AUBURN | There have been big upsets in each of the first two weeks of the season and I’ve picked another that won’t sit well with Auburn fans. It’s also a very big week for SEC East teams including another key rivalry matchup in Athens.
Here’s a look at the SEC slate for Week 3…
PREMIER MATCHUP
It’s been 13 years since Tennessee won the SEC East, 22 years since its last SEC championship. That’s a long drought for a program with 13 SEC championships under its belt, tied for the second-most in league history. They’ll have an opportunity to make a statement when they play at Georgia Saturday afternoon in a series that has seen the Bulldogs win eight of the last 10. UGA comes into the game as a 12-point favorite and a blowout win over Auburn last Saturday. The Vols dismantled Missouri last week. The winner becomes the favorite along with Florida to represent the SEC East in the championship game.
UNDER THE RADAR
Neither teams are ranked this week but the Mississippi State at Kentucky game is shaping up to be a tight one. The Bulldogs pulled off a stunning Week 1 win at LSU before being upset at home by Arkansas. Kentucky has started the season 0-2 including a 42-41 loss to Ole Miss last week partly due to some costly penalties and turnovers. The Wildcats enter the game as 1.5-point favorites and will be desperate to avoid an 0-3 start. It’s shaping up to be another wild one in Lexington.
UPSET SPECIAL
For the second consecutive week, there’s really not a great pick. I expect Florida to slaughter Texas A&M in College Station and I don’t give Missouri much of a chance against LSU or Ole Miss much of a chance against Alabama. That leaves South Carolina at Vanderbilt, and I can’t see the Commodores pulling that off, or Arkansas at Auburn. I’m not sure I’ll actually take the Hawgs in our pick’em, but it looks like the best chance for a big upset this week. Auburn is coming off an atrocious performance at Georgia in which they were manhandled on the line of scrimmage. The Tigers are also expected to be without several key players due to injuries. After playing Georgia tough for three quarters in Week 1, Arkansas went to Mississippi State last Saturday and pulled off a big upset of a ranked team on the road. Even though Auburn has beaten the Razorbacks by an average of 39.3 points the last four games, a look farther back in history shows unranked Arkansas teams with big upsets over ranked Auburn teams at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2002 and 2006.
FULL WEEK 2 SCHEDULE
No. 4 Florida at No. 21 Texas A&M, 11 a.m. CT, ESPN
No. 17 LSU at Missouri, 11 a.m., SECN Alternate
South Carolina at Vanderbilt, 11 a.m., SECN
No. 14 Tennessee at No. 3 Georgia, 2:30 p.m., CBS
Arkansas at No. 13 Auburn, 3 p.m., ESPN
No. 2 Alabama at Ole Miss, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Mississippi State at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m., SECN
LOOKING AHEAD
It’ll be a huge week with college football playoff implications as Alabama hosts Georgia and Florida hosts LSU. There’s some other potentially exciting matchups including Texas A&M at Mississippi State, Kentucky at Tennessee and Ole Miss at Arkansas. Auburn plays at South Carolina.
