn. Quarterback Casey Dick has thrown four interceptions, compared to just one touchdown pass, in his last three games, all lopsided Arkansas losses.
Auburn: Is there a more dysfunctional staff in college football right now than the one occupying Auburn’s offices? Rumors are rampant in sour home Alabama that friction among the staff caused Tommy Tuberville to axe offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. The holdovers from the Al Borges regime didn’t cotton to Franklin, and vice versa. Plus, Tommy couldn’t keep his meddling hands out out the offense. He’s had six offensive coordinators in nine years. That tells you all you need to know.
Florida: The skeptical jury is still out on the Gators, thanks to that shocking 31-30 home loss to Ole Miss two weeks back. Forget last week’s win at Arkansas. Big deal. Urban Meyer’s men have a chance to make amends if they can cage LSU this weekend in The Swamp. CBS is on hand for the 8 p.m. fireworks.
Ole Miss: SI coverboys had a chance to follow up that near-fantasy Florida win, but couldn’t stop South Carolina at home last Saturday. The good news is that Houston Nutt has brought an offense to Oxford. The bad news is that the Rebels don’t have much of a defense.
Mississippi State: If Sylvester Croom’s club is going to pack its bags for a bowl game for the second consecutive year, the Bulldogs had better climb back on track in a hurry. Struggling State is 1-4 overall, 0-2 in the league. It has had two weeks to get ready for Vanderbilt. We’ll see if that makes a difference.
Tennessee: Huge, huge game for the vilified Vols this weekend in Athens. Pull the upset and Big Orange fans will have to climb down from Phil Fulmer’s back, at least for a week. Should Tennessee lose, and lose big, and the coach’s seat in Knoxville will be a five-alarm blaze.
