Mike Kern: Oh, say can you SEC where all the action is?
THIS WEEK, it's all about the Southeastern Conference.
Top-ranked Florida (4-0), coming off a bye, is at No. 4 Louisiana State (5-0), which just won at Georgia. And No. 3 Alabama (5-0) goes to No. 20 Mississippi (3-1), which was No. 4 until it lost at South Carolina, the only real team it's faced, on Sept. 24.
The last time Florida went to LSU as a No. 1 was 1997. The Tigers won, 28-21. These teams have combined to win the last three national titles, and four of the last six. LSU's won 32 in a row at home on Saturday night (it did lose a Monday nighter in 2005 to Tennessee that had to be rescheduled due to Hurricane Katrina). Les Miles is 2-0 against the Gators in Baton Rouge. Last season LSU lost by 30 at The Swamp.
The oddsmakers like the Gators by nine, for those who monitor that stuff. The only other time the Tigers were getting points in their house under Miles occurred last November, when they lost to then No. 1 Alabama in overtime.
Of course, the most pertinent (only?) storyline is whether 2007 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow will be sufficiently recovered from that consussion he suffered 2 weeks ago against Kentucky. His backup is redshirt sophomore John Brantley, who threw for a Florida-record 99 touchdowns in high school, and originally committed to Texas. In case you missed it, he's passed for seven scores as a Gator.
"You don't want injury," Miles said. "You don't want it for your opponent ... I'm certain they'll have a great quarterback playing for Florida anyway."
You might want to check with Oklahoma about that.
Alabama, which got four more first-place votes this week (five)than No. 2 Texas (one), has won five straight over Ole Miss. But the last four were by three, three (in OT), three and four. Last season, on the road, the Rebels at least won the second half, 17-0. By the way, has there been a Jevan Snead sighting recently? The Heisman folks are asking.
The home side's been installed as nearly a TD underdog.
The SEC West could be to this season what the Big 12 South was to 2008. LSU is at Alabama on Nov. 7, and at Ole Miss Nov. 21. All three must also deal with No. 17 Auburn. In the East, Florida gets Georgia in "neutral" Jacksonville at the end of this month and plays at the Steve Spurriers Nov. 14.
Sure sounds like some kind of playoff.
Trivial pursuit
Who was the coach the last time Alabama scored 30 or more points in its opening five games? Hint: You'll need to crank up the way-back machine for this one. See Answer man.
Fantasy league
Here's a handful of matchups that would make way too much sense this season (or even most others): Florida-Miami; Cincinnati-Ohio State; Notre Dame-Penn State; TCU-Texas; Rutgers-Temple; Boise State-anyone else in the top 50 before bowl season
Where's the love?
Notre Dame, which was ranked 18th a month ago, has one loss after five games yet isn't in the Top 25. It's the second time that has happened. The first was last season, when the Irish finished 7-6. Right now they're No. 33, with nine votes, just behind Boston College and right in front of Pitt.
Answer man
In 1920, the Tide scored 59, 49, 45, 57 and 33, all at home, for Xen Scott (29-9-3 from 1919-22).
Idle thoughts
