In college football's Week 3, Alabama hosting Florida State will be front and center for Crimson Tide fans. From a national and conference perspective, other SEC games on Saturday will also be important. At the least, the SEC will have three fewer undefeated teams after Saturday's games.
The biggie, not just for the SEC but across the college football world, will be the Ole Miss Rebels hosting the LSU Bengal Tigers. The Lane Kiffin Show in Oxford has some interesting antecedents.
The SEC will lose an undefeated team in Oxford, but the loser will lose little traction toward a Playoff berth. The pre-game environment in Oxford will not resemble the southern gentility the famous town is known for. After the game, especially if LSU wins, a lot of bad could happen. Louisiana's Governor Jeff Landry might have a helicopter land on the turf of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to transport Lane Kiffin safely back to Baton Rouge.
There will be four other quieter, less consequential but still important games. Early in the day's slate, Vanderbilt hosts North Carolina State. The Wolfpack is 1-1, and the Dores are 2-0. Some projections have Vanderbilt not getting past three or four wins. The Week 3 game is an early 'must-win' for Clark Lea and the Commodores.
With only a slight chance of an upset, Kentucky will look to bounce back in College Station. A reasonable best-case scenario for Will Stein's team is a respectable loss.
In another SEC battle of undefeated teams, Mississippi State is away to South Carolina. MSU quarterback Kamario Taylor's impressive work has caused recent buzz. ESPN's opponent-adjusted QBR (quarterback ratings) has Taylor as the SEC's third-best QB at 88.7. South Carolina's LaNorriss Sellers is ranked No. 11 at 58.1, but Sellers has a longer resume of producing big games. The QB contest in Columbia will be interesting.
Other than the Tuscaloosa and Oxford games, the SEC's next most interesting game could be Auburn hosting Florida. The game is a practical toss-up. About half of computer model predictions favor each team. Gators' fans will forgive Jon Sumrall for a close SEC road loss. Auburn fans will not be so charitable to Alex Golesh if the Tigers lose.
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